iPhone 16 Pro Teardown Video Reveals Metal-Enclosed Battery and More

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YouTube channel REWA Technology today shared an iPhone 16 Pro teardown video, offering a first look inside of the device following its release.

iPhone 16 Pro Battery Teardown
Notably, the video reveals that the smaller iPhone 16 Pro is equipped with a metal-enclosed battery, confirming a rumor from last year. The battery has a capacity of 3,582 mAh, which matches the figure that surfaced earlier this week in a Brazilian regulatory filing. For comparison, the iPhone 15 Pro has a 3,274 mAh battery.

According to Apple, some iPhone 16 batteries use an adhesive that can be easily loosened with low-voltage electrical current, such as from a 9V battery. TechCrunch said this change applies to the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus, but not to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. The teardown video did not test the low-voltage removal process on the iPhone 16 Pro, but it does reveal that the device's battery still has adhesive pull tabs, which suggests that the new process might indeed be limited to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus.


Meanwhile, a separate teardown video appears to show that the iPhone 16 Pro Max still has a battery enclosed in black foil instead of metal.

Apple announced that all four iPhone 16 models feature internal design changes for improved heat dissipation. In the teardown video, the iPhone 16 Pro's chassis appears to have a larger thermal sheet compared to the iPhone 15 Pro. Metal-enclosed batteries could also contribute to the heat dissipation improvements.

The video also reveals that the iPhone 16 Pro has a slightly more compact logic board compared to the one in the iPhone 15 Pro, and a few other changes.

Repair website iFixit will likely share its own iPhone 16 teardowns later.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16 Pro
Tag: Teardown
Buyer's Guide: iPhone 16 Pro (Buy Now)

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Top Rated Comments

jarman92 Avatar
jarman92
3 hours ago at 08:40 am

Repair website iFixit will likely share more comprehensive iPhone 16 teardowns later.
Probably not. They used to share comprehensive teardowns, but now they release a cursory video where they spend 75% of the time trying to be witty, taking shots at Apple, and opining on public policy.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
california_kid Avatar
california_kid
3 hours ago at 08:54 am
I'm guessing a very small piece of my iPhone 4 was recycled to make that metal shield.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cateye Avatar
cateye
3 hours ago at 08:44 am

What is the point of that metal shielding? To keep temperatures down on the battery and hopefully prolonged battery health?
It's explained in the actual article: It allows a low voltage to be applied to the outside of the battery which causes the special, electrically-sensitive adhesive holding it in place to release more easily, aiding repair/replacement.

The traditional method is pull tabs (something like a 3M Contact Strip where changing the shape of the substrate causes the adhesion to release) but they don't always work very well and can damage the battery in the process.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrWojtek Avatar
DrWojtek
37 minutes ago at 10:53 am
Lol cant believe people buy the 16 PM when it has black foil. That’s folly
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
Joe Rossignol
3 hours ago at 08:52 am

You have it backwards. The electrically released adhesive is used on the 16/Plus, which do not have metal enclosed batteries.

The 16 Pro/Max have metal enclosed batteries with pull tabs, for whatever reason.
16 Pro Max doesn't have a metal-enclosed battery seemingly:



It's admittedly quite confusing.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
JPack
3 hours ago at 09:00 am

why doesn’t PM have a metallic case?
Probably because the heat problem most affects the smaller Pro.

There is no reason for a fully encased metal shield if it were for electrically sensitive adhesive reasons. Only the back or small portions would be needed be covered with metal.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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