iPhone 16's 'Revolutionary' Battery Removal Process Shown in Video

Over the weekend, well-known repair website iFixit shared an iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus teardown video, and an accompanying blog post. Notably, the video shows Apple's new electrical battery removal process in action on the standard iPhone 16.

iFixit iPhone 16 Battery Removal
iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus batteries have an innovative type of adhesive that can be easily loosened with low-voltage electrical current, such as from a 9V battery. The steps involved include attaching alligator clips to a 9V battery, connecting the red/positive clip to the silver tab on the iPhone's battery, and connecting the black/negative clip to the lower-right grounding screw on the iPhone's bottom speaker module. After up to 90 seconds, the adhesive should debond and the battery can then be easily taken out of the iPhone.


iFixit described this new process as "revolutionary," and explained how it works:

Imagine an Oreo cookie with a thick layer of double-stuf creme. You figured out that if you dip just the bottom cookie in some milk and twist the cookie apart, the filling will always stick to the top cookie.

Similarly, when we zap the adhesive, the current oxidizes the negative/anode mating surface and loosens the adhesive from it. The adhesive "filling" between the battery and the frame will then stick to whichever surface that’s connected to the positive terminal.

In an email, iFixit said the iPhone 16 is "the most-repairable iPhone yet":

We're giving the phone a laudable 7 out of 10 repairability score (provisional, pending Apple's release of parts). It's not the Fairphone, but Apple's made some important strides in improving hardware repairability, and ending parts pairing restrictions for harvested OEM parts is a huge boon for the repair community.

Only the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus use this new process. iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max batteries still have stretch-release adhesive pull tabs.

iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, and iPhone 16 Pro Max batteries still have a black foil enclosure, while the iPhone 16 Pro battery has moved to a metal enclosure, which increases repair safety and likely contributes to improved heat dissipation.

Related Roundup: iPhone 16
Buyer's Guide: iPhone 16 (Neutral)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

Apple Says iOS 18.4 Will Be Released in April With These New Features

Wednesday February 26, 2025 7:15 am PST by
In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 18.4 will be released in April. From the Apple News+ Food announcement:Coming with iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 in April, Apple News+ subscribers will have access to Apple News+ Food, a new section that will feature tens of thousands of recipes — as well as stories about restaurants, healthy eating, kitchen essentials, and more — from the...
Generic iPhone 17 Feature With Full Width Dynamic Island

Latest iPhone 17 Series CAD Images in Line With Redesign Rumors

Friday February 28, 2025 2:51 am PST by
Apple is expected to embrace a new camera system design for some models in its upcoming iPhone 17 series, and the latest purported CAD images don't deviate from what we have been hearing lately about Apple's new lineup. If you do not like the sound of an iPhone with a Google Pixel-style camera bar, look away now. Seasoned leaker Sonny Dickson shared the following images in a post on X...
iphone 16e usb c feature

Apple Provides Reason for iPhone 16e's Lack of MagSafe

Friday February 28, 2025 4:39 am PST by
Apple has offered a reason why the iPhone 16e doesn't include MagSafe, one of the more notable omissions from its latest entry-level smartphone. According to Apple representatives who spoke to Daring Fireball's John Gruber, MagSafe is not included in the iPhone 16e because "most people in the iPhone 16e's target audience exclusively charge their phones by plugging them into a charging...
apple intelligence black

These New Apple Intelligence Features Are Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday February 28, 2025 3:17 pm PST by
iOS 18.4 was supposed to bring new Apple Intelligence Siri features, but Apple ended up needing to pull those capabilities from the update to continue testing. There are fewer new Apple Intelligence additions now, but there are still some new features that will make the update worth installing when it comes out in April. Priority Notifications Apple introduced Priority Notifications back at ...
cook trump

Trump Responds to Apple Keeping Diversity Policies

Wednesday February 26, 2025 6:32 am PST by
In an all-caps post on Truth Social today, U.S. President Donald Trump said Apple should fully end its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Tim Cook meeting with President Trump in 2017 "APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES, NOT JUST MAKE ADJUSTMENTS TO THEM," he wrote. Trump's post comes one day after Apple held its annual shareholders meeting, during which a majority of...
apple watch ultra snow

6 Features Coming to the Apple Watch Ultra 3

Tuesday February 25, 2025 9:00 am PST by
The Apple Watch Ultra 3 is expected to launch later this year, arriving two years after the previous model with a series of improvements. While no noticeable design changes are expected for the third generation since the company tends to stick with the same Apple Watch design through three generations before changing it, there are a series of internal upgrades on the way. By the time the ...
airpods pro purple

Here's When AirPods Pro 3 Are Rumored to Launch

Monday February 24, 2025 9:14 am PST by
According to a post on X today from a leaker known as Kosutami, Apple plans to launch AirPods Pro 3 in May or June this year. The leaker also claimed that an AirTag 2 will launch around the same time. Kosutami is best known as a collector of prototype Apple hardware, but they have occasionally shared accurate information about Apple's future product plans. For example, they accurately...
apple c1

How Fast is Apple's First-Ever 5G Modem? The Results Are Surprising

Friday February 28, 2025 10:08 am PST by
iPhone 16e reviews are now out, and Apple's custom-designed C1 modem has been put to the test. The results so far are quite surprising, as the C1's speeds are not as slow compared to Qualcomm modems as originally expected. While the C1 does not support ultra-fast mmWave 5G in the U.S., it appears to offer comparable 5G performance to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X71 modem found in the iPhone 16,...

Top Rated Comments

vegetassj4 Avatar
23 weeks ago
New Apple Accessory: Remove your battery without wires, and in half the time.




Attachment Image

Attachment Image
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
D-a-a-n Avatar
23 weeks ago
All of a sudden, Apple found a revolutionary way to replace the battery. I wonder if the EU had something to do with this.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jhonjhon236 Avatar
23 weeks ago

Requiring 9V to replace a 4.2V battery, what could possibly go wrong?
Then again, the old adhesive was terrifying to remove as well.
What could go wrong? Unless you are a total idiot then it would be pretty hard to mess up if you RTFM.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lkrupp Avatar
23 weeks ago

Requiring 9V to replace a 4.2V battery, what could possibly go wrong?
Then again, the old adhesive was terrifying to remove as well.
iFixit, a major critic of Apple’s repairability for years, seems to think otherwise. They even refer to it as “revolutionary”. That’s like Greenpeace saying Apple is doing a good job on the environment. It means something. Not on toxic tech blogs, obviously.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AlexESP Avatar
23 weeks ago

All of a sudden, Apple found a revolutionary way to replace the battery. I wonder if the EU had something to do with this.
Is that something to be proud of or what?

If they spent effort on this because they think customers want it (and if they’re right about it), it will pay off.

If they were forced by the EU without believing in it and customers don’t care, the result is that they spent a lot of money on a “revolutionary” method no one wants, that could have gone to something more relevant to customers.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
now i see it Avatar
23 weeks ago
Four screws on the corners of a battery is a time tested method to secure it.
But noooooo
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)