Along with the new titanium frame and 5X optical camera, Apple has also introduced another new feature with the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max: a central chassis that allows for the removal of the front and back glass for easier repairability. However, despite the change, iFixIt still found that Apple still makes it very difficult for anyone other than its own Geniuses to repair.
First the good stuff. In its customary teardown, iFixit praises the iPhone 15 Pro’s removable back glass, a “notable achievement worth celebrating.” Like the iPhone 14 last year, Apple’s new chassis design means you don’t have to disassemble the entire display to get at the internal parts, thus limiting the risk of further damage.
However, iFixit laments Apple’s “ongoing constriction of repair freedoms through its restrictive parts pairing system”. As the site explains, several parts, including the rear Lidar camera, Face ID, front camera, and USB-C port are all “completely locked to the iPhone 15 Pro Max.”
When swapped out, even with Apple-certified parts, features weren’t functional and others crashed the system, raising significant barriers to repairability. So, most people will have no choice but to bring their iPhone to an Apple Store for repair Thus, iFixit gave the iPhone 15 Pro Max a 4 out of 10 for repairability and called on Apple to “abandon parts pairing.”
This move comes despite Apple’s Self Service Repair program that launched in 2022 and was extended in June 2023. The program is designed to let anyone repair their broken iPhone at home with Apple genuine parts and tools. However, the program is pricey and complicated—and not available for the iPhone 15 Pro just yet. Still, it’s why iFixit gave the iPhone 15 Pro a “4” instead of a lower score.
Elsewhere, iFixit appreciated the USB-C port’s ability to provide 4.5W of power to external devices as well as the “insanely complicated, expensive process” for creating the lightweight titanium alloy frame. Other findings include confirmation that the iPhone 15 Pro uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X70 5G modem and has a slightly larger battery.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.