Battery degradation and reduced battery life motivate people to upgrade or repair their phones. This could change with the EU rule that requires brands to make phone batteries easier to remove and replace, which is likely why the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus feature a new electrical battery removal process. This feature, however, is absent from the iPhone 16 Pro series and a fresh rumour suggests that the entire iPhone 17 lineup could get it.
iPhone 17 Pro series electrical battery removal
As per tipster Majin Bu, the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, iPhone 17 (iPhone 17 Air) and iPhone 17 Plus could get new battery adhesives and a new electrically induced battery peel technology. He has posted a photo of the said adhesive in four sizes, likely for the four iPhones.
Bu notes you will have to apply a small electrical voltage and then the adhesive will help in easily detaching the battery from the phone without much force.
In their iPhone 16 teardown video, the leading iPhone repair company iFixit called this battery removal process “remarkable”. Here’s how they removed the iPhone 16 battery:
How to remove iPhone 16 battery (iFixit)
Step 1: Use a pick tool to secure an entry point to the iPhone’s back. You have to open the iPhone from the back side. In the process, you have to disconnect the logic board connecting cables.
Step 2: You’ll see the battery which unlike previous-gen iPhones (and the iPhone 16 Pro models) doesn’t have a pull tab. Rather, you do the following.
Step 3: Connect the alligator clips to the iPhone’s 9V battery. That is the red (positive) clip will be attached to the silver tab on the iPhone’s battery, and the black (negative) clip will be attached to the lower-right grounding screw on the iPhone’s bottom speaker module.
Step 4: Wait for up to 90 seconds and the adhesive should loosen. Now, you can pull out the battery.
This process is safer than the pull tab mechanism.
So, EU’s mandate or not, such design improvements are welcome.