Apple iPhone 16 to Use Electrically Induced Adhesive to Improve Repairability
Apple reports that the iPhone 16 is shaping up to be one of the most consumer-friendly devices they have released in years. That is largely thanks to a raft of pro-reparability moves the company has made. Reports are that Apple is developing a new “electrically induced adhesive debonding” technology that will make it easier to remove batteries.
As it stands, removing batteries from an iPhone requires some skill to pull out the adhesive strips that glue it to the chassis. It’s not an easy thing for a regular user, without experience, to do. But Apple wants to change that by using bonding technology that would release the battery after “administering a small jolt of electricity.” It has been reported that this new technology could hit at least one iPhone 16 model in late 2024, with it rolling it out to the entire iPhone 17 lineup in 2025.
The move appears to be an attempt by the Cupertino-based company to comply with ecodesign legislation passed by the European Union last year. Specifically, the law states that replacing batteries in a smartphone should be “feasible with no tool, a tool or set of tools that is supplied with the product or spare part, or basic tools.”
Source: Forbes