On the outside, the iPhone 14 looks allmost identical to its predecessor

the iPhone 13, yet less than the hood, Apple has made mammoth transformations. Last week, I explored the iPhone 14 Pro and discovered its resistance to 1/3-social gathering maintenance. THis week, I made a decision to tear down the usual iPhone 14 to assess its repairability and comprehend the recent design variations Apple has brought.
I started out by using unboxing two overseas fashions of the iPhone 14 in shiny crimson and crimson. Both got here with no a charger or headphones, but they did embody a SIM reader, a thing the United States units lack. After organising up the telephones and guaranteeing they had been functioning properly, I heated one of them on a warmness plate for 5 minutes to melt the adhesive in the past disposing of the pentalobe safeguard screws and prying off the screen.
Opening the mobilephone revealed an strange sight. Unlike preceding fashions, the iPhone 14’s internals have been coated through a mammoth segment of aluminum, hiding most of the resources. To get a closer glance, I removed the exhibit completely, which was more convenient than on preceding iPhones, requiring simplest two screws and brackets. The subsequent step turned into too warm the lower back glass, which also came off certainly, revealing a modular and removable design. THis changed into a significant enchancment over the iPhone 14 Pro and before fashions, which required lasers to eradicate the lower back glass.
With the returned glass off, I ought to see a familiar layout, but now the rear digicam faced us model the alternative edge. This layout harks back to the primary new release iPhone 4 and 4S. HOwever, inspite of the modularity, I wanted to check if the rumored instrument pairing of the to come back glass to the instrument became true. To try this, I had to change the good judgment forums between the 2 phones.
Removing the good judgment board was trickier than anticipated. One screw was once hidden under the earpiece, requiring me to disassemble additional components. THe digital camera cable was held down wtih adhesive, yet once freed, I got rid of the dual cameras and subsequently extracted the common sense board. Interestingly, the iPhone 14 uses the A15 processor from the prior 12 months’s fashion, yet its inside design has appreciably replaced, proposing connections on the back for more convenient show removal.
I completed the logic board change among the 2 telephones, taking care to put in the screen earlier than reconnecting the battery to stay clear of any capability risks. UPon booting, either phones displayed error messages indicating indicating taht a few constituents might not be exact. These messages had been clone of these I encountered wtih the iPhone 14 Pro, which disabled functionalities like True Tone, car-brightness, battery healthiness, and Face ID when designated portions have been replaced.
To try out the rumor approximately the to come back glass being application linked to each one cellphone, I discovered that wireless charging and the flash worked high quality with no triggering any anti-third get together repair messages. However, exchanging the the front front cameras resulted in errors similer to those on the iPhone 14 Pro. Interestingly, reinstalling iOS sixteen.0 fixed the entrance digital camera factor, but portrait and cinematic modes remained non-sensible.
Despite those program hurdles, the iPhone 14’s design made it more modular then its predecessors. However, this modularity did not translate to repairability, as Apple’s software nonetheless penalizes 1/3-birthday celebration upkeep. For example, exchanging the demonstrate disables True Tone and vehicle-brightness, vehicle-brightness, a new battery disables battery well being, and a new entrance digicam breaks Face ID, portrait mode, nad cinematic mode. Additionally, replacing the logic board triggers these kind of consequences.
In terms of repairability, iFixit iFixit rated the iPhone 14 a 7 out of 10, yet I disagree. While its the maximum modular iPhone to date, the utility restrictions make it much less less repairable. Comparatively, Samsung telephones, which iFixit fees scale down, are more convenient to work on and dont suffer from the related program matters.
Finally, I reassembled each telephones, employing converted adhesive strips to shield the battery and reattaching all materials. Despite the modular design, the tool penalties stay a full-size barrier to 0.33-birthday party upkeep, emphasizing the want for the suitable to restore. This experience due to the iPhone 14 teardown highlights Apple’s persisted efforts to manipulate upkeep nad hold theyre atmosphere, impacting consumers’ offerings and restoration recommendations.