The cool cats at iFixit have once again come through with a teardown of this year’s iPhone, this time focusing on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.
True to form, the teardown video takes apart the iPhone 15 Pro Max quite systematically, with pentalobe screws and the need for a suction cup blocking the removal of the display. Once inside, attempts to remove the battery are thwarted by failing tabs, which triggered complaints about removing another ten screws.
Once isopropyl alcohol has been applied, the battery is loosened from the frame. The new battery offers 17.1 watt-hours, an improvement of 2.5 percent over the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s battery.
The camera assembly requires the removal of several disconnected cables as well as a trio of Philips-head screws. Aside from the tetraprism assembly for the Telephoto camera, the sensors for the Main and Wide cameras are seemingly the same size as the iPhone 14 Pro Max versions.
iFixit cited the new logic board as the most interesting find of the teardown and pointed out that the Pro Max’s logic board is almost identical to the Pro model. The company highlighted several Qualcomm chips which are visible on the board, handling modem duties while Apple’s own efforts continue to be developed.
iFixit also praised Apple for changes to the back cover, which bring it more in line with the iPhone 15 base model, and allow for easier removal for back glass repairs to be performed.
During the teardown, iFixit made assorted digs at the eco-unfriendliness of producing the titanium elements over stainless steel or aluminum, as well as the easily scratched coating. It also noted that the rear LiDAR assembly is now “completely locked” to the device, and offered a “repairability” score of four out of a possible ten for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The score is provisional as it includes credit for “anticipated service manual availability and selling repair parts,” but it is weighed down by the inability to swap components due to software limitations.
Via AppleInsider and iFixit