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Bottom line: Replacing an iPhone's battery is now easier than ever thanks to a significant repairability improvement that debuted in Apple's latest handset. Most consumers will still need a trained professional to do the work for them, but the process itself is now less complex and risky.
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus utilize a new type of adhesive that can debond when an electrical current passes through it. As outlined in Apple's repair guide, the process involves connecting a 9-volt battery to specific points inside the iPhone – the red lead goes to the silver tab on the battery and the black connector attaches to the grounding screw on the bottom speaker.
After at least 90 seconds, the adhesive should loosen and the battery can easily be removed from its cradle. Apple notes that adhesive debond time may increase as a battery ages, and that higher voltage application (up to 30 volts) will result in faster removal times.
We first heard about the new adhesive technology back in June. iFixit believes the tech comes from adhesive manufacturer Tesa, and we have no reason to doubt them. Technical details are available in iFixit's teardown but in the simplest terms, zapping the adhesive "oxidizes the negative / anode mating surface and loosens the adhesive from it."
The teardown specialists liken it to dipping one half of an Oreo cookie into milk, then twisting. The crème filling (adhesive) will always stick to the top cookie. That sure sounds more pleasant than fighting with sticky adhesive and pull tabs.
According to iFixit, the hi-tech adhesive is only in the base model iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus. It is not clear why the Pro and Pro Max models don't use the same tech – perhaps Apple wanted to trial the new adhesive in the real world on a smaller subset of devices first. As they say, putting all of your eggs in one basket is rarely a good idea.
Cracking open the iPhone 16 still remains a challenge for the average consumer, but at least the path forward is now easier once inside.