Apple’s iPhone 14 is the most repairable iPhone since the iPhone 7, which pop out in 2016, repair advocate and tools vendor iFixit stated in a blog post on Monday. Apple’s iPhone 14 went on sale last week.
Apple has renewed the internal structure in the iPhone 14 to allow users to remove and replace both the device’s back glass and its screen by removing only two screws, according to the teardown conducted by iFixit.
The changes will make it easier for Apple store employees.
“Apple has completely redesigned the internals of the iPhone 14 to make it easier to repair,” founder of iFixit Kyle Wiens wrote. “It is not at all visible from the outside, but this is a big deal.”
iFixit added that the high-end iPhone 14 Pro models don’t use the new, more repairable design.
This year’s repair-friendly design on the iPhone 14 is in contrast to other iPhones and many Android devices that use glue and tight tolerances that make it complex to fix older phones.
Apple’s iPhone redesign comes as advocates carry on boosting for laws that give consumers access to manuals, tools and parts needed to repair increasingly complicated electronic devices and industrial machines, which they say will make them last longer, reducing e-waste and environmental impact, while saving money for users.
Advocates call the cause “right to repair”, and many states across the U.S. have regarded legislation that would force consumer electronics companies to disclose manuals and sell genuine replacement parts. Lawmakers in New York passed a right-to-repair measure earlier this year. It hasn’t been signed into law yet.
The issue is also getting attention at the federal level. President Joe Biden supports right to repair and he asked the Federal Trade Commission to draft right-to-repair rules in an executive order in 2021. The FTC also prepared a report delivered to Congress in 2021 about the legal landscape around right to repair, identifying mobile phones and car manufacturers as two industries with restrictions around repair.
Apple has taken some steps over recent years toward making it easier to repair its devices. In April, it submitted a program called Self Service Repair that allows users and independent repair shops for renting the same tools that Apple stores use in addition to purchase genuine replacement Apple parts. The company also made fixing manuals for its devices available through the program.
Nevertheless, Apple still insists that visiting an Apple-certified technician is the best way for the vast majority of customers to fix their devices.
“This design improvement is a big win. These changes to the iPhone will help it last longer and reduce its overall impact on the planet,” Wiens wrote.
