iFixit Shares Full iPhone 12 and 12 Pro Teardown Revealing Interchangeable Displays and Batteries

[farewelwilliams]

They're not, that's just what the article on Macrumors says and how the writer interpreted it. The actual quote from iFixit is "Increased waterproofing measures complicate some repairs, but make difficult water damage repairs less likely." This doesn't really sound like "bemoaning" to me, it's just the facts.

What's also a fact is waterproofing (or rather, water resistance) is bad for their business.

What's interesting is that they list "damage repairs less likely" as a factor next to their repairability score. How does the less occurrence of repairs relate to the "repairability" of a product and warrant an "orange minus"? It doesn't.

 

[JosephAW]

All this tear down information will be useful in 10 years when Apple declares the iPhone 12 vintage.

 

[BERMUDASHORTSDREIECK]

12 mini is the best, all the features of the 12 and its smaller. And cheaper.

yep. Was about to get the SE but resolution, oled, camera, new chip and colors made me preorder the mini. 990€ +8gb lte over 2 years is a fair price.

 

[mariusignorello]

I am not concerned with iFixit’s score. If I have a problem with my iPhone, I go to Apple for the fix. As expensive as Apple is, I don’t trust myself or any third party company to repair Apple devices.

I used to stand with the “right to repair” argument but not anymore. I had a screen replacement at an independent shop that was not an Apple authorized place and after 3 repairs that each were not satisfactory the screen was horrible. They replaced my cracked XS Max OLED with a second rate LCD, with each of the 3 LCDs having a different color profile. I gave them 3 chances and finally gave up and settled.

From here on out, I’ll only buy AppleCare and have Apple service the display. Is that what they want and how they “get you”? Maybe it is, but I want my stuff fixed correctly, so whatever.

 

[Apple_Robert]

I used to stand with the “right to repair” argument but not anymore. I had a screen replacement at an independent shop that was not an Apple authorized place and after 3 repairs that each were not satisfactory the screen was horrible. They replaced my cracked XS Max OLED with a second rate LCD, with each of the 3 LCDs having a different color profile. I gave them 3 chances and finally gave up and settled.

From here on out, I’ll only buy AppleCare and have Apple service the display. Is that what they want and how they “get you”? Maybe it is, but I want my stuff fixed correctly, so whatever.

Like you, I want my stuff repaired as it should be. And if I have to pay more for the correct parts and labor, that is fine with me. You put up with more than I would have.

 

[Hyperchaotic]

I used to stand with the “right to repair” argument but not anymore. I had a screen replacement at an independent shop that was not an Apple authorized place and after 3 repairs that each were not satisfactory the screen was horrible. They replaced my cracked XS Max OLED with a second rate LCD, with each of the 3 LCDs having a different color profile. I gave them 3 chances and finally gave up and settled.

From here on out, I’ll only buy AppleCare and have Apple service the display. Is that what they want and how they “get you”? Maybe it is, but I want my stuff fixed correctly, so whatever.

Is it not possible to believe in Right to Repair and still go to Apple for repairs? I don't see the two things as mutually exclusive, it's about having the choice. Also it's a bigger issue in our society than just phones; look at farmers far away from dealerships who can repair some things on their tractors but then they won't run because they're chipped.

 

[Aston441]

...which is a better score than pretty much anything else out there. Look at Samsung, Huawei etc scores.

If you need to get the battery replaced, just take it to authorised service instead buying the kit from iFixit.

Authorised service is only slightly more expensive than doing it by yourself and risking breaking it.

The 6s+ I'm posting from now, is one year now with an iFixit battery i installed myself, performing perfectly.

previously the battery was replaced by Apple, the Apple battery lasted 7 months then swelled. Same thing happened to my iPodT6, I just threw it away after the second swelling because the battery is absolutely not user replaceable.

Apple puts OLD OLD OLD leftover stock batteries in old devices and they are garbage. iFixit batteries are probably much newer.

 

[Cosmosent]

Has any Teardown figured-out if the 12 Pro includes LPDDR5 DRAM ?

 

[eveluvsrainbows]

Has any Teardown figured-out if the 12 Pro includes LPDDR5 DRAM ?

It doesn't. It includes LPDDR4X. They'll probably be upgrading to LPDDR5 next year.

 

[mariusignorello]

Like you, I want my stuff repaired as it should be. And if I have to pay more for the correct parts and labor, that is fine with mel. You put up with more than I would have.

I tried getting a chargeback from the bank but it was ultimately denied because service quality is subjective.

 

[yurc]

Some folks got screen with more yellowish tint. This interchangeability should helps faster display swaps for return/service.

 

[mariusignorello]

Is it not possible to believe in Right to Repair and still go to Apple for repairs? I don't see the two things as mutually exclusive, it's about having the choice. Also it's a bigger issue in our society than just phones; look at farmers far away from dealerships who can repair some things on their tractors but then they won't run because they're chipped.

Specifically for Apple products: yes, only if you want substandard quality repair work done.

 

[Johnny907]

then why is the site "bemoaning" Apple's design decisions? having water resistance reduces the need for repairing.

They aren’t. That wording came from the author of this article, not iFixit. The former decided to make it dramatic, whereas the latter just pointed it out and mentioned it will take a little bit more work to remove the screen because of the stronger adhesives used. As someone who repairs several phones a year this is absolutely not a big deal, so I’m not sure why the author of this article is trying to make out otherwise.

 

[jdechko]

but the site bemoaned Apple's continued use of proprietary screws

At this point why are they still complaining about the pentalobe screws?
First, while they may not be common, they aren’t exactly proprietary and no less uncommon than the 000 Phillips screws.

Second, by this point anyone who repairs iPhones for a living will already have the proper bit driver. Again, while uncommon, they have some mechanical advantages over standard Phillips screws. In either case, how many times are people opening their phones for it to matter either way?

Finally, ifixit will happily sell you a a pentalobe driver and some replacement screws. And you can buy a 100 (exaggerating I know) piece screwdriver kit on Amazon for $20 that includes the pentalobe driver.

 

[Apleeseed84]

Like you, I want my stuff repaired as it should be. And if I have to pay more for the correct parts and labor, that is fine with me. You put up with more than I would have.

Applecare doesn’t last forever, and is the case with iPhone XS that my coverage ended, we are stuck paying the full retail price for a screen repair and it’s not cheap. Luckily i had asurion which does the same thing for a 29 replacement screen.

But after having apple limited coverage warranty, since it’s not applecare, they focus on the issue than fixing every possible issue. I had to make two different appointments for a battery and my camera going out. Apple care + would had given me a new device with rapid replacement.

 

[Johnny907]

What's also a fact is waterproofing (or rather, water resistance) is bad for their business.

What's interesting is that they list "damage repairs less likely" as a factor next to their repairability score. How does the less occurrence of repairs relate to the "repairability" of a product and warrant an "orange minus"? It doesn't.

It’s really not. Screens are still going to break, and water damage repairs make up a very small part of their business given how complicated those repairs can be and their business model is specifically aimed at the DIY crowd.

As for your second question, while improved waterproofing makes the occurrence of water damage repairs less likely, the repairability score is based on how difficult an item is to repair, not how likely it is to be damaged to the point of needing a repair.

 

[farewelwilliams]

They aren’t. That wording came from the author of this article, not iFixit. The former decided to make it dramatic, whereas the latter just pointed it out and mentioned it will take a little bit more work to remove the screen because of the stronger adhesives used. As someone who repairs several phones a year this is absolutely not a big deal, so I’m not sure why the author of this article is trying to make out otherwise.

No.

If you watched the livestream video linked in the article, they mentioned about the new heating gun is now being supplied to Apple techs due to the increased water proofing and how it streamlines the process for Apple. They suggested that it was Apple's way of making intentionally harder on consumers (essentially ifixit's userbase) so that getting service through Apple makes more sense than doing it yourself because Apple won't sell the heat gun. And then she immediately segways into the topic of "right to repair" and how she's "sorry, actually no i'm not sorry at all" for the repair biased opinions.

That, to me, sounds like bemoaning on ifixit's part. This Macrumor's interpretation of why they said it is legitimate.

 

[0924487]

Last year the difference between the 11 and 11pro seemed worth having two models. This year it really doesn’t seem like there’s any point given how the standard 12 has caught up without the pro doing much to maintain the gap

price discrimination. You normally will learn that in Econ.

 

[farewelwilliams]

It’s really not. Screens are still going to break, and water damage repairs make up a very small part of their business given how complicated those repairs can be and their business model is specifically aimed at the DIY crowd.

If a phone is waterproof (or rather water resistant) like it has since iPhone 7, then water damage repairs will make up a smaller part of their business since there won't be anything to fix. That's why it makes up a very small part of their business and therefore bad for business...

Another way to look at it is that the more difficult the repair, the more likely the DIY crowd will avoid the repair since it wouldn't make financial sense to do so.

Either way, increased waterproofing is bad for ifixit. Just how bad is the question.

As for your second question, while improved waterproofing makes the occurrence of water damage repairs less likely, the repairability score is based on how difficult an item is to repair, not how likely it is to be damaged to the point of needing a repair.

Then why is the occurrence listed as a factor (literally right next to the score) and has an "orange minus" tag next to it?

 

[mannyvel]

Proprietary screws? I don’t think so. Even iFixit has pentalobe screws in their kit...as does everyone else.

 

[kcslc]

So the iPhone 12 technically could have a headphone jack instead of... a plastic spacer?

 

[Starfyre]

Last year the difference between the 11 and 11pro seemed worth having two models. This year it really doesn’t seem like there’s any point given how the standard 12 has caught up without the pro doing much to maintain the gap

Apple is likely testing 2020 seeing how much 'oomph' they need to add to the pro to get consumers to bite. If we want a better pro model next year, then people pretty much need to make sure Apple has worse sales on the Pro than the standard model. That way, Apple knows they can't get away with having minimal differences on the pro if they want sales to be better for more.

 

[noraa]

Last year the difference between the 11 and 11pro seemed worth having two models. This year it really doesn’t seem like there’s any point given how the standard 12 has caught up without the pro doing much to maintain the gap

I actually started to reply in agreement with this comment, but then really dug into the comparison b/w the 12 and the 12 Pro, and the differences are actually a bit more substantial than at first glance (though nowhere near as substantial as the 11 and 11 Pro). First, the 12 Pro starts at 128GB, whereas the 12 starts at 64GB. So to compare the two, we need to first push the 12 up to 128GB - which adds $50 (which is a pretty awesome price to double your storage).

The 12 Pro 128GB is $999, and the 12 w/ 128GB is $849 - so what are you getting for $150 more? A decent amount actually.

The biggest difference is obviously the camera - 3 lenses + LIDAR vs. 2 lenses. Next up would be the screen - the 12 Pro has a max brightness of 800nits whereas the 12 is only 625nits. The 12 Pro also comes with 6GB of RAM vs. only 4GB for the 12 - it's hard to say how much of a difference that will really make, given how effectively iOS manages RAM usage (I will say, however, that I have an iPad Pro 2020 and that has 6GB of RAM - I've noticed a pretty sizable increase in the speed b/w switching apps vs. my friend who has the 2019 iPad Pro with only 4GB RAM). Finally, and this is extremely minor, the 12 Pro has stainless steel sides and the 12 has aluminum sides - arguably the aluminum is better than the stainless though, as aluminum is more durable and less prone to fingerprints.

So, to sum up, for an additional $150 you get a better camera system, brighter screen, more RAM and stainless steel instead of aluminum sides.

Now the real question is, are those differences actually worth $150? If you're really into photography, I think yes. Everything else you may not really notice on a day-to-day basis, but having a telephoto lens can make a big difference when taking pictures. But, if photography isn't a big deal for you, then the $150 probably isn't worth it.

 

[supergt]

I’ve replaced a battery and screen in a 5s using ifixit guides. It was fun and I enjoyed the challenge while assuming the risk.

That said, if an Apple authorized repair shop botches the job, you get a new refurb unit. Thanks to Best Buy I got a new 6s two years after purchase for a botched screen repair. For a lower cost repair on old iPhones it’s always worth doing this way and maybe you’ll hit the refurb lottery.

 

[Callander]

Seems like Apple is keeping the phones almost the "same" to save on cost and more parts not only for covid issues but squeezing that "re-use" for same/higher price.