Oliver Haslam on February 11, 2023, 9:40 pm

Apple Talks iPhone 14 And 14 Plus Design And Repairability

Apple senior director of iPhone design Richard Dinh has been doing the rounds discussing the iPhone 14 and changes that have made it easier to repair.

In a new interview with The Sydney Morning Herald’s Tim Briggs, Dinh spoke about the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus and the fact that the phones’ back glass can be removed for easier battery replacement.

The design was heralded by repair outfit iFixit in September 2022, but the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max don’t benefit from the same easily repaired design.

“Since iPhone 5, we’ve used a single enclosure design, what we call a bucket design, and then since iPhone 8 with the introduction of wireless charging, we added the back glass, which was permanently affixed to the aluminum housing,” Dinh told the newspaper.

“This meant that any repairs to these internal components needs to happen by removing the display first, and potentially any other pieces, to access the internals, especially the ones located towards the back glass.”

Apple’s design boss also said that the new aluminum frame design was built to help dissipate heat, making the entire iPhone act as a kind of heatsink. The result is that the internal components don’t get so hot. “This central structural plane helps to dissipate more heat across the entire surface more consistently,” Dinh said.

The changes to iPhone 14 design make it easier for repair shops to do their work and, as a result, it’s cheaper to get things like screens replaced. It’s just a shame Apple’s best iPhones don’t benefit in the same way.