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All batteries age, and the lithium ion battery in your iPhone is no exception. Overtime, the battery degrades, and, as such, can no longer hold as much of a charge as it could when new. After a few years of using the phone, you may notice you only get 70% or 80% of the time you used to after taking your iPhone off the charger.
When the inevitable happens to you, you don’t need to buy a new iPhone. Instead, you can simply replace the battery at a relatively inexpensive cost. Depending on your iPhone, you may not only notice an increase in time away from the charger, but also a boost in performance, since iOS slows down the processing power of your iPhone when its battery is too degraded.
But though replacing your battery is possible, it could certainly be easier. Apple currently secures the battery to the inside of your iPhone with strong adhesive. To remove it, you need to pull on a few tabs that are easy to break, making the removal process more precarious than it should be. The battery itself is also fragile, and you’ll need to remove and reattach some very delicate cables. Despite all of this, it’s possible to replace your battery yourself, but it’s simpler to opt to take it to a repair shop. (Apple would prefer you use one of its own.)
But if reports are correct, the process could be notably easier with the iPhone 16.
The iPhone 16 may have an easy-to-remove battery
According to a report from The Information, Apple is planning on a new battery strategy for the iPhone 16. With this new line of smartphones, Apple may wrap the battery in a metal casing, rather than a foil one, allowing for a new removal process: Rather than having to pull on tabs to release the adhesive from the battery, you would send a low voltage burst of electricity through the battery casing to release it from the iPhone. If it pans out, the process sounds much safer and easier than the current system.
Apple wouldn’t be doing this out of its concern for customers. Instead, it’s likely in response to a new E.U. law that requires smartphones to have “replaceable batteries” by 2025. Europe has had quite an influence over Apple’s decisions over the past year, requiring the company to open up many of its closed platforms, including allowing independent app stores and browsers on iOS.
Despite that pressure, only the battery will be easier to replace. There are no rumors suggesting Apple is making the rest of the iPhone repair process any simpler, so the iPhone 16 will likely still come with the usual strong adhesives on its casing that will need to be heated and broken in order to open the device.
Apple’s battery changes may also improve battery capacity
This changes may mean more than just easier battery replacements. According to noted Apple leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will also increase the battery density on the iPhone 16 line by 5 to 10%. That extra boost could result in longer battery life, but seeing as Apple is rolling out presumably power-hungry Apple Intelligence features to these new iPhones, those battery gains may quickly disappear.
Jake Peterson
Senior Technology Editor
Jake Peterson is Lifehacker’s Senior Technology Editor. He has a BFA in Film & TV from NYU, where he specialized in writing. Jake has been helping people with their technology professionally since 2016, beginning as technical specialist at New York’s 5th Avenue Apple Store, then as a writer for the website Gadget Hacks. In that time, he wrote and edited thousands of news and how-to articles about iPhones and Androids, including reporting on live demos from product launches from Samsung and Google. In 2021, he moved to Lifehacker and covers everything from the best uses of AI in your daily life to which MacBook to buy. His team covers all things tech, including smartphones, computers, game consoles, and subscriptions. He lives in Connecticut.
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