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a few days ago, we introduced the secret behind the increased price of iphone 16 battery replacement. the steel-case battery on the pro version is likely to be the bulk of the cost, making the repair price of the new iphone reach a new high.

domestic and foreign "technology teardown zone" bloggers have successively released the complete disassembly and assembly process of iphone 16 pro/16 pro max in the past few days, as well as the internal structure.

according to the usual practice in previous years, the larger iphone 16 pro max will be slightly higher than the smaller iphone 16 pro in many detailed configurations to distinguish high-end and sub-high-end models. this year, except for the screen and battery, the two are different. , other configurations basically remain highly consistent.

this happens not only on the high-end pro, but also on the standard version: the entire series is equipped with operation buttons and camera control buttons as standard.

so, the iphone 16 pro (max), which looks no different from the iphone 15 pro (max), will have any upgrades and improvements inside the fuselage? let's take a look.

messy battery configuration

the starting point for disassembly is still the two pentalobe screws at the bottom, but the order of opening the machine has changed a bit this year.

image from: ifixit

the redesigned "screen-middle frame-backplate" structure allows the iphone 16 pro (max) to be opened from the backplate. in the past, the mainboard structure could only be seen by first prying off the screen. the disassembly process had to be done carefully because of this oled screen repairs and replacements are not cheap.

image from: ifixit

starting from the back panel, you don’t have to be timid, look forward and backward, and you don’t have to worry about the high cost of the screen.

after prying off the glass back panel, you can see that the internal layout of the iphone 16 pro and 16 pro max are the same. although the sizes of the two machines are different, the sizes of the rear module, faceid and motherboard are exactly the same. the biggest difference is also the most conspicuous module, a dazzling metal-cased battery.

image from: ifixit

this year's upgraded steel case battery should have made a lot of difference in the price difference between the 16 standard series and the pro series.

this new battery casing material has caused a lot of controversy and rumors some time ago. we have also given a detailed explanation on whether the new iphone will explode.

the discussion about batteries doesn’t stop there. logically speaking, the internal and external materials of the batteries of iphone 16 pro and pro max should be consistent.after all, the latter is half a level higher than the former in terms of positioning, but this time the pro seems to be the protagonist, and even has a tendency to rebel against tiangang.

open the cable protective cases of the "backplate-back cover" of the two mobile phones, pull out the connecting wires, and put them together. it is not difficult to find that the metal shell on the iphone 16 pro does not appear on the iphone 16 pro max. the 16 pro max still uses an aluminum-plastic soft-pack battery case.

image from: ifixit

compared with aluminum-plastic soft shells, metals have better heat dissipation and are harder. more importantly, metal shells are stronger and can withstand greater pressure when encountering violent impacts. even if the battery is really if damaged, the entire battery pack will not be prone to deformation and explosion.

image from: ifixit

but why is it only made of metal for the battery of the iphone 16 pro, but not the more expensive 16 pro max? this difference is indeed puzzling. the only explanation currently available from a user perspective is that the weight of the iphone 16 pro max has reached what apple considers to be the limit. the traditional aluminum-plastic soft casing is used to control the weight of the entire machine.

what is also puzzling is the battery removal method for the four iphone 16 models. there are 4 new models in total, and they are divided into 2 methods.

the iphone 16 and 16 plus use voltage-sensitive battery glue. when the power is connected to the dedicated interface, the battery can be easily removed, which is very convenient and safer.

image from: ifixit

the iphone 16 pro uses the previous stretch adhesive strip. use tweezers to grab the end of the adhesive strip and pull it out, and the battery can be removed, but occasionally the adhesive strip will be broken.

image from: ifixit

if the rubber strip on the iphone 16 pro breaks, you can use tools to pry it open without worrying about damaging the battery. but if it breaks on the 16 pro max, it is best to take it to a professional to handle it. the battery with a soft shell is not suitable for violence disassembly may not only harm the battery, but may also harm yourself.

image from: ifixit

some thoughts on surrounding accessories

looking from top to bottom, due to the use of higher-density titanium metal, high-frequency 5g signals are difficult to penetrate, so the 16 pro and 16 pro max uniformly move the antennas upward to be as close to the frame as possible, and have also specially added wide design to increase the signal receiving area.

image from: ifixit

apple engineers are indeed working hard for better mobile phone signals, but the iphone signal problem is somewhat difficult to explain no matter which generation model it is. i wonder if you are the "victim" who often loses contact.

the lens module below has also changed. this time, in addition to increasing the ultra-wide-angle pixels to 48mp, the "quadruple reflection prism" telephoto lens that was exclusive to the pro max last year has been transferred to the 16 pro. after disassembly, it can be seen from the lens structure that the telephoto lenses of the two mobile phones are exactly the same.

image from: ifixit

the lidar of the iphone 16 pro (max) is also placed separately just below the telephoto lens. the independent structure makes its disassembly and repair process more convenient.

image from: ifixit

it was also introduced at the press conference that the iphone 16 pro (max) has 4 built-in studio-level microphones, which can achieve spatial audio recording and multi-track recording functions. one of them is hidden on the back panel and is in the same position as the previous generation microphone. put together, the size comparison is clear at a glance.

picture from: microcomputer wekihome

due to the addition of camera control buttons this year, the original millimeter wave antenna gave way to the camera control buttons and was moved to the right side of the lens module, but it is not used on the chinese version of the iphone itself.therefore, the place where the millimeter wave antenna was originally placed has become a piece of black plastic on the national bank version, and the interface of the millimeter wave antenna is also empty, and no other components are connected.

picture from: microcomputer wekihome

the motherboard, which is only one-third the size of the battery, is one of the highlights of iphone disassembly every year. the 16 pro (max) still uses traditional technology - a double-layer stacked board design, and the motherboard size and layout of the two models are exactly the same, and there is no because of the difference in body size, make corresponding adjustments.

picture from: microcomputer wekihome

however, compared with the iphone 15 pro (max), it is still visibly smaller.

a small-sized motherboard requires more panels to participate in the work. the entire panel has been distributed from the double-layered three-sided layout of the previous generation to the double-layered four-sided layout of the 16 pro (max).all core components and chips are orderly distributed on various panels of the motherboard:

qualcomm sdx71m modem;

a18 pro chip with 6-core cpu, 6-core gpu and a 16-core neural engine;

8gb of lpddr5 sdram;

kyoxia 128 gb nand flash storage;

image from: ifixit

at the bottom of the fuselage are the taptic engine, usb-c module and bottom speaker.

the size of the taptic engine has increased, and the c port of the iphone 16 pro (max) still maintains high-end tonality, which is usb 3.0; ifixit found when disassembling the c port assembly that the taptic engine cable leads directly to usb-c :

for the first time, i didn't have to remove a bunch of components and a dozen phillips, triangular screws, and brackets from the inside of the phone to get to the usb-c port. this is a very simplified design.

image from: ifixit

perhaps this is also the last time ifixit gave the iphone 16 pro (max) a repairability score of 7 out of 10. you must know that they only gave 4 points to last year's iphone 15 pro max.

this is apple’s optimization and trend for product after-sales maintenance.because it is released together with the new machine, there is also a "maintenance manual" on the official website. although there are official instructions, i still don’t recommend that you disassemble your iphone without any experience, preparation, and professional tools.

from the appearance, there is not much difference between the iphone 16 pro (max) and the high-end version of the previous generation; from the inside, the difference does not seem to be particularly obvious. compared with iterative upgrades, the 16 pro (max) is actually more like the 15 pro (max) half-generation update.

everyone knows that apple is squeezing out toothpaste every year, but it still cannot match the big brother's attention. i just hope that in the next two or three years, we can see apple making big moves on the iphone again.