iFixit Tears Down iPhone 18 Pro, Explores Variable Aperture, More
iFixit said the camera’s six-blade mechanism may require a full replacement, and a display frame broke in 3 of 4 units it opened.
- On Sunday, tech repair site iFixit published its teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max, awarding both devices a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10.
- The new variable aperture lens features six tiny mechanical blades driven by electromagnets. iFixit calls the mechanism 'a feat of precision engineering,' yet warns repairs are 'about as close as it gets' to impossible.
- Apple relocated the infrared camera beneath the display while installing a significantly larger vapor chamber to cool the A20 Pro chip, which now places the silicon die side-by-side with memory.
- During the teardown, the plastic frame surrounding the display broke on three of the four units opened, potentially complicating screen repairs. iFixit noted this design has existed since the iPhone 15 Pro.
- While the camera assembly is accessible, iFixit warns that replacing the aperture mechanism could prove expensive, similar to the $249 cost of the iPhone 17 Pro camera assembly, though the device maintains repairability strengths like the glue-free battery.
40 Articles
40 Articles
Get a closer look at the iPhone 18 Pro’s mechanical camera
iFixit's latest device teardown shows us the inner workings of the new variable aperture lens inside Apple's iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, alongside some repair concerns to be mindful of. The adjustable mechanical iris opens and closes magnetically, controlling how much light should pass through to the sensor, featuring six leaf-like overlapping blades […]
iPhone 18 Pro teardown highlights mechanical camera aperture and a major thermal redesign
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max are the first smartphones from Apple to ship with a variable aperture. Samsung experimented with a similar mechanism years ago with some of its Galaxy and Note devices, but that run was short lived. Apple's implementation features six tiny aperture blades that physically...Read Entire Article
Here’s an up-close look at the iPhone 18 Pro series variable aperture
The iPhone 18 Pro series brings the first variable aperture camera on an Apple device, and that’s been one of the main talking points for the new devices. The team over at iFixit have now posted their signature teardown of the 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, which goes over all of the new components and devotes plenty of detail on the new variable aperture system. You can skip to the 7:25 mark in the video where the host begins poking away at the camera.…
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