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After live streaming the teardown process on Friday, the folks at iFixit have now shared additional details about their in-depth iPhone 13 Pro teardown. In total, iFixit gives the iPhone 13 Pro a repairability score of 5/10, down from the 6/10 given to the iPhone 12 Pro last year.
One of the notable internal changes this year is a new Face ID network that combines the Flood Illuminator and Point Protector in a single module. This, along with moving the speaker from the earpiece to the top bezel, allowed Apple to reduce the size of the iPhone 13’s notch.
iFixit explains that the front camera dot projector has “moved from the edge to the center of the module this year.” The flood illuminator was previously housed in the screen, but has now been integrated into this new module. iFixit also confirms that any screen replacement will prevent Face ID from working, which we first reported this weekend.
Face ID works even when we have disconnected the entire front sensor. However, any screen replacement eliminates Face ID.We tried to transfer the sensors from the old screen and port them to the Face ID hardware, but no dice. It looks like the screen is serially locked on the phone.
The teardown also assumes that Apple is using a new touchscreen OLED panel built into the iPhone 13 Pro this year:
Thanks to the expert knowledge of our new friends at Instrumental, we believe the iPhones 13 use “integrated touch OLED panels,” which, as the name suggests, combine the touch and OLED layers of a display – reducing costs, materials, thickness, and the number of cables that you can accidentally tear. Cared for!
Additionally, Apple’s decision to move the speaker from the earpiece to the top bezel means a screw is now under the motherboard. Here’s what it means:
At the top we find the out of place earphone speaker, with a nice little snoot. This snoot lives between the front camera and Face ID hardware, and connects to a channel that directs audio to the top of the screen.
While we love the simple spring-loaded contacts, one of this speaker’s standoff screws is stuck under the motherboard, which means you’ll have to remove the card to swap out the speaker! These layers are quite the ogre of repair.
In total, iFixit gives the iPhone 13 a repairability score of 5 out of 10. Noting that while “screen and battery replacement remains a priority” in the internal design, there are two key red dots against the iPhone 13 repairability:
- Again, double glazing means double damage per fall, and despite improvements in durability over the years, there is still no easy way to replace the rear glass.
- Pairing software components unnecessarily complicates many repairs, undermines the credibility of third-party repairs, and reduces the device’s critical functionality when repaired without Apple’s proprietary calibration tools.
You can find the complete teardown on iFixit.
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