iFixit’s teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max shows a mixed picture for owners who may need repairs. Apple’s latest Pro phones use a screw-secured battery tray and removable camera assemblies, but reaching the battery still requires opening the display from the front. That design can turn a routine battery replacement into a much larger repair if the screen frame is damaged during removal.
iFixit found a variable-aperture main camera in both Pro models. The mechanism uses six small blades and gives the camera four aperture settings, from f/1.48 to f/4.0. The feature changes the amount of background blur and can make images a little sharper at narrower settings. It also adds moving parts to a compact module, which creates another component that repair shops may eventually need to service.
The teardown found a more encouraging change around the battery. The cell sits in a metal tray held by screws instead of being fixed directly to the phone with difficult-to-remove adhesive. iFixit said the electrically releasable adhesive inside the tray can be loosened with its repair equipment, allowing the cell to be separated cleanly when needed.
The access path is less reassuring. The back glass opens, but it exposes only the wireless charging coil and does not provide a route to the battery. Repairers must remove the glued display, and iFixit said the white plastic frame around the panel cracked or pulled away in three of four teardown attempts. The repair group cautioned that four phones are not enough to establish a failure rate, because heat, adhesive strength and technique may all affect the result.
iFixit also recorded the battery capacities of the eSIM models. The iPhone 18 Pro battery is labeled 4,288mAh, while the iPhone 18 Pro Max uses a 5,567mAh cell. Apple’s own specifications list up to 36 hours of video playback for the Pro and up to 45 hours for the Pro Max, but Apple does not normally publish the mAh figures on its main product page.
For now, iFixit gives both phones a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10. The screwed-in tray and modular cameras earn credit, while the front-entry design and possible display damage hold the score back. The teardown offers a useful warning for owners: the battery is easier to detach once a technician reaches it, but getting there remains the hardest part.
