{"id":34275,"date":"2025-09-21T03:12:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T03:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/34275\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T03:12:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T03:12:06","slug":"ifixit-teardown-reveals-how-apple-made-the-iphone-air-so-thin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/34275\/","title":{"rendered":"iFixit Teardown Reveals How Apple Made the iPhone Air So Thin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Repair site iFixit<\/a> today did one of its traditional teardowns on the iPhone Air<\/a>, which is Apple’s thinnest iPhone<\/a> to date and the first major redesign we’ve seen in the \u200ciPhone\u200c line in several years.<\/p>\n

To fit all of the necessary components in a 5.6mm frame, Apple designed a camera “plateau.” The iPhone Air<\/a>‘s logic board is partially inside of the camera bump, providing space for a large, metal-encased battery. The position of the logic board also ensures that it’s protected from bending stress if the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c happens to flex, though we’ve seen in several tests that the titanium frame of the device is almost bend-proof<\/a>.<\/p>\n

iFixit tried bending the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c frame without any of the components inside, and it wasn’t quite as durable as it is when it’s fully packed. The frame easily bent, because there are weak points where Apple had to add plastic gaps to prevent cellular interference. As to whether the weak points will be an issue for \u200ciPhone Air\u200c owners, iFixit says “time will tell.”<\/p>\n

\"ifixit
Earlier this week, iFixit took apart MagSafe Battery<\/a> that Apple designed for the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c, and speculated that Apple was using the same battery for the accessory that it used in the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c. That’s now confirmed, and Apple did indeed include an \u200ciPhone Air\u200c battery inside the MagSafe<\/a> Battery pack. The battery has a 12.26 watt-hour capacity, and you can take the battery out of the \u200cMagSafe\u200c Battery pack and put it in an \u200ciPhone Air\u200c with no issue.<\/p>\n

Though the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c has a thinner design than usual, it’s easier to repair than you might think. There isn’t room for layers of components, and iFixit says that the thin chassis keeps parts from getting buried. Apple is using a clipped-in display and back glass, with no adhesive in sight. Where adhesive is required, such as for the battery, Apple is using adhesive that can be loosened with low-voltage electrical current. It’s a design that Apple introduced last year with the iPhone 16<\/a>, and now it’s expanded to other models.<\/p>\n

\"ifixit
Apple 3D printed the USB-C port for the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c to get it to fit in the chassis, and iFixit found that the company is indeed using a 3D printed titanium alloy that’s not as scratch resistant as the frame, but is “structurally robust.” The USB-C port is glued in place, but it is modular and can be removed if needed.<\/p>\n

The \u200ciPhone Air\u200c logic board includes the C1X 5G modem, the N1 networking chip, and the A19 Pro, all of which Apple designed. The \u200ciPhone Air\u200c is the first \u200ciPhone\u200c to have so many custom-designed Apple chips. The other iPhone 17<\/a> models also have the A19 and the N1, but the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c also gets the C1X instead of a Qualcomm modem.<\/p>\n

Overall, iFixit gave the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c a provisional repairability score of 7 out of 10, because it’s easier to get to the battery and not too difficult to replace a screen. Apple has also made efforts to release spare parts and manuals for \u200ciPhone\u200c repair, and has scaled down software locks and restrictions on parts pairing, improving its \u200ciPhone\u200c repairability scores.<\/p>\n

Make sure to watch iFixit’s full video to see the \u200ciPhone Air\u200c disassembled piece by piece.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Repair site iFixit today did one of its traditional teardowns on the iPhone Air, which is Apple’s thinnest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[373,32118,14804,342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-34275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-featured","9":"tag-ifixit","10":"tag-iphone-air","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-new-zealand","13":"tag-newzealand","14":"tag-nz","15":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}