iPhone 15 Pro Max teardown: a redesigned frame helps with replacing the back glass, a tetraprism periscope lens, software lockdown makes repairs hard, and more
as long as Apple is the one fixing it Malcolm Owen / AppleInsider : iPhone 15 Pro Max teardown reveals few internal changes, digs at repairability Chris Barylick / O'Grady's PowerPage : iFixit posts teardown of iPhone 15 Pro Max, highlights new finds, but dings repairability Richard Currie / The Register : Teardown reveals iPhone 15 to be series of questionable design decisions Jack Purcher / Patently Apple : The Official iFixit Review of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is out covering Apple's Tetraprism Periscope Lens and more Thom Holwerda / OSnews : Despite reports, Apple does, in fact, not support right to repair Karandeep Oberoi / MobileSyrup : iFixit gives the iPhone 15 Pro Max a 4/10 repairability score Jeremy Gray / PetaPixel : A Close-Up Look at the iPhone 15 Pro Max's ‘Tetraprism’ Camera Usman Qureshi / iPhone in Canada Blog : iFixit iPhone 15 Teardown Reveals Software Obstacles Adrian Kingsley-Hughes / ZDNet : Why iPhone 15 isn't as repairable as Apple wants you to believe Will Shanklin / Engadget : iPhone 15 Pro Max teardown reveals a mixed bag for repairability Ryan Whitwam / ExtremeTech : iFixit Calls Apple Out for Undermining Repairability With Parts Pairing Matthew Gault / VICE : The New iPhone 15 Is Actually a Repair Nightmare Joe Rossignol / MacRumors : iPhone 15 Pro Max Teardown: X70 Modem for Faster 5G, 5x Optical Zoom Lens, A17 Pro Chip, and More Kif Leswing / CNBC : iPhone 15 Pro analysis unveils Qualcomm modem and easier-to-repair smartphone frame Josh Hendrickson / PCMag : iPhone 15 Teardowns Are Disappointing for Repairability, Durability Alexander Maxham / Android Headlines : iPhone 15 Pro Max Falls Behind in Repairability Score, iFixit Reveals Sebastian Pier / PhoneArena : Here's the iPhone 15 Pro Max teardown, iFixit claims the titanium coating is scratching easily Paul Lilly / HotHardware : iPhone 15 Pro Max Slammed In Teardown Analysis Over Apple's Draconian Repair Rules Samantha Wiley / iLounge : Bottom microphone on iPhone 15 Plus and iPhone 15 can now be done Emma Roth / The Verge : An early iPhone 15 Pro teardown looks inside Apple's new flagship phone Threads: Chris Messina / @chris : @iFixiIt's iPhone 15 Pro teardown is out — and includes a brutal teardown of Apple's backsliding repairability: “The iPhone is the market leader, but Apple is trailing the pack on repairability. This gap is completely self-inflicted, with a perfectly serviceable hardware design that is sabotaged by an incredibly complex regime of parts pairing and cloud calibrations. … Mastodon: Matthew Rimmer / @drrimmer@aus.social : ‘Right to repair has no cannier, more dedicated adversary than Apple, a company whose most innovative work is dreaming up new ways to sneakily sabotage electronics repair while claiming to be a caring environmental steward, a lie that covers up the mountains of e-waste that Apple dooms our descendants to wade through.’ @pluralistic https://pluralistic.net/... #righttorepair #apple Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life@mas.to : When Apple vocally switched sides to support California's “right to repair” law, I knew there had to be a catch. Cory Doctorow explains the catch eloquently. — Apple uses VIN locking or parts pairing which is a process also used by car makers, printer manufacturers & Medtronic ventilators that requires a secret code from the manufacturer to enable replacement parts to be recognized. … Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life@mas.to : Tim Cook laid it out for his investors as to why the company will always be against users repairing gheir devices. When people can repair their devices, they don't buy new ones. When people don't buy new devices, Apple doesn't sell them new devices. It's that's simple. … Cory Doctorow / @pluralistic@mamot.fr : #RightToRepair has no cannier, more dedicated adversary than #apple whose most innovative work is dreaming up new ways to sneakily sabotage repair while claiming to be a caring environmental steward, a lie that covers up the mountains of #ewaste that Apple dooms our descendants to wade through. … Cory Doctorow / @pluralistic@mamot.fr : Congress needs to rid us of this scourge, to let us bring back all the benefits of #interoperability. I explain how this all came to be - and what we should do about it - in my new #VersoBooks title, *#TheInternetCon: How to Seize the Means of Computation. https://www.versobooks.com/... 30/ Cory Doctorow / @pluralistic@mamot.fr : That's why it was so great when #Colorado passed the nation's first wheelchair right to repair bill last year: — https://www.eff.org/... California actually just passed *two* right to repair bills; the other one was SB-271, which mirrors Colorado's HB22-1031: — https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/ ... … Cory Doctorow / @pluralistic@mamot.fr : But it can't be the end. When #BillClinton signed DMCA 1201 into law 25 years ago, he loaded a gun and put it on the nation's mantlepiece and now it's Act III and we're all getting sprayed with bullets. Everything from ovens to insulin pumps, thermostats to lightbulbs, has used DMCA 1201 to limit repair, modification and improvement. … X: Tae Kim / @firstadopter : It is now confirmed that the iPhone 15 Pro Max has the X70 Qualcomm modem chipset, offering faster 5G speeds versus last year's 14 Pro Max's X65. Source: iFixIt https://www.youtube.com/... Joe Rossignol / @rsgnl : iPhone 15 Pro Max teardown from @iFixit confirms Apple is using Qualcomm's Snapdragon X70 modem, as expected, for faster 5G. It also provides a look at the tetraprism lens system and more. Chance Miller / @chancehmiller : Random tidbit from the first iPhone 15 Pro teardown: there's no branding inside for the A17 Pro chip. iPhone 14 Pro had an “A16 Bionic” logo inside. [image] Forums: Hacker News : iPhone 15 teardown reveals software lockdown Hacker News : Apple fucked us on right to repair (again) Slashdot : Cory Doctorow: Apple Sabotages Right-to-Repair Using ‘Parts-Pairing’ and the DMCA MacRumors Forums : iPhone 15 Pro Max Teardown: X70 Modem for Faster 5G, 5x Optical Zoom Lens, A17 Pro Chip, and More
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple’s prior flagship teardown found an internal layout that was difficult to repair; the 15 Pro Max instead introduces a frame change that makes back-glass work more accessible. That is a meaningful hardware-design reversal from the repair-challenging iPhone 14 Pro Max layout.
The shift lands amid Apple’s earlier Self Service Repair effort, whose battery-replacement process involved rented, heavy repair equipment. The new teardown suggests that more serviceable physical construction does not by itself make an independent repair practical when software authorization remains a constraint.
First-order effects
- Back-glass replacement and the bottom microphone on the iPhone 15/15 Plus become physically easier to service, reducing one set of hardware barriers for repair technicians.
- Parts pairing and cloud calibration can still limit independent repairs of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, despite the redesigned frame; Apple retains control over which repairs can be fully completed and recognized.
Second-order effects
- Independent repair businesses gain from simpler access to some components but may still need Apple-controlled tools or processes for paired parts, making repair outcomes uneven across components.
- The contrast between easier hardware access and software locks sharpens the practical focus of right-to-repair scrutiny: access to parts and tools may not be sufficient without functional post-repair calibration.
Third-order effects
- If Apple continues separating physical modularity from software authorization, repairability will be determined increasingly by device software policy rather than teardown-friendly construction alone.
- This strengthens the broader contest over whether right-to-repair rules must address parts pairing and calibration, an issue highlighted in coverage of what remains after California’s Right to Repair Act support.
The trend: Smartphone repairability is shifting from a question of physical disassembly toward a combined contest over hardware design, diagnostic tools, and software-controlled part authorization.