iFixit

iFixit’s September 2025 iPhone Air teardown found that Apple’s ultra-thin design still retained a repairable internal layout, extending its role as a repairability watchdog.

Who they are

iFixit appears in coverage as a teardown publisher and DIY-repair infrastructure partner: it examines device internals, judges repairability, and works with manufacturers to supply parts and repair guidance. Its stories place it between consumer hardware makers and users seeking to maintain their own devices.

The recent arc

Coverage peaked in 2022 as repair partnerships became a more prominent hardware-industry issue, notably Google’s plan to sell parts for Pixel devices through iFixit. That partnership expanded into 2023 with planned DIY repair support for the Pixel Fold, including its battery and inner folding display, while Logitech also tapped iFixit for genuine parts, batteries, and guides for selected products. These stories cast iFixit less simply as a teardown outlet and more as an operational channel for manufacturer-backed repair.

The recent arc

The later story line has been more conflicted. In May 2024, iFixit and Samsung ended their two-year repair partnership, with CEO Kyle Wiens saying Samsung was not interested in enabling repair at scale; separately, iFixit joined Freelancer.com and other publishers in alleging aggressive scraping by Anthropic’s crawler. Its latest major device story returned to its core analytical role: the iPhone Air teardown highlighted Apple’s placement of the logic board above the battery and concluded the thin phone remained repairable.

The tension

The coverage centers on the gap between manufacturers’ repair commitments and the practical limits imposed by parts access, device design, and software controls. Google’s Pixel Fold arrangement and Logitech’s parts program show companies using iFixit to broaden sanctioned repair, while the collapse of the Samsung relationship and iFixit’s criticism of the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s software lockdown show why a parts partnership alone may not deliver repair at scale.

Why it matters

If manufacturers continue to treat repair as both a design and service-channel decision, iFixit’s teardowns and partnerships remain a visible test of whether those commitments work in practice. The divergent paths of Google, Logitech, Samsung, and Apple suggest the outcome is uncertain: hardware can become easier to open or service while restrictions on components, screens, or software still constrain meaningful independent repair.

Related: Apple · Samsung · Google · Kyle Wiens · iPhone 15 Pro Max teardown: a redesigned frame helps with replacing th