Apple says iPhone 18 Pro is slightly easier to repair
What's the story
Apple has rated the repairability of its latest flagship models, the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max, slightly higher than their predecessors. The information was released in a product information sheet as part of EU energy labeling regulations. The European Union mandates smartphone manufacturers to self-rate their devices on various parameters such as disassembly depth, fasteners, tools, spare parts, software update duration, and repair information.
Repair ratings
Overall index score improved from 3.04 to 3.14
The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max scored an overall index of 3.14, which is a slight improvement from the previous generation's score of 3.04.
The disassembly depth also improved from 2.65 to 2.75 for these new models, while the tools rating jumped by half a point from 2.05 to an even more impressive score of 2.55 on Apple's scale (0-5).
Stability in scores
Fasteners and spare parts ratings remained unchanged
The fasteners and spare parts ratings for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max remained unchanged from their predecessors at 3.80 and 4.00, respectively.
Notably, the software updates score also stayed at a lowly one point as Apple only gets a higher software core rating when it agrees to support devices beyond the five-year minimum period set by EU regulations.
Design continuity
Similar builds repaired in largely the same way
The iPhone 17 Pro models and the new iPhone 18 Pro models have similar builds and are repaired in largely the same way.
However, there are small improvements in tools and disassembly depth for the newer models.
Apple may have introduced new tools for accessing some components, but specific details are not provided in regulatory filings.
Teardown anticipation
iFixit likely to conduct teardown soon
Repair site iFixit is likely to conduct a teardown of one of the new iPhones on or shortly after their launch date on September 18.
This will provide more insight into what has changed inside these new models.
As for the yet-to-be-released iPhone Duo, Apple has not published similar repair data as it is still not available for pre-order.