Apple Earns a Better Repair Score
iFixit gave Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro a 7 out of 10 repairability score after finding removable camera and battery assemblies, matching its score for the iPhone 17 Pro.
Owners benefit only if replacement parts, tools, instructions, software support, and common repairs remain available at prices below the cost of replacing the phone.
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A cleaner teardown is real progress, but ownership is tested after the warranty conversation ends. Apple controls enough of the parts and software chain that a repairable design can still produce an uneconomical repair.
iFixit has dismantled Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro and awarded it a repairability score of 7 out of 10. The group found that the camera assembly comes out readily and that the battery, once the glued screen has been opened, is held by screws rather than adhesive. The score matches the iPhone 17 Pro’s result from 2025: relatively strong for an iPhone, not evidence that every repair has become simple.
The new 48-megapixel main camera shows the tradeoff. Its variable aperture uses six tiny rotating blades, adding moving parts that can fail. iFixit judged repair of the individual blades nearly impossible, so a fault would probably require replacement of the full camera assembly. Easy removal helps. The price of that assembly will decide how much.
The repair bill is larger than the teardown
A teardown measures access and construction. An owner pays for parts, tools, labor, instructions and any software process needed to restore full operation. The available reporting does not provide Apple’s repair prices, identify every required tool or show what an independent shop must do to preserve each function after installing a component. Those are not footnotes to the score. They are the checkout total.
Apple introduced self-service repair in 2021, initially drawing criticism over difficult access to certain tools, and later added a Repair Assistant. That history matters because a replaceable component is useful only when somebody outside Apple’s preferred service path can obtain it and finish the job. A screw can release the battery while policy keeps practical control elsewhere.
The comparison also needs care. The iPhone 18 Pro’s 7 matches the preceding Pro model rather than establishing a new leap, while the ownership group PIRG gave the standard iPhone 17 a D this year under its own methodology. Different ratings ask different questions. Buyers should not treat one favorable teardown score as a universal verdict, especially without comparable parts prices and independent-shop results across rival phones.
Still, the construction changes have value. A screwed-in battery can reduce destructive work, and a removable camera assembly can prevent one failure from condemning the entire handset. If Apple maintains parts supply for years, publishes usable manuals and avoids software barriers, those choices can extend the phone’s working life rather than merely improve its launch-week review.
The practical test belongs at an ordinary repair counter: Can the shop order a genuine battery or camera, use reasonably obtainable tools, complete the software steps, preserve every advertised function and quote a price that makes repair preferable to replacement? Until that transaction works, 7 out of 10 is a promising design score—not yet a complete account of ownership.
Source Materials
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- Here’s the iFixit Repairability Rating for the iPhone 18 Pro Wired · September 21, 2026 · Primary signal · Direct source
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