iPhone 14 Pro Max: iFixit’s critical verdict on the design decision

Apple sometimes surprises with strange decisions: The repair professionals at iFixit praised the company for how much better the new iPhone 14 is to repair – but unfortunately, that is not the case with the iPhone 14 Pro Max at all. The iPhone 14 Pro is not as easy to repair as the other new models.

And that is exactly what is now puzzling: why did Apple change the structure of the iPhone 14 in such a way that the cheaper line-up can actually be repaired much better than the previous models, but little has been done with the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

DIY iPhone Fix Is Getting More Difficult

iFixit has that iPhone 14 Pro Max disassembled and fixed so that the more easily repairable “innards” of the iPhone 14 were not carried over. If the glass on the back breaks, it becomes more difficult to fix it yourself.

It’s not clear why Apple hasn’t given the internal components such a major overhaul for the entire iPhone 14 range. iFixit speculates that Apple wanted to limit potential delays, especially given the supply chain risks associated with the new Pro family camera and display technologies. This decision is open to criticism and basically does not fit in with all the efforts to make devices easier to repair and to focus on sustainability.

The Pro and Pro Max smartphones are stuck in the past, according to iFixit, as Apple’s legacy iPhone architecture isn’t that easy to fix. The iFixit teardown holds a few more surprises. On the US versions of the iPhone 14 line, Apple didn’t replace the recently removed SIM tray with something else. With this, Apple probably wants to push the introduction of eSIM rather than save space.

iFixit was also unable to locate a dedicated satellite antenna for emergency communications, suggesting that Apple is using standard cellular or WiFi antennas to send SOS messages. The overall repairability of the iPhone 14 Pro is “not bad” according to iFixit, aside from the need for cumbersome activation of parts after repairs.