Apple's senior director of iPhone product design Richard Dinh recently spoke with The Sydney Morning Herald's Tim Biggs about the design of the standard iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, including internal changes that simplify repairs.
iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are equipped with a removable back glass panel for easier repairs, making them the first models that can be opened from both the front and back sides of the device since the iPhone 4S. The change does not extend to the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, which can still only be opened from the front side.
This new structural design with a central aluminum frame "helps to dissipate more heat across the entire surface more consistently," and the ability to access the logic board from either side of the device results in "improved repairability," according to Dinh.
Image Credit: iFixit
iFixit's Kyle Wiens last year said the iPhone 14 represents "the most substantial iPhone redesign" since the iPhone X given the increased repairability. He added that the changes are "such a big deal that it should have been Apple's big announcement—the iPhone has been redesigned from the inside out to make it easier to repair."
Dinh also touched on Apple's approach to designing the standard iPhone models, noting that the company does not have any strict formula.
"We don't always follow a recipe, as much as maybe our customers would like to predict what we're going to go do next, but it always starts with the customer experience," he said, adding that "sometimes we do draw from the Pros because they're just incredible" and "sometimes we go do something different."
Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by Juli Clover
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about.
New Apple Intelligence Languages
Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese.
AirPo...
Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device.
Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors.
Likely Features
N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7
Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by Juli Clover
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese.
Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues.
Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W.
The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max
61W USB-C Power Adapter
67W USB-C Power Adapter
70W USB-C Power Adapter
96W USB-C Power Adapter
140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed.
French blog Consomac also reported on this topic.
The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black.
Images Credit: Consoma ...
Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead.
Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors.
Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by Juli Clover
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week.
The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...
The fastest way to fix a broken iPhone is to buy a new one. All or this ifixit guff really grinds my gears. We want thin gorgeous devices not thick repairable bricks.
You know what really Grinds my Gears? These new iPhones. New iPhones with all those new features and fresh batteries, taking pictures of things in the dark. Ya know what? You're a.. You're out there jumping around with your new iPhone and I'm just posting here in Mac Rumors. So what am I supposed to do? We taking that new phone on a trip? Going to the mall? What do you want new iPhone? Tell me what you want!
This is a pretty obscure Family Guy reference I expect almost no one to get, but maybe one person will laugh at it, so....
Not sure this deserves any kind of ‘pat on the back’. Unless an average consumer can get parts and replace by themselves, really doesn’t matter. Still need to take somewhere and pay. Not going to be any cheaper if saves like 2 minutes repair time.
The fastest way to fix a broken iPhone is to buy a new one. All or this ifixit guff really grinds my gears. We want thin gorgeous devices not thick repairable bricks.
We? Thin? Hey Jony (Ive), speak for yourself.
Making it so that it's a little easier to repair than it is now doesn't mean it has to be thick like a brick. There's a happy medium somewhere. Take the Fairphone 4 ('https://shop.fairphone.com/en/buy-fairphone-4') as an example. It's not ugly or thick and has an iFixit repairability score of 10 ('https://www.ifixit.com/News/55818/fairphone-4-teardown-if-only-apple-made-phones-like-this').
This however is yet another piece of whitewashing from Apple, as their current third party/self repair renders any such repair difficult if not impossible not from a purely technical point of view - but due to draconian control of spare parts supply, pricing, "calibration" and tool costs.
