Teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro reveals that Apple’s first variable-aperture main camera offers a photography breakthrough but significantly challenges component-level repairs, raising questions about durability and serviceability.
iFixit’s teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max suggests that Apple’s first variable-aperture main camera is a major step forward for photography,but a severe setback for component-level repair. The repair site said the new six-blade mechanism, driven by tiny electromagnets, is so delicate that the aperture assembly is close to impossible to service once it has been disturbed. In practice, iFixit said a failed unit would probably have to be replaced as a complete camera module.
That conclusion came after the team found how fragile the assembly is during disassembly. The aperture blades are made from a polymer composite and are extremely thin; once the lens cover was removed, the mechanism scattered, and only one blade could be returned to its original position. iFixit said it would not call the part literally unfixable, but described it as very close to that. MacRumors’ report on the teardown added that the larger camera module is still designed to be swapped as a unit, even if internal repair is unrealistic.
The rest of the phone is more repair-friendly in some respects, but not without problems. iFixit noted that battery replacement begins by removing the glued front display, even though the battery itself sits in a metal tray held down by 13 screws. That tray-based design makes the battery easier to access once the screen is out. However, three of the four devices opened by iFixit suffered damage to the white plastic frame around the display, and the site said that frame is bonded to the panel, so damaged parts cannot simply be re-glued into a fully reliable seal.
MacRumors reported that the iPhone 18 Pro has a 4,288mAh battery and the Pro Max a 5,567mAh cell, while also noting that the NAND storage is now buried inside the dual-layer logic board, making storage-related repairs less convenient. iFixit still gave both models a provisional repairability score of seven out of ten, the same as the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro, citing the screw-mounted battery tray and modular camera design on the positive side. It also pointed to the persistent need to remove the display for most repairs, and said further testing is under way on parts supply and software checks.
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