New leaks for Apple’s iPhone 17 family have highlighted a surprise new model and the potential use of new technology to improve the smartphone’s battery.
A man seen using his phone next to iPhone 16 at the Apple store in Mumbai. (Photo by Ashish … [+]
The details come from Apple leaker Maijin Bu, reporting that the full iPhone 17 range will feature a new glue holding the batteries in place. While many will be disappointed in the continued use of glue, new technology means it will be far easier to release and replace these batteries without any excessive damage.
Running an electrical current through the glue will cause adhesion to lessen, allowing the battery to be removed without the previous use of heat guns, prybars, and brute force. It’s a one-time effect, so any new battery will need a fresh strip of glue to fix it in place.
Apple has already debuted this technology in this year’s iPhone 16, but it has only been used on this model. No doubt Apple will be reading the feedback from Genius Bar repairs over the next few months to discover if there are any other issues before a full rollout in 2025 across the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and Phone 17 Pro Max.
Bu also states that the glue will feature in the fourth member of the iPhone 17 family and a new addition to the family all that. The oversized iPhone Plus has reached the end of the line and will be replaced by the presumptively titled iPhone 17 Air. This will lean into fashion and aim to be the lightest and thinnest premium smartphone on the market.
Moving to a thinner design means reducing any excess material inside the device, which includes any clips, fixtures, or mounting brackets and screws. Glueing in the batteries is a time-honoured technique used by electronics manufacturers for decades.
Given the continued pressure to make smartphones easily repairable (both though the emotional arguments of “doing the right thing” and legislative requirements such as those introduced by the European Union), using a glue that can be easily released benefits both the impossibly thin market and the reduce/reuse/recycle market.
Before then, there’s the small matter of an update to the iPhone SE. It will be interesting to see if the SE follows the old way or the new way of fixing it in place.
