Apple's latest product launch has received the now customary
teardown treatment by repair outfit
iFixit, and it has been declared a highly unrepairable device. The
Smart Battery Case has been dissected into bits and has scored a mere two out of a possible ten on the company's repairability scale, with the only possible repair found to be a difficult to achieve process due to the use of a strong adhesive to keep the battery in place.
After prying away the soft inner lining, the team found an aluminum back plate with a mesh attached to strengthen the silicone hinge. After removing Torx screws from the metal plate, the battery is confirmed as an 1,877mAh 3.8V unit attached to the rest of the components with a battery connector, instead of being soldered on, though the battery is held firm by glue.
Snipping away the silicone casing reveals a minimal logic board with a pair of Lightning connectors and relatively few components. It is thought by
iFixit that the main "smart" aspect of the case is driven by software, instead of the board performing any real processing.
While
iFixit suggests the Smart Battery Case is an almost unrepairable device, it is worth noting that it is a $99 accessory, and could be argued it is more likely to be replaced instead of repaired by the user, regardless of the ease of fixing it.