00:00This is the aluminum iPhone 15. We learned quite a lot about the titanium of the iPhone
00:0615 Pro through some rather destructive analysis, but sometimes the non-destructive science can
00:13still be pretty interesting. I sanded off the exterior anodizing of the iPhone 15 and stuck
00:18it in a desktop XRF scanner machine so we could analyze the metal frame. And we found an alloy
00:24of aluminum and zinc, meaning that Apple is once again using 7000 series aluminum
00:30for their base model of iPhone. Science is really cool. And speaking of cool science,
00:35huge thanks to today's sponsor KiwiCo. KiwiCo is one of those companies that I wish was around when
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01:27KiwiCo.com slash JerryRig. You can even buy crates individually if the subscription thing isn't your
01:33style. Screen free, constructively educational entertainment. And now it's time for our destructively
01:41educational teardown. Let's get started. Even though Apple has made this new iPhone
01:52lineup more repairable, both the 15s and the 15 Pros, they're still very difficult to get inside.
01:59With the saturationally challenged green iPhone turned off and the bottom two pentalobe screws
02:04removed, we can use heat to soften the watertight adhesive holding on the back glass.
02:09Once the phone reaches about 5 or 6 thousand degrees Kelvin, a super strong suction cup can
02:14lift up on the glass allowing the adhesive to be sliced away for a few seconds. After that,
02:20the reheating process begins again. This would be a far easier task performed inside an active volcano.
02:26I do like how Apple has placed the rear glass bracket right in front of the fragile ribbon cable.
02:31So as the cutting of the adhesive is performed, it is far less likely to damage the ribbon. Thumbs up for
02:37that. I'm an absolute huge fan of Apple's new repairable design. This repairable design, however,
02:43is only designed to be repairable by Apple themselves since each repairable component,
02:48including this back glass for some reason, is still software locked to the motherboard. But hey,
02:54we are making progress with the right to repair movement. Interesting to see that the bottom two
02:58pentalobe screws are able to secure the back glass panel by stabbing far through the frame into the
03:04little metal brackets on the glass. These little engineering details are incredible. Hit that
03:09subscribe button if you like seeing the insides of technology. I'll switch to our second screwdriver
03:14bit to remove two tri-point screws over the battery ribbon. It's got the plus and minus etched into the
03:19top and can be popped off like a little Lego. There's another metal bracket held down with a
03:24singular tri-point screw. And if you slide the bracket down, it comes off a lot easier. I'll unplug the
03:30rest of the back glass panel with its copper wireless charging pad in the center. At the moment,
03:34Apple charges $169 to replace this whole component. You can, of course, buy imitation glass panels for
03:41like 20 bucks off of Amazon or eBay. But if I'm being totally honest, a glass only panel is not worth
03:48the effort. It's nearly impossible for a first timer to reuse Apple's original metal frame, and I just
03:54don't have all that much confidence in your abilities. The rectangular taptic engine has three screws
04:00holding it in place, and this guy uses 100% recycled tungsten. The lower loudspeaker has five screws. And
04:07again, Apple does not appear to have a window for foam balls like we see on most Android phones.
04:12Now one of the coolest things about the entire iPhone 15 line that nobody seems to be talking about
04:18is that each and every one of these batteries is using 100% recycled cobalt, which is a pretty big deal.
04:39Cobalt is used for treating cancer, aircraft engine alloys, refining gasoline, and of course used in
04:54cell phone batteries and electric cars. So it's incredibly cool to see it being recycled and reused
05:00used by such a large player.
05:13So nice. Still says trained technician serviceable only and is 3,349 milliamp hours.
05:41The metal frame on the inside is the same piece of 75% recycled 7000 series aluminum that we see on
05:49the outside. Very different from the iPhone 15 Pro design which has aluminum on the inside and
05:55titanium exoskeleton on the outside. There are quite a few more ribbon cables and a couple more
06:00screws holding down metal brackets over the top of them. Then we have the front facing dot projector,
06:08face ID, and 12 megapixel selfie camera that all come out attached to the same unit. This does not
06:14have a YS. There is an interesting little box that sits just below the motherboard. This is where the
06:19SIM card tray should be. This box is just a placeholder, a space filler, since outside the USA the iPhone
06:25variants do still have physical SIM cards. The upper loudspeaker comes out next using a combination of
06:31Philips and TriPoint screws and also doesn't look to have any foam balls inside. The motherboard has
06:37five standoff screws holding it in place, which when removed allows the motherboard to rotate up and
06:42out of the frame exposing two ribbons on the backside. These are where the 6.1 inch Super Retina
06:48display connects with the phone. The front screen gets removed the same way the back screen gets removed
06:52and costs $279 from Apple to fix. It's also a good time to note that this double stacked motherboard uses
06:59100% recycled copper, gold, and tin. The dual camera setup on the back has three more screws.
07:06And while at first glance it does not look to have any optical image stabilization,
07:10the larger 48 megapixel camera in fact does. Just internally with a sensor shifting mechanism
07:17instead of a lens shifting mechanism. It's actually pretty cool and Apple has been doing it since the
07:22iPhone 12. And again, huge thanks to Tim Cook for color matching the lower waterproofing speaker gasket
07:28with my orange JerryRigEverything knife. Link in the description. Always a pleasure working together,
07:34albeit possibly unintentionally on Apple's part. I've been a pretty loyal Android user for the past 13 years,
07:40but I have decided to give Apple a valid shot and I'll be using the iPhone 15 Pro for the next few months
07:47with as open of a mind as I could possibly have. This will be temporarily of course before I
07:52pick which phone I want to stick with for the long term since I normally use my phones for about 3 or
07:574 years before switching. I like the direction Apple is going when it comes to repairability.
08:02Still a long way to go of course, but they are definitely headed in the right direction for now.
08:07With the iPhone 15 plugged in, it turns back on and functions like normal. Nice work Apple, and nice work
08:14myself. Hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. It's free. And remember, if you're looking for an
08:20extremely educational, useful gift for the holidays, that 50% off your first month of KiwiCo link is in
08:26the description. Thanks a ton for watching. I'll see you around.
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