Today, the overseas repair team iFixit released a disassembly video of the iPhone 16e. They found that the iPhone 16e uses a new battery quick-release technology, and analyzed in detail Apple’s first self-developed 5G baseband-C1. Apple develops its own 5G baseband. iFixit said that the C1 baseband uses a 4nm process similar to Qualcomm X71M, but the radio frequency chip is not integrated in the same package, which may affect signal stability.
After preliminary testing, C1’s energy efficiency is better than Qualcomm’s solution and can effectively improve the battery life of iPhone 16e. However, the actual network performance requires long-term testing and verification.
During the disassembly process, iFixit said that the iPhone 16e uses the same battery quick-release technology as the iPhone 16 series. No traditional pull-bar operation is required. The battery can be removed simply by triggering the separation adhesive by low-voltage current, which greatly reduces the risk of disassembly.
Compared with iPhone 16, iPhone 16e has eliminated an ultra-wide-angle lens, so the battery capacity has been increased to 15.55Wh (approximately 4005mAh). Not only is the battery capacity increased by 12.4% compared to iPhone SE3, but the actual battery life is also significantly better than iPhone 16.
In addition, iFixit stated that if users want to replace the iPhone 16e charging interface, they need to completely disassemble the internal components, which is more complicated than the previous generation. Moreover, the RF board and logic board adopt a layered design, which requires multi-layer disassembly during repair, which greatly increases the disassembly time.