The new iPhone 17 Pro is built differently from the 16 Pro – and we’re not talking about just the switch from titanium to aluminum. The team at iFixit took apart the Pro and detailed the procedure in the video embedded below.
The new aluminum frame has a glass “window” on the back which lets through wireless charging and the magnetic force of the MagSafe magnets. However, it’s smaller than before – it doesn’t cover the whole back like it used to.
A look at iPhone 17 Pro’s new vapor chamber
This means that you can’t access much by removing the rear glass panel – now most repairs have to start by removing the screen. Once that is removed, you can unscrew the mid-frame – one change that the iFixit team rated highly is that the battery is actually attached to this mid-frame, making it easier to remove.
Overall, the iPhone 17 Pro is slightly less repairable than the iPhone Air, which was taken apart a couple of days ago. However, both the 17 Pro and the Air were given a provisional repairability score of 7/10 – the same score as the iPhone 16 Pro got last year. The primary concerns are that the majority of repairs require removing the display and replacing the USB-C port is quite tedious.
The iFixit video also addresses Scratchgate and explains why it happens – the shape of the camera island makes the anodization (which gives the iPhone 17 Pros their color) weak around the sharp edge. Interestingly, the two Pro models are more vulnerable to scratches than the vanilla iPhone 17, which is also made of anodized aluminum.
