Among the points they cover in the teardown is the iPhone’s new glass backing, with “seven-layer color finish”, don’t you know, the presence of friendly Phillips #000 screws instead of tri-point screws, and magnets in the four corners of the camera.

iPhone 8 design decisions

Design decisions highlighted by iFxit include LTE future proofing with the inclusion of the Qualcomm WTR5975 Gigabit LTE RF transceiver and PMD9655 PMIC.

Also, for the battery, iFixit says the iPhone 8 battery “pumps out an underwhelming 6.96 Wh (1821 mAh at 3.82 V)”. They say it’s 7% less than the 7.45 Wh iPhone 7 battery, and 40% less than the Galaxy S8’s 11.55 Wh battery.

Note, though, that Apple claims battery life is comparable with the iPhone 7.

In terms of the physical build, good points include extra battery pull tabs and bad points include waterproofing issues and a hard-to-remove, crackable back glass.

On the good side:

“The two most commonly replaced components, display and battery, remain straightforward to access with the proper knowledge and tools.”

Not so good:

“The iPhone’s lower components, once readily removed, now lie trapped under a fussy combination of brackets and delicately folded flex cables.”

iPhone 8 net score

The net score? Below the iFixit historical iPhone score, earning a 6/10 on its repairability scale.

Images: iFixit

See also: Tearing down the Apple Watch Series 2 (and iPhone 7)