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After the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max were officially released, I have actually been quite eager to see exactly how much Apple changed in this generation of phones.

Recently, a well-known overseas teardown organization has completely disassembled two new devices. In addition to the battery capacity of the previously exposed overseas eSIM-only version, this time we can directly see the new variable aperture structure, a larger cooling system, and the internal design readjusted by Apple to shrink the Dynamic Island.

Some changes are indeed more interesting than what was mentioned at the launch event, but after the teardown, there are also a few things that make me start worrying about future repairs.

After disassembling the variable aperture, I actually feel a bit worried.

One of my favorite upgrades for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max this time is this true variable aperture main camera. With four stops ranging from ƒ/1.48 to ƒ/4.0, my actual experience isn’t that the background blur suddenly became incredibly strong, but rather that the ways to play with it have truly increased. At night, you can control the light intake; after zooming in to ƒ/4.0, shooting streetlights or night scenes produces much more fun starburst effects.

However, after overseas teardown organizations completely disassembled the main camera, I actually started to get a bit worried. There are a total of 6 extremely thin aperture blades inside, each about as thin as a strand of hair, and they all have to move together in such a tiny space. The structure is indeed very sophisticated, but adding this mechanical assembly also means there is one more potential point of failure in the future.

Moreover, the variable aperture on a smartphone and a dedicated camera are two different things. The iPhone’s main camera has a very short focal length and a small sensor, so while the change in depth of field is noticeable when switching from ƒ/1.48 to ƒ/4.0, it won’t produce the extremely exaggerated background blur seen in cameras with large apertures. Foreign teardown organizations are actually quite reserved about this point.

The real trouble lies in the repairs. Replacing the main camera module itself is not particularly difficult, but these 6 aperture blades are almost impossible to repair individually. Once the internal mechanism actually breaks, the whole camera module will most likely need to be replaced together.

So I still like this feature for now, but after seeing the teardown, I have an additional question: after a few years, will this highly precise mechanical aperture actually be durable?

There are also a few quite interesting changes inside

Besides the variable aperture, there are a few other things in this teardown that I find quite interesting. First is Face ID. The iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max haven’t achieved a fully under-display design yet, but Apple has moved the infrared camera to the top left and hidden it under the OLED panel, so the Dynamic Island has shrunk a bit more. Under a microscope, you can see that this area regularly reduces some display pixels to let infrared light pass through, making it difficult to notice any difference in this spot when viewing the screen normally.

The cooling system has been significantly improved this time. The A20 Pro chip has been moved to the outside of the motherboard, and the memory has also been relocated from above the chip to the side, allowing heat to be transferred more directly to the vapor chamber. According to Apple’s data, the area of the new vapor chamber is three times that of the previous generation. Upon disassembly, it indeed occupies a large portion of the phone’s interior.

There is another interesting difference in versions. Overseas teardowns revealed that the US version of the iPhone 18 Pro Max still uses a Qualcomm modem, while other versions have basically switched to the Apple C2. The official website in China also lists the C2, so this difference actually has no impact on domestic users.

Compared to how much the benchmark scores increase, I find these internal changes much more interesting. How the Dynamic Island continues to shrink, and how the A20 Pro dissipates heat faster—these are the things that can only be truly seen after taking it apart.

How troublesome is it to repair the iPhone 18 Pro?

After watching the entire teardown, my biggest concern about repairing the iPhone 18 Pro is actually not how complex the internal parts are, but that you have to remove the screen first.

Although the back cover can be opened, it basically only contains the wireless charging module. For common repairs like the battery or camera, you still have to access them from the front. Overseas teardown organizations disassembled a total of 4 units, and the white plastic frames of the screens on 3 of them showed cracking or separation. The screens still work normally, but once this frame is damaged, the subsequent re-bonding and waterproofing will become troublesome.

The good news is that the battery is easier to disassemble than before. The entire battery tray is secured directly with 13 screws, so you no longer have to struggle with the adhesive when removing the tray itself. While there is still removable adhesive between the cells and the tray, replacing the entire battery pack is actually much simpler now.

The USB-C port is not as user-friendly. Although it is still a separate module, the ribbon cable extends all the way to the motherboard, with numerous screws, adhesive, and other components blocking the way in between. If it actually breaks, replacing it is still quite a hassle.

So overseas teardown organizations currently only give it a provisional 7/10. I don’t think this score is low; the modularity of the battery and camera is indeed improving, but I still don’t like that every major repair requires dealing with that expensive screen first.

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