Repair Options for New Apple Watch Models Remain Limited
Repair site iFixit has taken apart the Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4. It found a few improved components, but repairability overall is still low.
The device repair website iFixit has published a video showing the teardown of Apple's newest smartwatches, the Apple Watch Series 12 and the Apple Watch Ultra 4. The site is popular among people interested in electronics repair.
What the teardown showed
The repairers concluded that some individual components have seen modest improvements. Even so, the overall repairability of the watches, by iFixit's assessment, remains fairly low.
When taking apart the Apple Watch Ultra 4, the specialists focused on replacing the battery. That job is still complicated, because other steps must be completed before the battery can be reached. The source text is abridged, so the exact sequence of steps and other details are unknown.
Why it matters
Battery replacement is one of the most common repairs for smartwatches, so difficulties in this area are felt most by users and service shops. It appears that manufacturers have not yet fully embraced making watches easy to repair.
The teardown video and its conclusions are available on the iFixit website. They show how the Apple Watch Series 12 and Watch Ultra 4 are built inside, and how easy or hard it is to get to the internal parts when a repair is needed.
