iFixit Launches New Tool to Help Remove iPhone 16 Batteries

Image: iFixit

iFixit today launched the VoltClip, a new tool designed to help remove the iPhone 16’s battery (among other things).

With this year’s iPhone 16 series, Apple has made battery removal and replacement easier by switching to a new kind of glue that can be easily and cleanly debonded by applying an electrical current. Older iPhones employed pull tabs to release the adhesive between the battery and the chassis, which were prone to breaking partway through and then requiring some painstaking, isopropyl alcohol-aided prying to pull out the battery.

Instead, the new iPhone 16 lineup has two tabs (accessible without having to fully disassemble the device) that you need to apply a voltage across, and after a few seconds to a couple of minutes, the adhesive underneath the battery cleanly comes loose. iFixit’s VoltClip is “a 12 Volt barrel-connector power supply juiced by USB” that can supply this current.

Consisting of a 12V DC barrel adapter and alligator clips, along with a removable USB-C-to-barrel converter, the VoltClip can deliver the 9-12 Volts needed to debond the iPhone 16’s new battery adhesive when plugged into a compatible USB-C Power Delivery (PD) source. However, that’s not all the VoltClip is good for.

According to iFixit, you can also use the VoltClip to jump smaller batteries (RC cars, for example), use the USB-C-to-barrel converter to power anything that will accept a standard 2.1mm center-positive barrel plug (such as some electronic music instruments) with a PD-capable power bank or similar source, or even hot-wire a smart lock that’s run out of battery.

“All-in-all, the VoltClip is the perfect thing to keep in either your fixing kit, or your charging bag, along with your cables, USB-C power adapters, and battery pack. It’s tiny, weighs almost nothing, and is bound to come in useful at some point,” iFixit said.

The VoltClip is available starting today for $10.95 USD on the iFixit website. There’s no word yet on when the new tool will be available on iFixit’s Canadian storefront. In its recent teardowns of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro, iFixit lauded the improved repairability and modular design of this year’s iPhone lineup.