According to a blog post from leaker Maijin Bu, the new battery adhesive that Apple debuted on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus this year will be used on all four iPhone 17 models next year. With this new adhesive. Apple can use electrically induced adhesive peel technology which will allow the battery to be easily removed by running an electric current through the adhesive. The current will reduce the strength of the adhesive allowing the battery to be unattached from the phone using little force.
Once the current is applied and the battery removed, a fresh layer of glue will have to be applied so that the new battery can be fixed into place. The new technology replaces the use of heat guns, crowbars, and force to remove a battery that needs to be replaced on an iPhone. The advantage of testing the new adhesive on this year’s non-Pro iPhone models is that it gives Apple the opportunity to get feedback from Apple Store Genius Bar employees before all four iPhone 17 models use it next year.
It is interesting that something like the new battery adhesive gets its first real-world test on the non-Pro iPhone models while those are the phones that usually don’t get the first shot at new features such as improved cameras, the Dynamic Island, and the ProMotion 120Hz displays which still have been found only on the Pro and Pro Max models starting with 2021’s iPhone 13 line.
The battery glue used on the non-Pro iPhone 16 models will be used on all four iPhone 17 series models. | Image credit-iFixit
The ultra-slim iPhone 17 Air, which will replace the model that would have been the iPhone 17 Plus, will be able to use the new adhesive and electrically induced adhesive peel to keep its expected svelte figure since it allows Apple to do away with certain components for the battery such as brackets, screws, clips, and mounting brackets.
Even though rumored specs for the iPhone 17 Air do not appear to be anything special, the device is expected to be priced higher than the top-of-the-line iPhone 17 Pro Max. The latter is expected to start at $1,199 while the iPhone 17 Air has a rumored starting price of $1,299. The Ultra-thin design is supposed to be the phone’s big attraction and the iPhone 17 Air will reportedly not use the A19 Pro application processor (AP) and could sport the A19 AP under the hood.
While the iPhone 17 Air will feature 8GB of RAM allowing it to support Apple Intelligence, early rumors say that the device might have only a single camera on the back.