iPhone 17e rear panel adds MagSafe to iPhone 16e, teardown reveals | Infinium-tech
Earlier this month, Apple introduced the new iPhone 17e with minor upgrades over the iPhone 16e, including MagSafe. Now, a teardown of the device reveals that iPhone 16e users may also be able to get MagSafe functionality through a relatively simple hardware upgrade.
The iFixit team conducted a teardown and found that replacing the rear panel of the iPhone 16e with the new iPhone 17e results in the older model losing MagSafe support.
iPhone 16e (left) and iPhone 17e (right)
However, the modification comes with some limitations. For one, the iPhone 16e lacks support for the Qi2 charging standard, meaning it won’t consistently get the full 15W wireless charging speeds. Additionally, MagSafe-specific software features, including signature animation, will not be available.
Rear panel of iPhone 17e on iPhone 16e
The teardown also revealed a high level of component compatibility between the two models, with most parts including the logic board being interchangeable. Both devices also use the same 1,728mAh battery.
That said, after the swap Face ID is not working, however the selfie camera works as expected. Despite this limitation, the level of cross-compatibility will make repairs simple.
iPhone 16e on top and iPhone 17e on the bottom
iFixit has given the iPhone 17e a provisional repairability score of 7, pending details on the availability and pricing of spare parts from Apple.
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