On a Monday in early October 2024, the repair site iFixit opened up the 46mm Apple Watch Series 10, the thinnest watch Apple has yet made, and returned a verdict in a single number: three out of ten. Beneath that figure lies an old tension between the pursuit of slimness and the owner's wish to keep a device alive for years. The enclosed case that lets the watch be so thin is also what keeps its battery and bottom glass hard to reach, so the gain in elegance has quietly been paid for in access. For anyone who intends to hold onto a watch rather than replace it, that is the part worth weighing.
iFixit Teardown Shows Thinnest Apple Watch Yet Is Hard to Repair, Scores It 3 of 10
Thinner and, by iFixit's measure, no easier to open up than before
Mark
Why does a thinner watch score poorly on repair?
Mimi
Because the thinness comes from an enclosed case. That protects the sensor lens assembly, but the tolerances inside are very tight, so getting in is hard.
Mark
What specifically dragged the score down to 3 out of 10?
Mimi
Two things: reaching the battery, and replacing the glass on the bottom.
Luke
Worth noting the score is iFixit's own judgment, not an industry standard. It's one assessment.
Mark
What about the battery itself?
Mimi
It's 327 mAh, 1.266 Wh, a soft pouch like earlier models, held with traditional adhesive.
Mark
Apple changed adhesive on the iPhone 16, right?
Mimi
Yes, but that change didn't carry over to the watch.
Luke
And the report doesn't say how much harder or easier this is than the Series 9. It gives no prior score, so I'd avoid claiming a trend.
Mark
Anything new with the display?
Mimi
iFixit saw no noticeable difference from Series 9 inside. The wider viewing angles Apple tuned aren't visible internally.
Der Puls
- The thinnest Apple Watch yet has been torn down, and it came back with a repairability score of just 3 out of 10.
- An enclosed case made the slim design possible, but its tight tolerances leave the battery and bottom glass difficult to get at.
- The 327 mAh soft-pouch battery still relies on traditional adhesive, even though Apple changed adhesive in the iPhone 16 lineup.
- The Series 10 display looks internally unchanged from the Series 9, leaving repair-minded buyers with a thinner watch that is no easier to open.
On a Monday in early October 2024, the repair site iFixit opened up the 46mm Apple Watch Series 10, the thinnest watch Apple has yet made, and returned a verdict in a single number: three out of ten. Beneath that figure lies an old tension between the pursuit of slimness and the owner's wish to keep a device alive for years. The enclosed case that lets the watch be so thin is also what keeps its battery and bottom glass hard to reach, so the gain in elegance has quietly been paid for in access. For anyone who intends to hold onto a watch rather than replace it, that is the part worth weighing.
On Monday, October 7, 2024, iFixit published its teardown of the 46mm Apple Watch Series 10, the thinnest Apple Watch the company has built. The result was a single figure: 3 out of 10 for repairability.
The low score comes down to two obstacles. The battery is hard to reach, and the glass on the bottom of the watch is hard to replace. For an owner hoping to keep a watch running for years, those are the parts that count most.
The report traces the slimmer profile to an enclosed case, which let Apple thin the watch without sacrificing the sensor lens assembly. The cost is access. Internal tolerances are so tight that getting inside at all is difficult. The battery is a 327 mAh soft pouch cell, as in earlier models, and it still uses traditional adhesive, a change Apple made in the iPhone 16 lineup but did not carry over to the watch.
The OLED display showed no visible difference from the Series 9 when examined internally, even though Apple adjusted the panel for wider viewing angles. The picture that emerges is of a thinner watch that is no easier to open than its predecessor, and the 3 out of 10 score is the number repair-focused buyers should keep in mind.
On Monday, October 7, 2024, the repair site iFixit published its teardown of the 46mm Apple Watch Series 10, the thinnest Apple Watch the company has made. The verdict came in as a number: 3 out of 10 for repairability.
The score rests on two problems. It is hard to reach the battery, and it is hard to replace the glass on the bottom of the watch. Those are the two parts most likely to matter to an owner who wants to keep a watch running for years rather than swap it out.
The teardown points to the enclosed case as the design choice behind the slimmer profile. According to the report, that construction let Apple thin the watch without compromising the sensor lens assembly. The tradeoff is access. Tolerances inside the Apple Watch are extremely tight, which makes it difficult to get in at all.
The battery is rated at 327 mAh, or 1.266 Wh, and is a soft pouch cell, as in earlier models. Apple changed the adhesive in the iPhone 16 lineup, but the report says the same change did not reach the Apple Watch. The Series 10 still uses traditional adhesive to hold its battery in place.
iFixit also looked closely at the OLED display and found no noticeable difference between the Series 9 and the Series 10. Apple did tweak the Series 10 panel to allow wider viewing angles, but that improvement is not something that shows up when the display is examined internally.
So the picture is of a watch that is thinner and, by iFixit's measure, no easier to open up than before. For buyers who weigh repairability, the 3 out of 10 is the figure to hold onto: a battery that is hard to reach and bottom glass that is hard to replace.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
The score reflects how difficult it is to reach the battery and replace the glass on the bottom of the watch.— iFixit, as reported by MacRumors (paraphrase)
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