Hi, Reddit! We’re iFixit and we just tore down the iPhone 11, the Switch Lite, and the Apple Watch Series 5. Ask us anything!

Yall ever get drunk and started disassembling stuff for no reason at all? Then waking up next morning trying to figure who dismantled any electronic device?

https://media.giphy.com/media/YQk8nXloVftzW/source.gif

What kind of bear is best?

Bobble Big Red Bear

Does the Switch Lite use the same joystick parts as the old Switch?

As far as we can tell, yes.

Will you ever launch a mobile app?

We have an app on Android right now, but it's a bit buggy. So we're in the process of completely re-writing it. Stay tuned!

What's your favourite screw head?

I'm sure my colleagues will have their own favorite, but I'm a fan of the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard). It's similar to Phillips, but much more difficult to strip! I'm a Japanese motorcycle enthusiast, so I see these a lot.

Why are there LITERALLY no EU coupon codes and why dont the North America codes work in EU? Thanks, huge fan of yall.

We offer coupons in our EU store a couple times a year. If you follow our social media channels (linked in OP) or sign up for our newsletter, that’s where you can get the DL on all things iFixit coupon-related.

Unfortunately, we don’t have one coupon that can rule all of our stores just yet, but we’re working on it!

What's your favourite tools to use?

A 3/8"-drive ratchet. The metal clicking noise is ASMR to my ears, and it lets passersby know that "Yes, I am indeed wrenching on my car over here."

I still don't understand how encasing the battery in the Apple Watch 5 allows a bigger battery to be installed? Doesn't the case consume space that would otherwise be occupied by ... more battery?

The foil covering/pouch surrounding pretty much all batteries creates a seam around the edges. On the 40mm Apple Watch, the battery uses a metal casing instead of a foil pouch. This metal casing creates a smaller seam than the foil pouch, thus taking up less space.

Oh! This is really cool! I’ve used your services before and they have been really helpful so thank you ahead of time. What I’m wondering is when you do these tear downs- what do you do with the aftermath?

We put the devices back together and use them to create repair guides! Then after that, we'll put them back together again and keep them for reference in the future (for comparing to other devices or coming back to something we might have missed before).

What's the worst thing a manufacturer has done to you?

Jonny Ive sucker punched me and stole my car once. The jerk.

Also, glued-down batteries are pretty rough...for all of us.

As far as us specifically, the Galaxy Fold teardown drama comes to mind as a recent example. I was sad (but I guess not surprised) that Samsung worked so hard to make that disappear.

But the Barbra Streisand Effect is a powerful thing.

Would you ever consider doing more with media and content creators beyond sponsorship? Creators like Linus Tech Tips. Getting them more on board with the Right to Repair movement.

All the creators we collaborate with or sponsor support our right to tinker and repair in their own way. During our I'm a Genius campaign we brought together Jessa Jones, Linus, JerryRigEverything, Strange Parts, UFD Tech, Gamers Nexus, and more in an effort to encourage more people to try DIY repair. We encourage them to join the Right to Repair political movement, but that's ultimately up to them.

We're constantly thinking up ways to team up with more fixers on YouTube. What collaborations do you want to see most?

Any way to fix the Iphone X cameras yet? both front and back cameras along with the white LED on the back stopped working. Apple won't even touch it.

No more photos for you!

J/K, we sell both front and rear camera replacement parts. But if you replace the front camera, you also have to replace the Face ID module because it's all one part. And when you do that, Face ID will no longer function because the component is paired to the iPhone's logic board. The only way to get that function back is to have Apple replace it, unfortunately.

Thank you so much for all the guides that you guys make!

Is there any plans on improving the selection of tools and parts available on the Canadian website? I often find out that you guys have a part like a MacBook battery but the shipping from the US makes the repair too expensive. Even the tool selection is somewhat limited.

International logistics is difficult, but yes, we're trying! If there's something specific you want to see on the CA website, let [email protected] know!

I recently put an iFixit battery in my iPhone 7 Plus and I followed the directions for calibration. It has been a full 7 days and my phone is reporting 98% health, is this normal to lose 2% in a week? After calibration it was reporting 100%...

That sorta just sounds like it's a margin-of-error thing, but if it keeps going down, contact [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and let them know about the issue. They'll take care of it for you!

Based on the design of the current Switch Lite, do you recommend it or should a person wait until Nintendo fixes their hardware?

Everyone here in the office thinks the Switch Lite is pretty solid hardware, and I doubt Nintendo will refresh the Lite for a while. If you're in the market for one, I’d say it’s definitely worth purchasing. Nintendo has been pretty good about addressing hardware concerns, including the joystick drift. And even if they don’t, the joysticks are pretty easy to replace!

if we had to keep very few tools that take up very little space, what's the bare minimal tools we should keep for maybe smartphones and other possible but unlikely problems that would possibly occur in the long-term?

Our Pro Tech Toolkit has pretty much everything you need for mobile repairs, and it folds up into a nice little pouch that's super portable!

Why is the kit to replace the series 1 apple watch 42mm so expensive? I need a new battery but for a little more, I can have Apple do the repair for me with warranty etc...

+1,000 if you can hook me up!

Our Fix Kit (which includes the part and the necessary tools to do the job) is $32, which we think is a very sizable discount from the $79 that Apple charges. Also keep in mind that we throw in the replacement guide for free!