Senior technical writer, photographer, and tinkerer at iFixit HQ in San Luis Obispo, California.
Like many folks here, I’ve been fixing things most of my life—cars, computers, time machines. (Wait, sorry—that last thing happens later.)
I joined iFixit in 2013 as a technical writer, working mainly on repair guides and teardowns. I later co-wrote a lot of the instructions for iFixit’s university technical writing project, and helped coach a few thousand engineering students from over 50 universities through their technical writing coursework. I’ve enjoyed being a guest lecturer and attending academic conferences on technical writing, and helped teach a few of iFixit’s in-house workshops for technical writing instructors.
If working at iFixit sounds awesome, that’s because frequently, it is—I’m grateful to have been at the right place and time to collaborate on some world-class projects with this team. Because of iFixit, I’ve helped Greenpeace create its guide to greener electronics, consulted on repairability for some of the world’s top hardware engineers, and written repair guides for Patagonia.
My wife Zan, seen here in a rare photograph that I’m allowed to share with the internet.
I’m naturally an introvert and prefer to stay behind the camera rather than in front of it, but sometimes accidents happen. My talking head has appeared on a few broadcast programs and podcasts, like that time we tore down a Magic Leap One. I’ve also appeared briefly in at least one VICE documentary, wherein I badly needed a haircut and hadn’t slept since two dinners ago.
VICE News chased us to Australia for our teardown of the iPhone X.
I do enjoy sharing my photos though, and they frequently pop up in the tech press. That’s one of the really fun aspects of this job—you never know when your work might help a technology journalist explain a battery problem, solve a waterproofing mystery, or break down a new laptop design.
In my free time I enjoy scuba diving and reading (and sometimes writing) a lot of science fiction nonsense.
Yes, for your safety, avoid using heat if the battery is swollen. Use alcohol and plenty of patience/care. Rather than prying, see if you can slip a piece of floss underneath the battery to gently separate it. See ++What to do with a swollen battery++
Yikes. Hope you’re okay. It’s important to follow the instructions, so there’s no risk of this kind of thing happening. First line of Step 1: “Before disassembling your iPhone, discharge the battery below 25%. A charged lithium-ion battery can catch fire and/or explode if accidentally punctured.”
Disconnect and reconnect both the battery connector and data cable. Check both carefully for damage, contamination, etc. Make sure they’re correctly plugged in and fully seated. If you still have trouble, I’d suspect a defective battery.
You can go straight for the battery if you’re confident enough to improvise a little. Removing the board makes sense if you’re trying to protect the speakers from getting chewed up by the solvent. Otherwise, it’s faster and easier to leave the board in place.
Verify that this is the correct guide for your specific model—if not, we’ve got guides for all the other models, too.
Removing the Taptic Engine and speaker greatly improves your chances of getting the battery adhesive strips out intact. If those break, you’ll have a much tougher time.
Look closely at the X-ray—you’ll see an internal power cable running the entire length, with little coils for strain relief. Pretty cool!
Hey folks, thanks for your patience—We expanded the scope of the teardown and have some nice surprises in store. Steps have been updated and more teaser content has been added—check back on Monday or Tuesday for the full teardown treatment. It’s coming!
Forcing the battery out with a spudger creates a much higher risk of a dangerous accident. Also, flexing the logic board can separate BGA chips from their pads, at which point you are in for a much more difficult/expensive repair. Might work out alright if you’re lucky, but I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
Removing the screw does not disconnect the power—power comes from the battery terminals contacting the underside of the logic board, and they’re tricky to separate reliably at this stage of disassembly. This step is the safest and easiest way to kill power; don’t skip it.
Página 1 de 86
Siguiente