5 Popular Tech Products That Have Near-Zero Repairability, According To iFixit

As shopper tech devices get sleeker and lighter, one main side is taking a again seat: repairability. Generally talking, the repairability of shopper merchandise has been declining over the previous few years, and there are lots of examples of this. We’ve seen many tech corporations ditch user-replaceable batteries in favor of inside ones that do not enable straightforward replacements, and different parts like reminiscence and storage are soldered to the motherboard. Many well-liked tech merchandise are designed to make repairs troublesome, costly, or virtually not possible.

For shoppers such as you and me, that may imply shorter lifespans of the devices that we use, increased alternative prices, and extra digital waste. As a end result, talks round gadget repairability have gained momentum prior to now few years, pushed by the right-to-repair motion. iFixit is understood for its detailed teardowns and repairability scores that spotlight how simply a given gadget may be opened, identified, and put again collectively. The website’s repairability scores usually reveal simply how straightforward or troublesome the glossy devices we use day by day are to work on.

We’ll have a look at numerous well-liked tech merchandise which have earned extraordinarily low repairability scores in iFixit’s testing throughout 5 classes, starting from 0 to three out of 10. If you are available in the market for various shopper devices and care in regards to the repairability of your gadgets, then it’s best to keep away from these 5 well-liked gadgets as a result of they have been discovered to be comparatively exhausting to restore.

iFixit’s repairability score for the Apple AirPods 4 exhibits they’re among the many hardest devices to restore. With a rating of 0 out of 10, working in your Apple AirPods 4 to repair any points which may happen is an uphill battle for the reason that firm hasn’t accomplished something to make the earbuds straightforward to restore. The wrestle begins from the skin while you attempt to entry the interior parts, with iFixit saying it is troublesome to open the earbuds and doing so is more likely to be damaging.

Once you get inside, if you happen to handle it with out damaging the earbuds, you continue to face the hurdle of changing components. According to the positioning, the AirPods 4 haven’t any replaceable components. Even the batteries powering the earbuds are soldered, which makes alternative troublesome. The AirPods case can be simply as troublesome to work on, with Apple utilizing epoxy to seal it.

iFixit says changing the battery or the USB-C port, the 2 most probably parts that you just would possibly have to swap, is a damaging course of as properly. What makes the expertise even worse is that Apple has by no means supplied any self-repair manuals for the AirPods 4, and the corporate does not present any official self-repair components you possibly can swap in both.

When it launched, the Kobo Sage had an edge over Amazon’s Kindle in some methods. However, one darkish facet of this gadget is its repairability. Per iFixit’s teardown, this e-reader has zero repairability. It earned a rating of 0 out of 10, the bottom on iFixit’s repairability scale, making it one of many worst merchandise to restore. The website could not discover a single factor that Kobo did to make it simply repairable. In truth, a number of elements of the Kobo Sage led iFixit to assign it a zero repairability rating.

First, the corporate did not present an instruction guide that customers can reference for self-repairing the e-reader. Additionally, the corporate does not provide any official alternative components that you could purchase to carry out repairs. Also, opening the gadget is difficult and certain damaging, per iFixit, which discourages you from taking it aside within the first place. And as soon as inside, Kobo has soldered some key parts to the motherboard.

For instance, the battery is a consumable part that usually wants changing after a while, but Kobo has soldered it to the motherboard. Additionally, iFixit says the battery is additional secured with robust adhesive. Soldered page-turn buttons and a soldered USB-C port additionally damage the Kobo Sage’s repairability score.

Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup is understood for high-end efficiency, however the 14-inch MacBook Pro launched in 2025 is not nice for repairability. The 14-inch 2025 M5 MacBook Pro earned a rating of 4 out of 10 on repairability, with the one positives being that the battery may be changed, though not simply. It additionally options modular Thunderbolt ports — although they’re buried beneath the logic board – and Apple offers a full service guide and alternative components. 

However, regardless of these three wins, a number of obstacles make engaged on the MacBook Pro troublesome. First, getting contained in the gadget to switch one thing so simple as the battery is tedious and, per iFixit, requires a 35-step course of simply to take away the included cell. There are eight screws securing the decrease case that you will have to take away utilizing a specialised P5 pentalobe driver, as a substitute of the rather more frequent Phillips or flathead screwdriver, which makes repairs tougher on the MacBook Pro. 

Once you are previous the eight screws, you could launch sliding clips holding the again edge earlier than you possibly can take away the duvet, then disconnect the trackpad, ZIF connector, logic battery knowledge cable, and different tiny but essential gadgets that make the method troublesome. Apple additionally riveted the M5 MacBook Pro keyboard down, and storage is soldered — so upgrades or replacements are troublesome to tug off.

Another well-liked tech product from Apple that scored poorly in iFixit’s repairability check is the iPad Air 6, launched in 2024. iFixit rated the iPad Air 6 with a repairability rating of three out of 10. The largest barrier to repairing the Sixth-generation iPad Air is that the one technique to entry the pill’s internals is thru the display screen. So earlier than you possibly can change something, whether or not it is the battery and even the digicam module, the very first thing you must do is take away the display screen, which is, in fact, delicate. To make issues even worse, it’s glued in place, which requires further effort to take away.

As if that wasn’t sufficient, Apple has additionally failed on its half by not providing a self-repair guide that tech-savvy shoppers can use to work on the iPad Air. Additionally, the corporate does not promote components that you could swap contained in the pill. Lastly, iFixit notes that Apple makes it exhausting to take away the mannequin’s battery as a result of the logic board is glued down, and there is additionally a fragile connector alongside the best way that you must take care of.

The iPad Air 6 is not the primary iPad mannequin to earn a poor DIY repairability rating from iFixit, although. The 2018 11-inch iPad Pro additionally earned an iFixit repairability rating of three, so Apple clearly has a protracted technique to go to make its tablets straightforward to restore.

We reviewed the Nothing Phone 3 in 2025, and it impressed us on a number of fronts. However, it seems one of many largest downsides of the Nothing Phone 3 is repairability. According to iFixit, the telephone scored 3 out of 10, which, surprisingly, is a tad worse than even the iPhone 14 Pro, which is considered one of the most troublesome iPhones to restore.

First, what makes the Nothing Phone 3 troublesome to restore is that the corporate does not provide self-repair components or an instruction guide you possibly can observe for a DIY restore. Second, repairing the telephone’s display screen is troublesome, and iFixit has even described the method as one of many “toughest” they’ve encountered. The Nothing Phone 3 has a clear design on the again, showcasing all of the screws, and in the end giving a false impression that attending to the innards of the gadget is a stroll within the park. But as iFixit’s teardown reveals, there is a glued clear rear glass panel that have to be eliminated earlier than you will get to the screws.

And when you take away the rear glass panel, the Nothing Phone 3 additionally affords further challenges that make your complete course of tougher, reminiscent of hidden screws. The firm makes use of skinny ornamental stickers to hide a few of the screws, that are troublesome to reapply when you’re accomplished together with your restore job. As a end result, iFixit says that disassembly of the gadget is visually damaging.