In this video I’m basically ranting (with receipts) about Apple’s direction on repairs, and why iPhones have become a nightmare to work on once you get past the older, simpler generations. I used to repair iPhones without much drama—like swapping a screen on an iPhone 7 in about an hour. But after running my repair business since 2019 and working on a wide range of devices, the newer iPhone design choices have pushed me to the point where I just won’t take on iPhones past the iPhone 7 anymore, purely because of the time and risk. I walk through a real job on an iPhone 12 where a cracked back glass turned into a multi-day ordeal. The extra-strong adhesive and sealing makes screen removal so aggressive that even with proper tools (heat pad, careful technique, experience pulling hundreds of screens), I still ended up damaging the display and had to source a replacement. Then you’ve got flex cables and components stuck down everywhere, meaning more heat, more prying, and more chances to cause damage. I also show how absurd the button retention system is—tiny locking mechanisms that take hours under a microscope—compared to something like a Samsung where parts are simply accessible and repairable. The takeaway: if your repair shop says “a week,” this is why.