Forget New Colors — Apple Should Make a Transparent iPhone!
Credit: Phone Repair Guru
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A YouTuber called Phone Repair Guru took a brand new iPhone 16 Pro and meticulously removed the back casing to make it transparent. This was no easy DIY project. The video was only 11 minutes, but it took way more time, tools, and chemicals to pull off.
The result shows the beautiful innards of the iPhone 16. In fact, the finished product is so cool and shows off the iPhone 16 Pro’s steel-incased battery that it makes you wonder why Apple hasn’t thought of it themselves!
The process starts with using a suction cup to remove the back glass, which seems simple enough. Removing the back reveals the iPhone’s intricacies: the MagSafe magnet array, microphone, flash, and water damage indicator.
Next, Phone Repair Guru uses heat and some tweezers to remove the graphite paper and some isopropyl alcohol to loosen the adhesive around the flash and rear microphone.
After gently removing the wireless charging coil, he soaks the back glass in acetone for 3 days until the acetone has completely evaporated. This allows for the remaining glue to be scraped off. Here’s where things get tricky. Because Apple made the back glass of the iPhone 16 lined with 100% recycled aluminum, it’s not so easy to remove with acetone alone.
Enter gallium. Gallium is a metal with an extremely low melting point. When melted, it looks like something out of the Terminator. It actually eats through aluminum, turning into crispy flakes that are easily scratched off. After all the glue, aluminum, and paint are removed, the rear case of the iPhone looks like a brand-new piece of glass!
Finally, Phone Repair Guru reinstalls the MagSafe magnets, the charging coil, the flash, and the camera bumps. With a little more heat and adhesive, he reassembles the iPhone. He calls it the iPhone 16 Pro “Transparent Mod.”
This thing looks awesome. It probably voids any warranty and we definitely can’t recommend doing this at home. but the results are amazing. Apple should take a hint! Maybe we’ll see transparent iPhones sometime soon. You can watch the video below and follow Phone Repair Guru here.
