iFixit opened the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max and disassembled their new variable-aperture main camera. The mechanism uses six overlapping polymer-composite blades, each roughly as thin as a human hair. The blades move magnetically. The teardown says repairers would have a very hard time opening and reassembling the tiny mechanism when a blade is damaged or stuck. That does not mean the entire phone cannot be fixed.
iFixit says damage to the main camera will probably require replacement of its assembly, but it found that the assembly is modular and relatively easy to access. Apple had not yet released replacement parts at the time of the teardown, so a definitive repair price for this camera was not available. The source brief's $299-plus guaranteed cost and claim of a laser-welded titanium camera chassis are not established by iFixit's report.
The teardown gave both models a provisional 7 out of 10 repairability score. It praised the screwed-in battery tray and removable camera assembly, while noting that battery access requires opening the glued screen. The plastic display frame tore on three of the four phones iFixit opened, but the small sample is not an estimated failure rate for owners or repair shops. iFixit said its parts-availability and software-pairing checks were still underway.
Apple's own September 9 announcement says the 48-megapixel main camera is its first iPhone camera with variable aperture and six blades. Apple describes four manually selectable aperture settings. Its photo-quality and performance claims are company claims, not results of iFixit's repair test. The practical takeaway is narrower than the brief's "unfixable iPhone" claim: the tiny aperture is not realistically repairable at blade level, yet replacing the complete camera module is feasible and the overall score remains provisional.
Sources: iFixit teardown, September 20, 2026: https://www.ifixit.com/News/119329/inside-the-tiny-unfixable-eye-iphone-18-pro-and-pro-max-teardown ; Apple announcement, September 9, 2026: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/09/apple-debuts-iphone-18-pro-and-iphone-18-pro-max/