iPhone 15 Pro Max Teardown: X70 Modem for Faster 5G, 5x Optical Zoom Lens, A17 Pro Chip, and More - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

iPhone 15 Pro Max Teardown: X70 Modem for Faster 5G, 5x Optical Zoom Lens, A17 Pro Chip, and More

by

Repair website iFixit today shared a video teardown of the new iPhone 15 Pro Max, providing a closer look inside the top-of-the-line device.

iPhone 15 Pro Cameras
While the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a similar internal design as the iPhone 14 Pro Max, the device has a redesigned frame that allows the back glass panel to be easily removed, resulting in lower repair fees for cracked glass for customers without AppleCare+ coverage. This change was first made to the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus last year.

The teardown provides a brief glimpse at the iPhone 15 Pro Max's upgraded Telephoto lens with a tetraprism system, which enables 5x optical zoom. iFixit said the Main and Ultra Wide lenses on the device appear to look the same as the ones on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, in line with information shared on social media last week. This suggests camera improvements beyond 5x optical zoom are the result of the A17 Pro chip and software optimizations.


iFixit says the iPhone 15 Pro Max has a similar logic board as the iPhone 15 Pro. In addition to the A17 Pro chip, the teardown confirms that the device is equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X70 modem, which reportedly enables faster 5G speeds as expected.

Overall, iFixit gave the iPhone 15 Pro Max a low repairability score of 4/10, in part due to Apple's parts pairing requirement that it says harms independent repair shops.

Tags: iFixit, Teardown

Popular Stories

iCloud iPhone 17 Pro

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Get Two New Perks on iOS 27

Thursday July 2, 2026 6:10 am PDT by
If you pay for certain iCloud+ storage plans beyond the 5GB that Apple offers for free, you will receive two more perks on iOS 27 at no additional cost. A summary of the two new iCloud+ perks on iOS 27:Increased daily usage limits for some new Apple Intelligence features, including image generation in the revamped Image Playground app. HomeKit Secure Video cameras receive generated video...
Read Full Article • 51 comments
iPhone 4 on Black Feature

Apple Facing One of Its Worst Leaks Since the iPhone 4

Thursday July 2, 2026 9:53 am PDT by
Apple supplier Tata Electronics recently suffered a cyberattack that resulted in thousands of confidential files being published on the dark web, and this reportedly included some photos and documents related to the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro. We have elected not to share any of the leaked photos in this story due to the illegal nature in which they were obtained, but they can easily be found...
Read Full Article
American Express Gold Apple Pay Feature

American Express Announces New Apple Pay Feature

Tuesday June 30, 2026 10:27 am PDT by
American Express today announced that you can now redeem Membership Rewards points when checking out with Apple Pay on the web and in apps on the iPhone and iPad. When checking out with Apple Pay on iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 or later, tap on your eligible American Express card (Platinum, Gold, Green, and others) and select the Membership Rewards points option. You can use points to cover all or...
Read Full Article • 15 comments

Top Rated Comments

josselinco Avatar
josselinco
36 months ago
As someone who upgrades fairly often (every other generation) this year I get to have : Always-On, Dynamic Island, 48MP, Satellite thing, Action Button, USB-C, and this Natural Titanium look that I personally find gorgeous. Not too bad for "incremental changes" ;-)
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jamdex Avatar
jamdex
36 months ago

We've reached peak iPhone. Incremental changes from here on out.
Its been like that for years
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
MrSkoTA
36 months ago
I wish a new company would come along to do this stuff (teardowns) and leave out all of their opinion and politics. I don’t like when Apple injects their politics or when anyone else does. Just give me the tech facts!
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dolmio Avatar
Dolmio
36 months ago

anyone notice a difference with the X70? ill be getting a 15 soon but I have a 13 pro max now and am just hoping for better cellular connection. reception in my town sucks but I see some other android people getting better signal than i
I had a 12 pro max with the x55 and now the 15 pro max with the x70 and there is noticeably much better reception and also download speed . I appreciate you had the x60 so can’t comment on that but between the x55 and x70 there is a significant difference
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jarman92 Avatar
jarman92
36 months ago
What is going on at iFixit? They used to release detailed, text-based iPhone teardown with high-res images on release day every year. Now, they take 4 days to release a perfunctory video with brief flashes of the actual device and far too much "clever" commentary from that bald guy.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sammy in SoCal Avatar
Sammy in SoCal
36 months ago

Go outside. Leave your phone in your house or in a bag. Live life. These devices seem to be ruling too many of you still. Excitement should have evaporated by now. You don't need to buy the newest device anymore. One day you'll look back and you won't even remember what number iPhone you had when you missed out on something great.
Where would we be without your wisdom?
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments