Teardown shows that Samsung Galaxy S22 parts are interchangeable

A teardown by Australian repairman Hugh Jeffries shows that the parts of a Samsung Galaxy S22 are interchangeable. That hasn’t been the case with iPhones for years. The battery of the S22 is still firmly glued.

Jeffries does the teardown invariably with two copies of a new phone, so that he can exchange parts with each other to see if that causes problems. He exchanged the PCBs of two copies of the S22. All functions continued to work, including the fingerprint scanner and the cameras. The swap trick shows whether manufacturers have cryptographically connected parts, as Apple does with, among other things, the screen, Touch ID or Face ID and last year temporarily also with the cameras. If so, it makes repairs more difficult.

Even after unlocking the bootloader, all components continued to work except for some software functions. This is how Secure Folder no longer works. The cameras will continue to function. That turned out not to be the case with the Galaxy Z Fold 3 last year.

It became clear that Samsung has firmly glued the battery of the S22 back on. That was also apparent during an earlier teardown. The use of a large amount of adhesive makes it difficult for home users to safely disconnect the battery, making home repairs difficult.