Last week, we saw a YouTuber tearing apart the Pixel 8 to give us an inside look at Google’s hardware engineering. We could see the phone’s internal structure, with the video also serving as a guide for DIY (do it yourself) enthusiasts who love repairing phones on their own. The same YouTube channel has now published a teardown video of the Pixel 8 Pro. It recently did a drop test of the phone, which is an interesting watch too.
Pixel 8 Pro teardown shows us its internals
As usual, the YouTuber begins the teardown by removing the physical SIM tray from the phone. He then starts digging inside, with the screen coming off first. Heat is used to loosen the adhesive attaching the display to the phone’s frame. After that, a pry tool is enough to lift it off, though a suction cup may make the job easier. The YouTuber notes that the Pro model’s screen is slightly more difficult to pry off than the regular Pixel 8.
In fact, he couldn’t manage to do it without damaging the display. Like the Pixel 8, the Pro model also has a cable under the screen on the left side. To detach the cable, carefully lift the display from right to left, remove the metal bracket, and disconnect the Lego-style connector from the main board. The display assembly now comes off completely along with the under-display fingerprint scanner.
To access the rest of the internals, you’ll have to remove 13 screws. You can then disconnect the 5G antenna and peel off the multi-layered graphite film that Google is using to help transfer the heat. This frees up the aluminum plate over the main board. This plate has a thermal paste directly over the processor to help in heat dissipation. It comes off with the vibration motor attached to it and makes way for disconnecting the battery cable.
Google has provided a pull tab to remove the battery on the Pixel 8 Pro. However, like on the base model, the tab couldn’t work its magic and required some isopropyl alcohol to dissolve the adhesive underneath the battery. Overall, removing the battery proved to be a fairly difficult process. It might affect the phone’s repairability score, which we will get to know shortly.
The Pro model is more difficult to repair
The rest of the internals come off fairly easily. You have to remove a few more screws and cables before you can lift off the main board. Unsurprisingly, Google has soldered the USB Type-C charging port to the board, making it difficult to replace the port. No wonder the Pixel 8 pro only scored 6 out of 10 in the YouTuber’s repairability evaluation. The base model scored 7. You can watch the full teardown video below.