The website iFixit has released a repairability score for the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus. Naturally, the people from the website have already dismantled the newly revealed flagship phone. While most people who check iFixit might be there to see how repair-friendly the phone is, it seems the component that garnered the most interest is the phone camera's dual aperture.
iFixit is a website that attempts to dismantle various gadgets — usually smartphones — to determine a "repairability score." This is a measure of how easy it would be for a phone owner to open their phone and do some repairs themselves without help from an actual service center. In the course of these dismantlings, iFixit gives a commentary on how easy or difficult a certain component is to be isolated for repair.
The repairability assessment for the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is pretty much usual iFixit fare, except that some attention has been given to the phone's dual aperture. This component is one of the few moving mechanical parts on the phone and apparently adjusts according to shooting conditions or user preference.
The "aperture blades," as iFixit calls them, adjust the hole into which light passes through. The S9 Plus has two blades for its two aperture settings: f/1.5 and f/2.4. Apparently, the two blades are enough for the phone's purposes, and the site has photographs of the adjustment in action.
In addition, a cardboard model featuring the aperture action also sits at the Samsung section of the Best Buy store in New York. This also serves to demonstrate how the Galaxy S9 Plus dual aperture works.
As for the actual repairability score of the phone, iFixit gave the Galaxy S9 Plus a 4 out of 10 (with 10 being the easiest to repair). They cited that the screen is the hardest to try and repair as it is held by strong adhesive, which exposes the screen to a higher risk of breakage during unsupervised tampering.
