I have replaced many MacBook, iPad, and iPhone batteries in the past, including the one on my own iPhone 8 about a year or so ago. I just replaced the battery in my wife's iPhone 8, and while the repair ended up being completely successful I had an absolutely miserable time getting the old battery out, something I have never before experienced with any of the dozen or so battery replacements I have performed. I was able to get the adhesive strips under the more easily accessible end of the battery to release without any problem, but those by the Taptic engine broke off despite the fact that I have a lot of experience doing this sort of repair and pulled on them very slowly and at the lowest possible angle. Not Apple's best design by a long shot.

To those who have never attempted similar repairs to their personal electronics this battery replacement might seem somewhat intimidating, but as someone who has replaced batteries in a number of iPads, iPhones, and Macbooks I found it to be very easy. The only thing I might suggest to help the less experienced among us would be to show how and where to apply the Tesa tape.

Even using a heat gun in an effort to soften the remarkably tenacious adhesive, I found it impossible to use the suction cup to lift the edge of the screen sufficiently high to insert a pick. I ended up using an exacto knife and a single-edge razor blade to make the initial opening, after which I was able to insert and use picks per the instructions.