[icebraining]

While I'm no Apple fan, I've replaced the charging port on my brother's 4S, and I can tell you that the "non replaceable" claim is overstated. It may not be as easy as a Nokia, but anyone with YouTube and a steady hand should be able to do it.

[wor3q]

iPhone 4 had it quite easy, take out two pentalobe (annoying, but screwdrivers are available) screws at bottom and you have access to battery.

On the other side, every other phone on the market at the time had a battery cover and toolless replacement was possible.

It got a bit harder with iPhone 5 though, since screws now secure front panel, not back to the chassis.