Honestly, it’s just the 14s that have the battery accessible through the back, and the back glass is still glued on, so it’s not even easier than previous generations. But removing the screen/back glass isn’t even the annoying part, it’s the awful adhesive strips that Apple uses that tear the instant you try to remove them. Always ends up with a bit of heat, alcohol and prying. Not really difficult to do if you have the tools on hand, but not even close to the ease of yesteryear when you could just pop the battery out.
iPhone batteries were never removable via back cover
That’s the screen, there’s a pull tab under the battery that you pull out and then you can remove it
That’s still a thing on current gen iPhones.
In the newer iPhones you can even get to the battery through the back of the phone. No need to remove the screen.
Honestly, it’s just the 14s that have the battery accessible through the back, and the back glass is still glued on, so it’s not even easier than previous generations. But removing the screen/back glass isn’t even the annoying part, it’s the awful adhesive strips that Apple uses that tear the instant you try to remove them. Always ends up with a bit of heat, alcohol and prying. Not really difficult to do if you have the tools on hand, but not even close to the ease of yesteryear when you could just pop the battery out.