Apple is making it easier for iPhone users to repair their phones with used parts
According to the company’s blog post, this new setup is all about keeping your data safe, giving you more repair options, helping iPhones last longer, and cutting down on the environmental toll of repairs.
For the last two years, teams across Apple have been innovating on product design and manufacturing to support repairs with used Apple parts that won’t compromise users’ safety, security, or privacy.
Right now, when you fix an iPhone, Apple makes you match the serial numbers of your phone with new parts sold by Apple. This is called parts pairing. If you swapped in a part that is used or not from Apple, you’d get annoying pop-ups saying the part couldn’t be verified. And sometimes, things like Face ID or Touch ID wouldn’t work at all.
Apple introduced Face ID as the new biometric authentication method with the iPhone X (Image Credit–PhoneArena)
The new change means these pop-ups for used parts will go away. Apple says it will handle all the checks for genuine Apple parts, new or used, right on the device after the part is installed. This also means you and repair shops won’t have to provide serial numbers when ordering most parts from the Self Service Repair Store.
Initially, this will cover iPhone screens, batteries, and cameras. Apple also plans to support used parts for biometric sensors like Face ID in future iPhones.
Apple is also getting tougher on tracking used iPhone parts. The Cupertino tech giant is expanding its Activation Lock feature, which stops a lost or stolen device from being used, to include iPhone parts. If a part from another device that is locked or in Lost Mode gets used, the phone won’t fully integrate the part. Apple says:
If a device under repair detects that a supported part was obtained from another device with Activation Lock or Lost Mode enabled, calibration capabilities for that part will be restricted.
Moreover, if you end up fixing your iPhone with a used part, your phone will keep track of this in the Parts and Service History section of the iOS Settings app.
While Apple still doesn’t approve of aftermarket parts, this is a big deal for repair shops and do-it-yourselfers who used to pay more for new iPhone parts. This support for second-hand parts comes after a long fight with the right-to-repair movement, spurred by new laws in the US and Europe.
