The Apple repair process for iPhones will be revamped later this year to allow customers and independent providers to utilise used Apple parts when fixing products.
According to a statement released by the tech company, select iPhone models will be able to be repaired with used parts from this autumn.
Apple said the new process is designed to maintain an iPhone user’s privacy, security, and safety, but help increase product longevity, and minimise the environmental impact of a Apple repair. Essentially, used genuine Apple parts will now benefit from the full functionality and security afforded by the original factory calibration, just like new genuine Apple parts.
John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, commented: “At Apple, we’re always looking for new ways to deliver the best possible experience for our customers while reducing the impact we have on the planet, and a key part of that means designing products that last.
“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. With this latest expansion to our repair programme, we’re excited to be adding even more choice and convenience for our customers, while helping to extend the life of our products and their parts.”
The process of confirming whether or not a repair part is genuine and gathering information about the part – often referred to as “pairing” – is a crucial element of preserving the privacy, security, and safety of an iPhone, according to Apple.
Apple said its teams have been working over the last two years to enable the reuse of parts such as biometric sensors used for face ID or touch ID. Later this year, the calibration for genuine Apple parts, new or used, will happen on device after the part is installed.
Future iPhone releases will also have support for used biometric sensors. And in order to simplify the repair process, customers and service providers will no longer need to provide a device’s serial number when ordering parts from the ‘Self Service Repair Store ‘ for repairs not involving replacement of the logic board.
Apple also said:
- Apple will extend its ‘Activation Lock’ feature to iPhone parts to deter stolen iPhones from being disassembled for parts. “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,” it stated.
- Apple said “it’s important that a device’s second or third owners have access to its full part and repair histories”. With ‘Parts and Service history’, located within Settings on iOS, owners can already get this information, but from this autumn, Apple plans to expand Parts and Service History to additionally show whether a part is a “new or used genuine Apple part”.
- Apple said in the last five years it has nearly doubled the number of service locations with access to genuine Apple parts, tools, and training to more than 10,000 independent repair providers and Apple authorised service providers. “For those who have the relevant experience repairing electronic devices, Self Service Repair gives access to the manuals, genuine Apple parts, and tools used at Apple Store and Apple Authorised Service Provider locations. Launched in 2022, Self Service Repair now supports 40 Apple products in 33 countries and regions, and 24 languages,” it added.
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