Editor’s Note: As of September 2024, the state of iPhone repairability has changed again—this time for the better. We’re happy to report that Apple has been busily addressing the concerns we detailed in this article—see here for the latest.
We need to have a serious chat about iPhone repairability. We judged the phones of yesteryear by how easy they were to take apart—screws, glues, how hard it was to change a battery. But repairs have gotten trickier, by design. Software now limits many basic iPhone repairs. That’s why we’ve revised the repairability score for the iPhone 14 from a recommend 7 out of 10 to a do-not-recommend 4.
Although we enthusiastically awarded it a solid score at launch last year, thanks to its innovative repair-friendly architecture—of which we remain big fans—the reality for folks trying to fix these things has been very different. Most major repairs on modern iPhones require Apple approval. You have to buy parts through their system, then have the repair validated via a chat system. Otherwise, you’ll run into limited or missing functionality, with a side of annoying warnings.
Lots of independent repair shops have business models that are threatened by Apple’s parts pairing practice. Shops harvest parts from broken devices. They use third-party parts. They shouldn’t have to send Apple their customers’ personal information, or agree to five years of audits just to do the repairs they know how to do.
So when we gave the iPhone 14 a high score, the community pushed back. To be honest, they were right—and we’d like to thank our critics for helping us hold manufacturers accountable.
The situation has gotten so bad that several repair professionals have told us they’re leaving the business entirely rather than navigate the labyrinthine maze of obstacles that Apple has erected.
So we’ve gone back to the drawing board with our scoring system to make sure that it reflects this significant new software limitation on repairs. And now that we’ve run the iPhone 14 through our new scorecard, the picture isn’t as rosy. The iPhone 14’s new 4 / 10 score reflects the fact that individuals and independent repair shops encounter some atrocious limitations when trying to fix it.
It’s Literally Not Re-Pairable
For many years, iFixit scores were primarily about design for repair—that is, how easy (or difficult) it is to disassemble your gadget, replace whatever’s broken, and reassemble it successfully. The highest scores were reserved for devices whose manufacturers even provided instructions for how to do that.
Ever the innovators, Apple introduced a new dimension to repair that our scorecard simply didn’t account for: namely, that you could take a highly repairable design like the iPhone 14, install a genuine Apple replacement screen or battery, and then… it fails to work. Following the correct procedure was no longer enough.
Today, you need one more thing: a software handshake, using Apple’s System Configuration tool. It contacts Apple’s servers to “authenticate” the repair, then “pairs” the new part to your system so it works as expected. Of course, it can only authenticate if Apple knows about your repair in advance, because you gave them the exact serial number of your iPhone, and they’ve pre-matched it to a display or battery. This is only possible if you buy the screen or battery directly from Apple. Forget harvesting parts—which is a huge part of most independent repair and recycling businesses. It’s also impossible to pair any aftermarket parts—which means only Apple-authorized repairs can truly restore the device to full functionality.
While it’s an improvement over the status quo of just a few years ago, when Apple wouldn’t sell parts or supply instructions or software tools to anyone outside the Genius Bar and a few select “authorized” repair outlets, it’s still a major problem. Apple has made some real progress here—and we’ve been reluctant to criticize manufacturers taking meaningful steps. There are good people inside Apple working hard to make this situation better.
But parts pairing is a serious threat to our ability to fix the things we own. The problem is the invasive amount of control that Apple exerts over this entire process, and the fee they require you to pay for the privilege of fixing your own stuff. Apple likes to control the user experience so they can make it flawless—and we get that—but that experience should never come at the expense of our ownership rights or the planet. Already got a genuine screen or battery handy? Too bad—you’ll have to buy a new one from Apple if you want full functionality. And what happens in a few years when Apple stops officially supporting repairs for your device and shuts off the authentication servers? Apple’s message is loud and clear: user repair isn’t a priority.
Our reporting, and this revised scoring system, is the result of painstaking analysis. Our team has purchased several units of each phone generation and model and performed hundreds of tests swapping individual parts. The parts pairing problems we’ve reported on have been backed up by field reports from independent repair shops and YouTube repairers like Hugh Jeffreys and Louis Rossmann.
How Did We Get Here?
In a move that will not surprise close observers of Apple, they have developed the system without notifying the people who do the actual repair work that it impacts.
The shifting, secretive target has made it difficult to incorporate into our repairability scoring system. The first paired part we encountered was the iPhone 5s biometric fingerprint sensor. Seemingly, this was a necessity for security—so while our forums filled up with users whose repairs were stymied, we didn’t modify our score.
Then a curious thing happened: True Tone started disappearing after screen repairs, even with genuine screens. Then some aftermarket screens stopped working. Some of these bugs were fixed, some were not.
Following the fury of Batterygate, when the world learned that Apple was slowing down phones with older batteries, the company doubled down and started locking batteries to the logic board via an iOS update. The update hid battery health from the owner of the device with third party batteries, removing a critical lifespan management feature.
Around the same time, the iPhone X introduced Face ID, a revolutionary technology with an unfortunately paired dot projector. As with the biometric sensor, we assumed this was a security issue and, while we didn’t like it, we justified Apple’s behavior because moving to new technology often comes with compromises. So we reluctantly made a carveout in our scoring system for security—but this just as quickly became a slippery slope.
Sometimes parts just didn’t work. But just as often, parts swaps prompted pop-ups. Warnings, warnings, and more warnings. Apple started pushing warnings when repairs were performed—and they were pesky.
iPhone 12 came with a camera fail, warnings, and the resultant disappointment to the repair community. iPhone 13 came with a sensibly redesigned display to make Face ID less of an issue with repairs—except that it disabled Face ID completely when replaced. The emotional yo-yo (and repairability score yo-yo) left us reeling. Steps forward, steps back. All the while, though, the steady drumbeat of parts pairing got louder. What initially started as isolated security quirks and bugs ended up being the first canaries in a dark coal mine of pairing strategies.
One by one, the glitches and bugs add up to a broad strategy, a systematic plan to require Apple’s permission to perform any repair on the iPhone.
The iPhone 14 is Still a Mechanical Design Triumph
We maintain our high praise for the iPhone 14’s hardware architecture, which really does move the needle on repairability. Rear glass repairs that cost as much as $549 on the previous architecture now costs just $169 with the new mid-frame design.
Discussing repairability for the first time in the iPhone 15 announcement, Apple said they were expanding this new architecture to all 15 models. (On the iPhone 14, only the base, non-Pro models featured the improved design.)
Bravo! This design is truly an improvement worthy of the marketing effort. This is a very good hardware design, and we hope other OEMs will take notice and learn from it.
Unfortunately, this laudable mechanical improvement is undermined by a raft of software obstacles.
Apple Has Not Responded to Feedback
This parts pairing problem is by no means isolated to iPhones. MacBooks and iPads are suffering a similar fate, with screens, buttons, and other important components slowly sliding further into the realm of “only repairable by Apple—or with tough compromises.”
Even though we and other repair advocates have been sounding the alarm on parts pairing for years, Apple’s response has been lacking—especially for an industry leader and trend-setter with resources to act responsibly—and the problem continues to worsen. There may be multiple reasons for that, not all of them nefarious:
- Benign neglect
- Precision parts calibration
- Combating warranty fraud
- Lack of testing software updates with aftermarket parts
- Control over the customer experience
Our intel says that it’s likely a combination of all of the above. Regardless: Apple has the resources to solve these problems. Based on how Apple designs their products and the relentless, unparallelled focus on user experience, they could easily be a leader in creating the best self-repair experience in tech. Yet, we don’t see that. Year after year, our scrappy repair community shouldn’t have to keep innovating around the shortcomings of the world’s most valuable company.
Apple needs to do better. And frankly, so do we—so as of today, our repairability scores do a better job of reflecting reality.
A New Score
The new 4 / 10 score lands just on the negative side of our scorecard, and garners a reluctant but clear not recommended. Our new scorecard covers a wide gamut of approaches that Apple has taught us about, and includes penalties for almost-repairs, non-repairs, and “genuineness” warnings. Taken together, these deductions erode the overall score of the device significantly. (Updating the scorecard took us many months of careful work—if you’re curious about how we score, check out this explainer.) This scorecard will be the standard for all products moving forward—as Apple isn’t the only company utilizing parts pairing and other digital locks to handcuff DIY repairs.
This repairability score doesn’t just represent our recommendations. It encapsulates countless wasted money, time, and tears of frustration on the part of Apple customers, repair techs, and would-be repairers. It represents a rising tide of e-waste that threatens the well-being of our society and our planet.
You can help, by preferring repairable products wherever possible. Product designers are paying attention. If enough consumers demand repairable products, then companies will create longer lasting products.
One note: for now, we are only rescoring the iPhone 14. We are not retroactively rescoring earlier iPhones at this time. If we did, their scores would also likely decline.
Apple could fix this problem with a software update, and that 7 / 10 score could return overnight. Even though they recently signaled their support for Right to Repair in California, these problems show that they are not taking the situation seriously enough.
We’re going to keep working to hold Apple and other manufacturers accountable the best way we know: By speaking the truth about repair restrictions as loudly as we can, by revising our scorecard to reflect any new obstacles to repair, and by pushing for Right to Repair laws that ban parts pairing.
Long-lasting, repairable products are essential for the future of the planet. Sustainable electronics stand the test of time, and parts pairing undermines the ecosystem needed to keep these devices alive.
Right to repair is gaining momentum. We’re not giving up the fight for independent repair—and neither should you.
43 comentários
It should be noted that security is not a valid reason to pair a touch/face ID sensor either; replacing them doesn't magically give anyone the ability to unlock your phone without you present. It's like changing the keyboard on a locked PC; it doesn't just magically unlock it.
Google do pair their fingerprint sensors on their Pixel phones, but only because of calibration, and to this end they do at least give a way for an end user to re-pair and re-calibrate this sensor ( https://pixelrepair.withgoogle.com/udfps ) - but this isn't, IMO, repair friendly enough as Google is well known for randomly killing products. It would be silly and ashame if this end-user recalibration tool got removed once the Pixel line was no longer being made.
Samsung have also started to pair things to phones, and I hope ifixit takes a proper stand against this practise irrespective of who's doing it. Though Apple's had it coming for a long time!
Ashley - Responder
it is a valid reason. because u could connect a modified Touch ID sensor which harvest the users biometric data for melicious purposes
Peter Ben Jumanne -
Additionally, there are issues with the 14 series in terms of back glass replacement. Even if you use an OEM pull back glass with the NFC coil preinstalled, there is an IC that must be transferred or any video taken with flash will no longer save to your camera roll. It's stupid, that coil has nothing to do with camera functionality. We have not confirmed that this is still an issue on iOS 17, but it was prior.
Fruit Fixed iPhone Repair - Responder
More people should sign ‘The Right To Repair’ bill!
Phil
Phil - Responder
Apple doesn't care as long as they keep raking in the profits. A more effective strategy would to stop supporting their business until they make real changes.
Dufus McQuack -
They can talk about being green all they want. If you can not repair your own phone they are forcing you to buy a new phone: I consider that very wasteful. Very good for sales. Mother Earth
Barullo -
It's not security in the sense of preventing people from breaking in. It's security in the sense of removing the incentive for people to steal someone else's phone. I remember when iPhones were very commonly stolen; Apple removed the incentive for that by pairing an iPhone with an Apple ID. But you could still sell a phone for its parts. Locking parts to the phone reduces the value of a phone, removing the incentive to steal it.
Maybe there should be a better way of re-pairing things, but please note that there are tradeoffs. Cars have VINs in a bunch of different places for a reason as well.
kdm - Responder
Why Apple would care if your phone was stolen? The parts pairing has not stopped thieves from stealing iPhones. If you search youtube or reddit, you will see that a lot of them end up in China- being parted out.
Parts pairing is primarily about control. Apple does not want you to repair your device. They want you to buy a new one.
Other manufacturers have been able to have biometrics features without needing to pair anything. As mentioned in another comment, even the paired parts from other phone models can be re-calibrated for free.
Dufus McQuack -
Exactly. Apple could have the additional goal of reducing the reusability of stolen phones and stolen phone parts.
Apple does care if owners are harmed because their phones are attractive targets of theft, especially violent theft.
Many in the US are angry about their auto catalytic converter thefts. The major driver of that is the lucrative sale of those back to repair shops to be used in cars that had their catalytic converters stolen! If we made it more difficult to use stolen catalytic converters, we’d remove some of the incentive of stealing them.
I’m all for right-to-repair, but I also don’t want to feel like a walking target for thieves. Where should the line be drawn? I don’t know.
Mahboud Zabetian -
Thank you! I used to work for a company that deals in second-hand phones, and iPhone theft is already a significant problem that would be MUCH bigger without iCloud lock & parts pairing. An iPhone is the only $1000+ thing that a very sizable percentage of people carry around with them. Smaller numbers of people wear expensive watches and jewelry, and even when they do, they might be selective about it out of concern for their safety. But everyone has their phone with them all the time. Without any technical hurdles, iPhones would be petty thieves' and muggers' wet dreams. With iCloud lock and parts pairing, second-hand dealers who buy phones are incentivized to be extremely cautious, and iPhones are less of an easy target for unsophisticated criminals, who are far more numerous (and violent) than people who might be able to circumvent these deterrents.
I'm sympathetic to right-to-repair, but eliminating parts pairing would only make sense if iCloud lock functioned down to the component level.
aratuk -
Come to think of it, iCloud lock could probably work on a component level, at least to a certain extent. Right-to-repair legislation could compel Apple to invest in developing the technology to do it.
I think that would make the most sense in terms of resolving the prospect of iPhone chop shops. It's nothing less than stupid to simply demand, "unlock the parts with a software update right away!" A good law that compels companies, within a few years, to design their products to accept compatible secondhand parts could also require them to implement a component verification system that can check whether the previous owner released their claim on the device and its constituent parts.
Apple then might not have much remaining argument against right-to-repair.
aratuk -
There's as better more consumer friendly way to disincentivise the stealing-for-parts without serialising every part to the phone: make parts easy to get and cheap enough that paying someone for a dubious used copy isn't really worth it. Apple want to have their cake and eat it with this serialisation, and people supporting it for "anti theft" reasons plays into their hands, not our hands, the ones who have to try repair loved one's devices.
Ashley -
@dmcqk Apple cares because their staggering rate of theft makes people reluctant to buy them, effectively reducing their revenue.
xapalak -
"The situation has gotten so bad that several repair professionals have told us they’re leaving the business entirely rather than navigate the labyrinthine maze of obstacles that Apple has erected."
I would imagine that this is what Apple really wants: Repair professionals just giving up. That way Apple has even more control over the situation.
"There may be multiple reasons for that, not all of them nefarious: ...Control over the customer experience"
This is the big one. When you buy an iPhone, it isn't yours. You have to use it according to their rules. They do not want you to repair or customize anything. Apple is just giving you the privilege of borrowing it (until they decide that you need to borrow a new one).
Dufus McQuack - Responder
Or maybe they are not professional enough. Why are you fighting for a lower standard for repairs? Is cost your only concern?
Daryl Tang -
I would not use an Apple product if you gave it to me for nothing. And you have outlined exactly why.
James Johnson - Responder
lol but feels the strong need to comment on something you dont want to use and dont care about
Daryl Tang -
For crying out loud, can we stop claiming that everything Apple does is for "a great user experience"?
Firstly, it's a flat-out lie at this point, so many actions on their part prove that's not their biggest concern. How much money they can extract from you is.
Second, even if we convince ourselves that it's still true, THEY ARE FAILING.
"Apple likes to control the user experience so they can make it flawless" Except they don't manage that! Their products aren't magical and they sure as heck aren't flawless. They're barely better than the likes of Samsung and Google at this point in many ways. The lie of "tight integration all but guarantees perfection" has been exposed and the only people who still believe it are solidly a member of the Cult of Apple.
Look, you can like their products - I'm certainly not saying they're total garbage or anything like that - but this constant butt-kissing mantra about their "unparalleled focus on user experience" is either a lie or a failure. You can decide which it is.
fzammetti - Responder
Apple is the "innovator" and all the other companies copycat them, with the irremoveable batteries being the obvious first example. Then the glue, now the serial number pairing. Then, Apple likes to call themselves green? Yeah, green all right. Like Deepwater Horizon.
I guess Steve Jobs, richer than God, must have forgotten that average people, when their car needs a jump, they can't just throw the deed into the dead car, call their limo driver to just "abandon ship" and take the limo to the Rolls dealer and buy a new car with a Visa Plutonium card. It's like what passes for "innovation" is simply creative ways to extract more money from a money-depleted populace like fracking depleted oil wells to get the last ($100/barrel) drop.
Michael Poulos - Responder
Why won't i want to hold the person/shop accountable for my electronics repair? If i DIY, i am willing to go thru the chat sessions and i want genuine(or at least high quality) spares for my repairs. Who's gonna be responsible when the bad battery replacement cause a fire?
Daryl Tang - Responder
Should have been 0/10 score for all apple products
sus - Responder
This would be the case if it was impossible to repair. But you can still go on the apple self service repair website, buy overpriced repair parts, replace and validate them with Apple Configurator 2. The Apple Configurator 2 is only accessible with a valid purchase ID/Code from the apple repair store. That's one of the problems they need to adress.
LeTak -
I suppose you'll be lowering scores for phones of other manufactures? If you present a problem that affects other major manufacturers like Samsung but through the article mention only Apple and lower only the score of iPhone that feels disingenuous.
Zoe - Responder
All said, the 14 CAN be repaired by a 3rd party as Apple won’t replace the back and includes extra technical hoops to jump through. As a consumer, I only hear,’yes or no’ in regards to repair- I think your scale should be relabeled as ‘repair affordability’. As for Apple making there continuously more needed product out of better glass that breaks easier with each model while the price goes up and refusing to replace it when it does shatter but will make available the same parts for half the initial price- is exactly their plan. As Apple is NOT a monopoly, there’s no way to stop them- even though it’s the same greed factor. It should be illegal to sell a smartphone without an included protective case- then they could turn their focus back on actually improving technology not just making it more fragile and expensive. And it should also be illegal to sell prorated insurance on a phone or write ‘Warranties’ that won’t replace broken product. Btw— thanks AT&T for selling duplicate warranties -and knowing it.
Zane Seligman - Responder
I swear, when I broke the front and back glass with one 3 foot fall to the ground, what I heard from Apple was: warranty includes repair or replacement of your phone unless it breaks. Also if it gets wet- warranties void. And then you hear - like a faint echo- somewhere in the background- AT&T: “That’s exactly what your $27 a month warranty donation to us covers too!” This 14 was actually cheaper -per month- than the 11 I had in regards to lifetime payments or I’d have been done with iPhone. The best experience I’ve had was the 6 S Plus. That phone was a beast- and each one since then has been a worst camera -less durable -more expensive - no speakable performance improvement. I can’t really imagine a factory full of Chinese people concerned about any of that
Zane Seligman - Responder
Personally I think it is apple's right to lock their products up as tight as a drum in the software. And then we vote with our wallets to use, or not use, apple products. But it is the lack of transparency that bothers me. Where is the legislation to require manufacturers to be transparent. Food is not sold without some idea what ingredients are added. I think there would be a lot less Apple users if they had known up front what they were buying. Competitors could then make alternate products that do not have the same restrictions. The underlying goal, from cars and tractors to home security, is the same; to construct a system that gives one brand a virtual monopoly over all overs. In a modern world our devices are not just convenient they are essential to our well being. The government used to step in a regulate essential services and goods to prevent predatory practices. But money talks and the public walks. Hopefully the EU will step up and take the legislative lead as they have done in the past.
Rick Hahn - Responder
"I think there would be a lot less Apple users if they had known up front what they were buying." It seems that most people do not care about the drawbacks of purchasing Apple products. I have been repairing electronics for many years and I take every opportunity to educate customers about Apple products. I have never seen a single customer tell me that they plan to purchase a different brand of phone. They always defend the purchase because they like X feature or all their friends/family have iPhones.
Peer pressure is another factor. I've had many customers over the years admit that, when they previously owned an Android device, other iPhone owners ridiculed them and pressured them to buy an iPhone. Guess what? They bought an iPhone. Even when they admit that they don't like it as much as their Android device, they keep buying iPhones anyway.
Unfortunately, the people who care about how repair-friendly devices are the minority. Most people just are more concerned with appearances than functionality.
Dufus McQuack -
This is a great article, and long time coming. And just as many times Louis Rossmann has said in similar terms.
Look at the state of all the new M1/2 hardware. Truly despicable of Apple. NOTHING is upgradeable except for some software. Yuck
Alex Maori - Responder
I'm just here to point out the extreme hypocrisy of them releasing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNv9PRDI... about a week ago and now having the nerve to expand their planned obsolescence initiatives even further.
I will never support or purchase anything related to apple again.
Camdan - Responder
Seems like the obvious reason for parts pairing is to discourage theft of devices. Locking a device that goes missing makes it a lot less valuable to the thief, but our devices are still at risk if they can be opened up and parted out. And conversely, if I take my device to be repaired, it's nice to have some assurance that the repair was done using genuine parts rather than much cheaper but lower quality parts.
I get that parts pairing affects 3rd party repairability and that it might be desirable to be able to use cheaper parts if you're on a budget. I get that the whole thing seems like it could be a big Apple cash grab.
But I also know that ever since auto manufacturers started pairing audio systems to vehicle electronic control modules, we haven't had to worry nearly as much about someone stealing the radio out of our cars.
Caleb - Responder
Why was the score so high in the first place? It's weird that there's nothing new here yet you're changing the score. Seems like we've known for a long time that Apple is doing all it can to block third-party parts and force people to go through "official" channels.
Ben Funk - Responder
I suggest that we all go back to the iPhone 7, it’s the latest most repairable iPhone created!
Shaady Abdel Nasser - Responder
About 2 years ago I was looking to have my own business in electronic repairs and it was going amazing at first when I was mainly fixing the iPhone 5 to the iPhone X, but as Apple dropped software support for the iPhone 6s and newer it made it more and more difficult to sell refurbished phones as once you get to the iPhone XS or newer there are all sorts of software locks. With the self repair program I really struggled to move inventory as I had to mark up a refurbished phone so much in price just to make a small profit.
Futuregamin94 - Responder
Two things: theft and reputation.
Theft: This one is obvious. I think Apple wants to disincentivize stealing their devices. Introducing iCloud locked helped a lot but as the screens and cameras got more expensive, the incentive to part out stolen phones increased. They clearly have the ability to target stolen parts and only prevent the handshake on those but alas…
Reputation: I think Apple might actually care about the used market a bit and they want to reduce the chance of someone buying a device second hand with non genuine parts. This ensures the uniformity between like devices and prevents someone from asking their friend why their screen looks a little different from theirs, etc. They want everyone to see their devices as high quality even if they’re buying used.
Just my options but great article. Does a nice job laying out the facts.
I repaired and resold iPhone all throughout college to make money thanks to aftermarket parts. Definitely wouldn’t be able to do the same today it seems.
jstelmack02 - Responder
Right to repair can be pushed by government, or by the consumer. As long as customers allow Apple to get away with this, they have no financial motive not to.
If the consumer doesn't succeed, then that means government regulation. My experience is that government regulators eventually wind up being corrupted by the industries they are in charge of regulating, and wind up serving the interests of the largest businesses, which have the money to buy their influence. They then wind up working against the interests of the consumers they are supposed to serve.
So the ideal way to resolve this issue is through the free market. If enough customers vote with their feet, Apple will be forced to address these issues or lose market share.
John Cheves - Responder
The rhetoric that the situation is improving with apple is ludicrous. Previously it was difficult but possible to repair their product without their expressed permission. It doesn't matter how physically possible it is to replace a part of the company can hobble your device and hold it hostage. 4 of 10 repairability score is still too generous for this reason.
Stephen Hale - Responder
I have a very simple solution that might work. When you bring your device in for repair, you have to turn of Find My. Find My is turned on by default on every Apple device. Make every part paired to the device and the Apple ID, but make it so turning off Find My also disables the parts pairing, allowing for repair. This way if an iPhone is stolen, the parts are worthless because they are all paired and locked with the Apple ID, but if you are the genuine owner and you just want to send your device for repair or repair it yourself, all you need to do is disable Find My and the parts pairing is disabled until Find My is re-enabled.
Myles Roy Revivo - Responder
The killer is the batteries. Really hard for user to remove without damaging the phone. I swapped in numerous batteries in the iPhone 6 and earlier. Last year destroyed my Xs Max trying a battery replacement. At least fix this problem, my 14 Plus battery is starting to slide….
Walter Mellon - Responder
Its funny they had that big comercial with mother nature and sustainability yet they keep making the phones harder and harder to repair.
Daniel Stefanovic - Responder
I get that theft is one thing to disincentivize, but this could be achieved with a blacklist and/or a less restrictive whitelist.
All components in an assembled iPhone could be blacklisted by default, with a user opt out (e.g. to sell their broken phone for parts). Otherwise, OEM parts should just be whitelisted by default.
This should still give Apple what it supposedly wants; to guarantee a good user experience by certifying OEM repair parts. The authentication server would be used for authentication, instead of being some roundabout way to ask Apple for permission to modify a device you own. Not everyone lives in a country covered by selfservicerepair.com.
Lance Robin Chua - Responder
Apple is all about the money, and how they can control their Customers as we all know.
Us small Repair businesses have no chance of survival whilst Apple continues to ignore our purposes of Right to Repair.
I have never seen a big article in a popular newspaper that raises this issue, so all the population can see an issue with Apple products, and not just to us small Repair businesses.
Something that might just cause people who purchase Apple products to think about the excessive costs if their item break down out of Warranty or something.
I just wonder if that would just cause Apple to make a change in the pairing decision.
The only way Apple will drop the pairing issue is if we all stand strong and keep pushing for Right to Repair to be a legal issue, or if the sale of iPhone’s, MacBooks, and iPad’s to drop dramatically.
Paul - Responder
First I lost all my photos in a NAS stored library overnight by some crappy Apple "magic", now reading this makes me feel confident after more than 15 years I'm not investing in any Apple product anymore/:
Alexey Lyskov - Responder
And a huge part of the money generated by gangs who steal phones in the street. With the new security measures where customers lock their phone remotely when they get stolen and locked bootloaders, harvesting parts is the last way to make money out of crookery. Remember that iPhones are the most stolen phones in the world, so much that it became an argument against buying one — especially in countries with a high crime-rate.
Apple is taking a stand against these shady businesses by taking steps to prevent parts from stolen phones to be resold to unsuspecting customers. Unfortunately, it comes at the expense of repairability convenience. I'm appalled that iFixit jumped to conclusions here without considering this. In Brazil alone 50% of the population had their phone stolen in the past (Mobile Time study, 2022). I'd rather have a phone that is harder to repair than a phone that keeps getting stolen for its parts.
xapalak - Responder