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Apple is making it a little easier to repair iPhones with used parts, reversing long-standing strict rules for replacing iPhone parts.
The change, announced Thursday, will begin on “select” iPhone models this fall (washington post (reported to cover iPhone 15 and newer). This comes as states move to ban part pairing, which requires a company’s software to recognize and approve replacement parts. The practice has long been a complaint among home-based self-repairers as well as third-party repair shops, and lawmakers across the country are considering banning the practice.
Apple has long argued that component pairing is necessary for security and functionality. Using other parts may cause your iPhone to malfunction. For example, replacing a cracked iPhone screen can break Face ID. When the changes announced today go into effect, the company says it will allow used iPhone parts to function “just like new genuine Apple parts.”
But the change does not apply to aftermarket parts, a difference that worries repair rights advocates. “This is a strategy of half-promises and unnecessarily complex hedging designed to distract from lawmakers who want to ban the practice completely,” says the company, which sells tools and kits for tech repairs. said Kyle Wiens, CEO of the company iFixit.
When iFixit ran tests on the iPhone 15, we found that replacing many parts could result in on-screen warnings or broken functionality. For example, after replacing the front camera, Face ID and auto brightness started malfunctioning. Apple says that once installed, the genuine parts will be fully calibrated to the device once the changes take effect.
Last month, Oregon enacted the first right-to-repair law banning the combination of parts. This law will come into effect in January 2025. The Colorado Legislature is considering a bill that would also ban the combination of parts, and a hearing on the bill is scheduled for Thursday in the state Senate. Apple did not respond to requests for comment on these measures.
“Let’s be 100 percent clear: This move is because the state legislature opposes this practice,” said Nathan Proctor, senior director of the Public Interest Research Group’s Restorative Rights Campaign. “This movement won’t happen unless state legislators say, ‘We don’t want to do this.'”
Apple will also start providing manuals and tools to help people repair their devices in 2022, after California passed a law last year requiring manufacturers to provide these materials. Expanded manuals and tools.
Apple did not immediately respond to questions about what areas the changes would cover when they go into effect. The company said it has spent the past two years making some parts, such as Face ID and Touch ID, reusable. A “future” iPhone release will be able to support used sensors.
Apple also announced updates that could make iPhone theft less appealing in the future. The company announced that it will lock iPhone parts in phones that are reported stolen or lost, limiting the ability to adjust them to fit another iPhone. Additionally, settings will now show whether the parts in your phone are new or used genuine parts.
These changes represent a major shift in Apple’s longstanding stance on third-party repairs. But restoration advocates see these moves as minimal rather than revolutionary reversals. “This was completely unacceptable and unethical behavior to begin with,” Proctor said. “I’m glad the restrictions are in place, but we need laws to prevent this from happening with any device from any manufacturer, not just a few phones from one manufacturer.”
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