We repaired an iPhone to see if iOS 18 fixes iPhone repair

We started making this video with 1 question successful mind: “What makes iPhone repair truthful difficult?” And instantly the reply was: a lot.

I’ve ne'er repaired a telephone before, truthful I was peculiarly tense that the archetypal 1 I was opening was an iPhone. This wasn’t conscionable due to the fact that I didn’t privation to destruct a telephone with a mistake but besides due to the fact that I was somewhat acquainted with Apple’s estimation with repairability. However, I wanted to trial retired a caller repair diagnostic Apple introduced precocious with iOS 18 called “repair assistant” to spot if it fixes a years-long signifier of Apple’s that makes iPhones incredibly hard to repair.

Before iOS 18, replacing components of an iPhone similar the show oregon artillery without going done Apple’s repair channels would trim the functionality of the instrumentality due to the fact that iPhones are programmed to admit erstwhile parts are swapped out. This is due to the fact that of a plan prime called “parts pairing.” 

Apple uses parts pairing to delegate serial numbers to parts wrong a instrumentality and necktie those parts to the logic board. This means you can’t regenerate immoderate of these parts connected your ain oregon astatine a repair store without having a mode to brace a caller part’s serial fig to the device. If a portion was replaced, immoderate functions of the telephone tied to that portion would beryllium disabled similar True Tone, Face ID, oregon Battery Health. Repair adjunct is an on-device bundle instrumentality that’s meant to let autarkic repair shops and DIY users to brace caller parts to their phones without going done Apple’s procedures. This means you’ll beryllium capable to usage genuine Apple utilized parts to marque repairs, and iOS 18.1 is reported to widen functionality backmost to devices utilizing third-party displays and batteries based connected a committedness from Apple’s whitepaper Longevity, by Design.

I acceptable retired to observe if iOS 18’s repair adjunct fixes this large contented facing iPhone repair by asking Shahram Mokhtari, the pb teardown technician astatine iFixit, for a clang people successful Apple’s past of repairability and however parts pairing has impacted that. I besides reached retired to right-to-repair advocator and iPhone repair and microsoldering adept Jessa Jones of iPad Rehab to locomotion maine done my archetypal effort astatine iPhone repair and trial retired firsthand however repair adjunct works. Jessa besides showed maine immoderate of the unusual workarounds and pitfalls that travel up successful autarkic iPhone repair erstwhile parts can’t beryllium sourced from Apple.

Something I went successful reasoning was analyzable turned retired to beryllium way, way much analyzable arsenic we got into the details of the circumstantial frustrations facing autarkic iPhone repair shops. Watch the afloat occurrence connected YouTube and spell down the rabbit spread that is parts pairing with me. Also fto america cognize if you person immoderate tech questions you privation america to reply next!