iFixit Lowers iPhone 14's Repairability Score Due to Apple's Parts Pairing Requirement

[MacRumors]

Repair website iFixit today announced that it has retroactively lowered its iPhone 14 repairability score from 7/10 to 4/10 due to Apple's post-repair parts pairing requirement, just over a year after the device launched.

When purchasing parts from Apple's Self Service Repair Store, a customer must enter a device's serial number or IMEI, and any parts ordered need to be paired with the same device after installation in order to function correctly. iFixit said lots of independent repair shops have business models that are threatened by this requirement.

iFixit initially praised the iPhone 14's internal redesign with a more repair-friendly mid-frame, which has since extended to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but it decided to revise its score in light of feedback from the repair community.

"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," said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens, in a blog post. "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."

iFixit is referring to Apple's post-repair System Configuration software tool, which "authenticates genuine Apple parts, updates firmware, and calibrates parts to ensure maximum performance and quality," according to Apple. In June, Apple announced that customers completing their own repairs can now initiate System Configuration by placing their devices into Diagnostics mode and following the on-screen prompts.

iFixit's blog post provides an overview of the various functional issues and warnings that can arise when System Configuration is not completed.

All in all, while iFixit acknowledges that Apple has made some progress in the Right to Repair area, it has decided that it needs to hold the company to a higher standard, and it has adjusted its repairability scoring system accordingly.

Article Link: iFixit Lowers iPhone 14's Repairability Score Due to Apple's Parts Pairing Requirement

 

[surfzen21]

"They shouldn’t have to send Apple their customers’ personal information,"

Ummmmm. If their customer has an iPhone, Apple already has that customers personal information.

 

[melliflu]

Increasing the repair score is the only true way to escape greenwashing.
Next would be making iOS raw again, stripping it of all the mess that makes usage difficult for my old uncle and let developpers add extra functionalities in the App Store.

 

[NT1440]

IFixit is so full of ****, but it’s paying off as companies pair up with them to provide parts (which means revenue).

They NEVER go into the security reasons for some of these pairing decisions.

 

[CoolSpot]

IFixit is so full of ****, but it’s paying off as companies pair up with them to provide parts (which means revenue).

They NEVER go into the security reasons for some of these pairing decisions.

Yeah, its a delicate balance. You want people to be able to freely fix their stuff, but you don't want there to be any market for iPhones to be stolen and then parted out like an auto chop shop.

 

[deevey]

"Lots of independent repair shops have business models that are threatened by Apple’s parts pairing practice. Shops harvest parts from broken stolen devices."

 

[surfzen21]

Yeah, its a delicate balance. You want people to be able to freely fix their stuff, but you don't want there to be any market for iPhones to be stolen and then parted out like an auto chop shop.

Yep.

In NY the theft and sale of auto parts was so big that now if you buy a salvage car and want to register it, you need to show where you bought all the parts before DMV will give you a registration.

 

[diddl14]

it needs to hold the company to a higher standard

A higher standard in the sense of any repair shop being able to put in whatever stolen or poorly cloned parts without the repaired device passing Apple diagnostics test?

 

[erikkfi]

I wouldn't mind if you could buy parts from anywhere, but Apple would deny use of parts that were reported stolen. That way you keep a fair and open market for parts but also clamp down on theft. If repair shops are picking up stolen merch, that needs to stop, but there also needs to be general availability of parts at fair prices - and it should be possible for me to kitbash two of my own devices together into one working device if they're broken in different ways.

 

[1129846]

I am all for this score lowing. It would not be hard to let a shot order multiple parts and pair the parts after the repair is complete. Instead of having to line it up when everything is ordered.

Yet again Apple making it pointless hard to repair. Their phones.

 

[1129846]

A higher standard in the sense of any repair shop being able to put in whatever stolen or poorly cloned parts without the repaired device passing Apple diagnostics test?

That not hard to stop.

Parts from a phone reported stole parts dead in the water.

Hell parts once they been installed in a phone can be frozen unless that phone has been released in someway to be scavenged for parts. Honestly there needs to be a way to also in savaging damage phones for parts.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Sigh, ifixed it

 

[GMShadow]

it has decided that it needs to hold the company to a higher standard

Who died and made these grifters king?

 

[Unregistered 4U]

"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."

So, what they’re saying is… “If you, as an individual, contact Apple and acquire the parts and rent the hardware required to repair the device from Apple, you can repair it. And, that USED to be great. However, because we at iFixit can’t use questionable parts (and because traffic to our site has been dropping), we will now state we’re not in favor of right to repair in general, but instead right to repair in a very specific way that benefits those that, if they decided to, would use cheaper parts in order to make a better profit off off unwitting customers.”

 

[LogicalApex]

I’ve said this many times in the past, but it is worth reminding people I guess.

Right to repair just means you can repair the device with parts from the manufacturer. It doesn’t mean the parts are available cheap or free.

There is a very vibrant parts business for cars and many parts have to be sourced via the car dealerships “parts counter” even by third party repair shops. If a third party can manufacture compatible parts that’s a cheaper alternative, but it is in no way guaranteed and the OEM doesn’t have to do it for them.

 

[nikusak]

There is just no way to please iFixit. I genuinely don’t understand what the problem is. Independent shops can become official repair shops quite easily - then they just can’t use third party parts or parts whose origin is “unknown”. And that’s a good thing. The less incentive there is to steal an iPhone, the better.

Also, as a customer, I do want to know if my device (or one that I’m planning to buy second hand) has been repaired using third party components.

iFixit just wants to make money by selling parts themselves.

p.s. iFixit has stopped giving repairability scores for devices made by companies whose partners they are.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

p.s. iFixit has stopped giving repairability scores for devices made by companies whose partners they are.

This tells anyone everything they need to know about iFixit.

 

[jz0309]

Just in time before tearing down an iPhone 15 and scoring it 7/10…

 

[aParkerMusic]

I wouldn't mind if you could buy parts from anywhere, but Apple would deny use of parts that were reported stolen. That way you keep a fair and open market for parts but also clamp down on theft. If repair shops are picking up stolen merch, that needs to stop, but there also needs to be general availability of parts at fair prices - and it should be possible for me to kitbash two of my own devices together into one working device if they're broken in different ways.

Would that mean that every single part of the phone would need to be serialized? How else would Apple document that a speaker, a mic, a button. Etc were stolen?

 

[InGen]

These measures keep 3rd parties from trying to add custom parts to the phone, preventing tampering or modifying the phone on more fundamental levels. It may be an inconvenience to repairers but when seen through the proper light, it's a welcome extra layer of security that adds to the long term integrity of the product.

 

[ItsASpider]

IFixit is so full of ****, but it’s paying off as companies pair up with them to provide parts (which means revenue).

They NEVER go into the security reasons for some of these pairing decisions.

Because like it does so often, Apple seriously overstates that risk. Security really isn't a problem that cannot be solved some other way here. That's just Apple's marketing.

There is just no way to please iFixit. I genuinely don’t understand what the problem is. Independent shops can become official repair shops quite easily - then they just can’t use third party parts or parts whose origin is “unknown”. And that’s a good thing. The less incentive there is to steal an iPhone, the better.

Also, as a customer, I do want to know if my device (or one that I’m planning to buy second hand) has been repaired using third party components.

iFixit just wants to make money by selling parts themselves.

p.s. iFixit has stopped giving repairability scores for devices made by companies whose partners they are.

Lol no. It isn't "easy" for a third party to become an official repair shop for Apple's products. Never has been, either. And even when you do get that certification, Apple will still keep you on a leach and you'll always be disadvantaged to Apple's own shops.

Regardless, all of the things Apple requires really isn't needed to validate that your phone consists out our genuine Apple parts. Again, that's just Apple's marketing speaking...

iFixit is pointing out a very really issue here. It's honestly remarkable that everyone here is so defensive about it for Apple. Something something voting against your own self intrest. If any other company would pull this kind of nonsense they would respond the same.

 

[Naraxus]

I'm sure resident Apple whiner Louis Rossmann will have a 30 minute video explaining his outrage soon....

 

[nicolas_s]

Independent repair shops are just mad they can't repair your phone with cheap parts and sell them as "genuine". That's why they don't want the user to be notified if the part is not genuine.

 

[kasino]

There is just no way to please iFixit. I genuinely don’t understand what the problem is. Independent shops can become official repair shops quite easily - then they just can’t use third party parts or parts whose origin is “unknown”. And that’s a good thing. The less incentive there is to steal an iPhone, the better.

Also, as a customer, I do want to know if my device (or one that I’m planning to buy second hand) has been repaired using third party components.

iFixit just wants to make money by selling parts themselves.

p.s. iFixit has stopped giving repairability scores for devices made by companies whose partners they are.

As soon as I read the last part of your reply I immediately thought iFixit was FOS. I can't listen to a company that picks and chooses when it has a problem with something and which company they have that problem with. You've got to be fair to be taken seriously regardless of who's lining your pockets with if you're all about "the right to repair" and "repairability".

 

[mannyvel]

"and any parts ordered need to be paired with the same device after installation in order to function correctly. iFixit said lots of independent repair shops have business models that are threatened by this requirement"

Yeah, their business model is ordering parts from Apple, fixing customer phones with cheaper parts, then selling the Apple parts to someone else. I'm not sure that's something anyone can really get behind, iFixIt.