Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iOS 18 Includes 'Repair Assistant' For Configuring Genuine Apple Replacement Parts
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Look up "hyperbole". I can shoehorn iOS 18 onto an iPhone XS and with its age it's the kind of phone that would need repair the most, yet I can't because somebody decided so.
Apple need to collaborate with Samsung to get the enhanced version of Galaxy Note 7 battery tech 😁
The issue with grabbing iPhones in London is huge and even one of my friends suffered from this common crime. I hope this will make impossible for dealers to resell stolen parts.
No, not that part. The part where stolen parts can't be used. *That's* fantastic. It reduces the incentive to steal phones in the first place, which benefits everyone (except thieves, fences, etc.).
Thieves snatched his phone in London - he tracked it to China - BBC News
Saw this on the BBC the other day - I'd seen elsewhere online that they use a common kitchen aid to "mask" the 'Find My' signal too?
Saw this on the BBC the other day - I'd seen elsewhere online that they use a common kitchen aid to "mask" the 'Find My' signal too?
But not all iCloud locked phones are stolen. Many are recycled from business and schools. And the ebay sellers that sell the used parts are seldom the individuals who once stole the devices.
I think Apple should give people tool to contact/notice original owner that their device is locked and if was not stolen but sold or donated, whether they can unlock it. If you then see locked iPhone on eBay there is high chance it was stolen. Maybe idea for EU bureaucrats 😆.
It doesn't matter whether you stole the part your self. If you knowingly trade in stolen parts, you take on the responsibility.
I'm really curious about what Apple would do if they detect an activation-locked part inside the iPhone...
1. Ask to enter the Apple ID and password of the device where that part was originally from? (could work if you have the part donated by a friend or family member)
2. Display a message when you restart the iPhone?
3. Disable the affected part?
Edit: just prevent the part to be calibrated.
1. Ask to enter the Apple ID and password of the device where that part was originally from? (could work if you have the part donated by a friend or family member)
2. Display a message when you restart the iPhone?
3. Disable the affected part?
Edit: just prevent the part to be calibrated.
when I updated to iOS 18 RC it said finish battery repair on a 3rd party battery I put in my 14 pro but always fails to finish hopefully it will work on official release .
Psst. Don’t ask where I got this, okay. But I have a fairly substantial amount of Apple glue. It’s genuine Apple glue, not some third party Apple glue that will make your phone not run correctly.
Oh, I’m aware that others might make even better glue than Apple, but this is Apple Glue, the genuine stuff. You can’t repair your device properly without it.
Live without fear that your repair will be able to pass the Apple Quality Checks, and not be flagged as bootleg glue and you will never suffer the humiliation of Apple sending texts to everyone in your contacts list how much of an underhanded dirtbag lowlife you are for using non Apple Genuine Parts.
So if you don’t want to blow your chances with Geoff or Jenny, you know the dude you’ve been lusting after, then PM me and I will sell you a tube of Apple Glue. You don’t want Geoff or Jenny finding out you’re a cheapskate pauper, do you?
Apple Glue.
It’s good for me.
Even better for you.
Oh, I’m aware that others might make even better glue than Apple, but this is Apple Glue, the genuine stuff. You can’t repair your device properly without it.
Live without fear that your repair will be able to pass the Apple Quality Checks, and not be flagged as bootleg glue and you will never suffer the humiliation of Apple sending texts to everyone in your contacts list how much of an underhanded dirtbag lowlife you are for using non Apple Genuine Parts.
So if you don’t want to blow your chances with Geoff or Jenny, you know the dude you’ve been lusting after, then PM me and I will sell you a tube of Apple Glue. You don’t want Geoff or Jenny finding out you’re a cheapskate pauper, do you?
Apple Glue.
It’s good for me.
Even better for you.
Yeah, as usual, it takes two to tango.
For example, there wouldn’t for the need for a war on drugs and their cartels (which killed 21 political candidates in Mexico of all sorts last elections by the way, not “just a single failed attempt” like in the US) if there weren’t the costumers demanding for said bloody drugs.
Apple here is making sure there’s no tango to dance to, and I like it.
Exactly! or just contact back the donor to unlock it? Pretty sure they have to keep a record of some sort, that guaranteed is a lot less than just dumping a fully functional device.
You gonna have to do both. You need to be hard on drugs and in the same time also focus on rehabilitation on drug. We always focus on one side of things.
Not really. I can donate to without leave my name and phone numbers. Also it cost money and time to contact back, not mentioning the success rate.
Lots of parts will be ended up at repair shop. If you know repair technician in China or anywhere, you can circumvent this easily.
Display: Sand down display chips on the stolen part, solider the display chip with broken screen. And the stolen display is fully functional without iCloud lock.
Battery: just replace the controller board with bad battery. The battery health part will be messed up as it still have old information, but the stolen battery part is still perfectly usable.
You see, iCloud lock parts really doesn’t do much with skilled technician. It only prevent regular folks or low skill technician to perform repair job.
As far as I know and what I learned from various sources:
There will be a splash screen that poops up indicates the part belongs to a stolen iPhone.
You will have option to skip it, which will prevent the calibration process.
Keep mind, unless the technician do the chip replacement method, stolen iPhone parts will always trigger activation lock for each iOS updates. Apple could in theory display the parts entirely if iOS detected stolen parts.
For now, all you need to do is skip the message. This is likely to give people enough time to replace stolen iPhone.
Last edited:
Sure, but it decreases the value of stolen parts by making them harder (more expensive, due to technician time requirements) to use. This doesn't fix the problem entirely but it makes substantial strides. Reducing the incentives to steal phones will have meaningful effects.
It is not huge cost at all. A chip replacement only cost upward 50RMB in China (which is less than $10US). The cost saving with stolen part vs genuine parts is still very wide, at least in China.
To be honest, this probably will deter repair shop using stolen part in developed nation, where labor cost is high. But it will not do a damn thing in developing countries where labor cost is low.
You can only do what you can do. If they can fix a big part of the problem in developed nations, without having a solution for China/India/some others, then that's still a good thing.
That is a big if. Most stolen phones aren’t being sold in developing nations. You just don’t sell stolen iPhone in Canada, United States… as long as market like China, India still able to use stolen part, this won’t help.
iCloud lock has never deterred iPhone being stolen. It isn’t like this is first year iCloud lock existed, it has been for long time, yet you still see record number of iPhone being stolen. iCloud lock parts also won’t achieve that.