iPhone 12 Camera Repairs Require Apple's Proprietary System Configuration Tool

[Mr_Brightside_@]

8 years ago my Samsung TV broke down. I wanted to buy a different motherboard, but it turned out to be impossible, because all electronics are calibrated with the screen. It's the same here.

And neither Samsung nor Apple are in the right.

 

[metalinka]

According to iFixit, “putting an authentication check on a simple camera swap poisons the iPhone repair and resale market.”

Does it really? Personally, I want to know if an iPhone has a cheap aftermarket part. Especially if it’s been repaired by the likes of Asurion et al.

Well for your info Asurion own UbreakIfix and Verizon, Sprint, ATT, etc are partner with Asurion for insurance repair claims. They don't use cheap parts.

 

[ricky1989]

8 years ago my Samsung TV broke down. I wanted to buy a different motherboard, but it turned out to be impossible, because all electronics are calibrated with the screen. It's the same here.

The problem is the motherboard is now tied to this unique screen, even if you have a brand new board from Samsung, you still cannot repair your own TV.

A perfectly calibrated TV is different from a workable TV.

 

[Analog Kid]

They didn't say it was T2.

They said variant of T2:

This is essentially a variant of T2 security on the camera module and the motherboard.

T2 is a chip in the Mac, not in the iPhone and not in any of the peripherals themselves. Maybe they were referring to the underlying secure enclave and other hardare security strategies? Hard to know. They‘re basing their understanding on YouTube, so who knows what’s in their head.

 

[JPack]

I hate to question your youtuber’s genius, but I think neither you nor they have any idea how the technology here works.

Let me give you an analogy. When we finally develop the technology to do full eye transplants, we won’t be able to just swap eyes between people and expect them to work. Not because of some profit mongering god, but because our eyes are part of a sophisticated system. Every eye is different, and it operates in careful coordination with our brains. I wouldn’t be surprised if we weren’t even able to form an image with someone else’s eyes, let alone coordinate them with our ears and spatial awareness to navigate a room. When we start swapping eyes between people, I’m pretty sure we won’t let people leave the hospital before they’ve spent time adapting to their new components.

Every lens element has different characteristics, every lens assembly has different characteristics, every sensor/lens sub module has different characteristics, every focus and stabilization mechanism has different characteristics, every multi-camera assembly has different characteristics, and every camera-lidar assembly has different characteristics and all of those characteristics change with age and use. To get the most out of that package, its entirely possible that Apple is calibrating the heck out of that hardware set and then tracking those changes with age. When you abruptly swap the underlying hardware, the system may not perform as the user expects. The service requirements may simply be Apple’s way of ensuring that their authorized repair techs follow the proper procedure in mating the hardware together to ensure the user experience is consistent with Apple’s standards.

I’m not saying with certainty that this is why Apple’s procedure is what it is, I’m just saying there are alternative explanations in addition to privacy, security and greed.

Also, there is no T2 in an iPhone.

Not sure why you provided an analogy for a biological transplant when we are talking about an iPhone in this thread.

If there's any calibration data, it can be saved within the camera module. A14 isn't a human brain. Every A14 is etched the same by TSMC.

 

[rp100]

I’ll (initially) give Apple the benefit of the doubt and assume that some type of calibration needs to occur, particularly for the Pro model that uses multiple lenses and a lidar unit for autofocus. Consider: if ADAS sensors (photo, radar, or lidar) on a motor vehicle were damaged in an accident, the vehicle will not allow certain safety systems to function without proper software recalibration. Granted, I’m comparing a mobile phone to a car, but these components are intricately weaved together with the software that interprets the inputs.

iPhone 12 has been out for one week - one would assume that Apple’s highest priority is ramping production and getting phones out the door, not ensuring that every 3rd party repair facility is outfitted with repair equipment right out the gate. Ifixit’s bread and butter is repair hardware - of course they are going to cry foul at the first hint of anything that might even remotely affect their business. The question is if Apple is going to provide any needed hardware/software for these repair facilities to replace & calibrate the cameras (again, assuming they need to be calibrated).

 

[stainless]

I love Apple, but I really hope right-to-repair laws are put into place soon so they finally change this anti-consumer behaviour. In the US I believe some states have them, but I think the EU will be the first to adopt one those laws and apply it in every member-state.

I agree it’s best to allow the consumer options, including self repair! However, we have to also acknowledge there is bad players in the repair world, some willing to buy stolen iCloud locked/Network locked phones to use those components, or use cheap subpar fake parts yet charging for real Apple parts to their customer because the customer can’t verify... how many non-tech people use independent repair shops because an Apple store isn’t cheap or convenient, now these people have a poor experience.

I wonder if this is similar for high end Samsung or huawei phones?!?

 

[IIGS User]

Imagine your brand new $70k Tesla has its tires remotely locked by Elon Musk, and swapping the tires is going to cost you an arm and a leg.

Imagine Joe's auto lube haus, stand alone Radio Shack franchise, and crab emporium of Kent County Delaware decided he thought it was a good idea to replace the wheel motors on your $70k Tesla with ones he took from an old Maytag electric dryer and not calibrate it to factory standards.

Tires are a consumable. The camera module in an iPhone is not. Tires are a standardized technology that has remained unchanged at their core for almost 3 decades.

it's a poor analogy.

 

[and 1989 others]

I don’t think “I want to replace a faulty custom built miniature lidar scanner, that was built into one of the most densely packed, precisely engineered mobile computing devices to ever exist” falls within what one could reasonably assume they’d do themselves, with a basic set of tools...

In previous phone repairs I have bought the Module of what needs repairing, and used the set of apple
Screw drivers to repair them, that I bought 3 years ago.

Why should the 12 be any different?

 

[44267547]

I’m missing the point of ‘iFixIt’ completely. Who are they? Why is this of interest to 99% of buyers? Most people I imagine couldn’t give a toss about whether their iPhone components are glued together or a camera module can’t be repaired.

You’re right, consumers don’t. But ifixit has quite the following from other third party Repair and tech manufacturers alike, I’d say it’s more in the category of ‘educational’ than it is just being informational.

 

[Williesleg]

Wait, so Apple is making it impossible to swap like parts for like parts? I guess that's one way to force you back to their terrible service. Never liked having to make an appointment to get my broken phone fixed. And then waiting for them to call on me. I guess they think we all have nothing to do but wait for them.

 

[robertcoogan]

Yeah....not buying anyway.

 

[Analog Kid]

You're confusing the CMOS sensor with data processing. There is no data processing on the camera module. There's a reason why Apple says the Image Signal Processor is built into A14 which allows computational photography.

You clearly have no idea how a modern digital imager works... Do you think there’s a little mini chemical lab in there? You don’t think it’s possible to put any logic on an image sensor? You think the ISP is neatly captured in exactly one place in hardware?

I don’t have any inside knowledge as to how the Apple solution itself works, maybe you do, but your statements would be wrong about every other digital camera I’ve ever seen since they moved the A/Ds on chip.

And if the module is so dumb, then how can the phone reject it?

But the irony is that the more you argue that the module iself is stupid, the more you’re arguing in favor of my original point which is that it is quite possible (and you’re actually saying it is necessary) that the critical calibration data of the camera isn’t carried with the module itself and thus needs to be coordinated with the ISP that it finds itself attached to.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

They said variant of T2:

T2 is a chip in the Mac, not in the iPhone and not in any of the peripherals themselves. Maybe they were referring to the underlying secure enclave and other hardare security strategies? Hard to know. They‘re basing their understanding on YouTube, so who knows what’s in their head.

They also said 'essentially' and I am well aware that T2 is a Mac specific chip. I am assuming they were referring to this article wrt t2, and are drawing a comparison to this scenario with the iPhone

Apple’s Secret Repair Kill Switch Hasn’t Been Activated—Yet

Well, stop the presses. Turns out, ‘Apple makes your MacBook inoperative if you get it fixed at local repair shops’ isn’t quite true—not yet, no matter what The Sun says. Our lab testing has found…

www.ifixit.com

 

[ian87w]

With so many iPhones in the marketplace in my country being reassembled iphones / "refurbished" iphones, I can understand why Apple doesn't want some people reassembling an iPhone from parts and reselling those. This may not be an issue in a developed world (and thus is seen as denying repair), but the problem is very real in emerging markets. I myself almost got tricked into buying a "new" iPhone, complete with real-looking fake box and accessories. Everything on the iPhone seemed real, other than the screen looked kinda weird (like there's a weird tiny gap). Most people wouldn't notice it, but the longer I looked at the screen, it felt off.

Good thing the e-commerce site allowed me to return it. The seller is still operating to this day even after I reported the "fake" iPhone.

And that's just one in the sea of hundreds if not more random sellers selling iphones.

 

[JPack]

You clearly have no idea how a modern digital imager works... Do you think there’s a little mini chemical lab in there? You don’t think it’s possible to put any logic on an image sensor? You think the ISP is neatly captured in exactly one place in hardware?

I don’t have any inside knowledge as to how the Apple solution itself works, maybe you do, but your statements would be wrong about every other digital camera I’ve ever seen since they moved the A/Ds on chip.

And if the module is so dumb, then how can the phone reject it?

But the irony is that the more you argue that the module iself is stupid, the more you’re arguing in favor of my original point which is that it is quite possible (and you’re actually saying it is necessary) that the critical calibration data of the camera isn’t carried with the module itself and thus needs to be coordinated with the ISP that it finds itself attached to.

There are plenty of full teardowns of the camera. There's no data processing in the sensor. Your argument reminds me of posters who believed Apple somehow stuffed 2GB RAM inside the iPhone 11 Pro camera module for a total of 6GB RAM.

 

[ricky1989]

I agree it’s best to allow the consumer options, including self repair! However, we have to also acknowledge there is bad players in the repair world, some willing to buy stolen iCloud locked/Network locked phones to use those components, or use cheap subpar fake parts yet charging for real Apple parts to their customer because the customer can’t verify... how many non-tech people use independent repair shops because an Apple store isn’t cheap or convenient, now these people have a poor experience.

I wonder if this is similar for high end Samsung or huawei phones?!?

Technically Apple is doing the same thing as the 3rd parties. Their only advantage is that they holds the encryption keys to the hardware's software locks.

My conclusion could be rare, but Apple's refurbished boards for mac repairs which could still be bad. I once had an Apple replaced motherboard (2015 mbp) died on my just past the three months warranty mark. As expected, Apple declined to replace the "replacement" board for free. I ended up taking it 3rd party repaired to have some of the components replaced and have the computer working again.

More recently I just had my TB mbp's motherboard replaced. Initially, the genius told me the board would be destroyed, yet he still requested me to remove the device from icloud (i.e. un-icloud lock it). I find it rather strange given that the board would eventually be "destroyed", why would they want me to un-icloud lock it. It was quite bizzare and conflicting to me.

 

[thadoggfather]

This is a total jerk move in my view.

 

[PickUrPoison]

Well for your info Asurion own UbreakIfix and Verizon, Sprint, ATT, etc are partner with Asurion for insurance repair claims. They don't use cheap parts.

I know who they are. I’m not a fan of their work.

 

[ani4ani]

iFixIt is making a mountain out of a molehill. I have owned every model of iPhone except the iPhone 4. I have never needed to perform a repair on a single one.

My OG iPhone had a faulty touchscreen and was replaced under warranty at about 4 months old. I had a similar issue with my iPhone 6 after about 2 months. I attribute both of these issues to initial production of an entirely new device design (I always purchase on launch day). Apple’s customer service was impeccable in both situations.

Aside from these two ‘infant mortalities’ which didn’t require a repair, I have never needed to fix anything on an iPhone or even replace a battery. For the vast majority of iPhone users, repair is a hypothetical situation.

iPhones are crazy reliable devices and keep getting more reliable every year.

well that's that then; there is no need to worry about any of this. There are zero iPhones needing repair in the world and so no need for right to repair legislation, no need for AppleCare or technician training or repair centres, approved 3rd party service centres. If they never fail or need to repiar how can they become even more reliable every year?

/s

 

[randyhudson]

What are the chances of a cheap 3rd party replacement camera having embedded malware/remote access etc?

What are the chances this comment is related to the article in any way?

 

[Lekro]

iFixIt is making a mountain out of a molehill. I have owned every model of iPhone except the iPhone 4. I have never needed to perform a repair on a single one.

My OG iPhone had a faulty touchscreen and was replaced under warranty at about 4 months old. I had a similar issue with my iPhone 6 after about 2 months. I attribute both of these issues to initial production of an entirely new device design (I always purchase on launch day). Apple’s customer service was impeccable in both situations.

Aside from these two ‘infant mortalities’ which didn’t require a repair, I have never needed to fix anything on an iPhone or even replace a battery. For the vast majority of iPhone users, repair is a hypothetical situation.

iPhones are crazy reliable devices and keep getting more reliable every year.

Yes, people never drop their phones and I'm just imagining going to work everyday and replacing 10+ iPhone screens.
Your bubble is amazing.

 

[Analog Kid]

I was responding to someone calling them microscopic. That said, compare this:

iPhone XS Rear-Facing Cameras Replacement

Use this guide to remove and replace the rear cameras in the iPhone XS. The rear camera assembly consists of two individual modules: one wide-angle...

www.ifixit.com

to this:

iPhone SE Rear Facing Camera Replacement

Use this guide to replace a broken or non-functioning main camera in your iPhone SE. The camera is not compatible with an iPhone 5s part.

www.ifixit.com

Enormous may be hyperbole, but so was microscopic.

Note the use of tweezers... Enormous was far more hyperbolic than microscopic.

 

[Lekro]

I don’t have the slightest interest in some drooling mall kiosk “technician” “repairing” my iPhone. Cameras on phones and iPad/Macs absolutely ARE a security issue, and I personally don’t trust anyone but Apple to work on security related items on my gear.

That’s entirely aside from the fact that “Ifixit” made NO effort to acknowledge that their “procedures” in the “test” may be the root cause of the “issues” they ”discovered” when they tried to swap cameras among devices. Having seen their “technicians” at work on their videos, I would not be the least bit surprised if they buggered the device up themselves.

There is no need to acknowledge it as replacing the original cameras back in the original phone returns function again.
Camera modules are not a security matter. The image processing is not done on the module itself.

I know it is a forum where everyone can post whatever, but please do some research before blurting out misinformation on the internet.

 

[Analog Kid]

1. Same as iphone's camera module, Eyes are mass manufactured.
2. Serializing a part and ties it to a cloud-based authentication system work pretty much the same way, locking people from performing repair.

Sorry, are you disagreeing with me or agreeing with me? You stated two facts that seem to miss the point of what I was saying...