Unauthorized iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X Display Replacements Can Break Ambient Light Sensor

[iMacC2D]

HQ actually Cupertino and that’s a fact that all Geniuses are trained there.

Apple Geniuses these days are trained entirely online. As a matter of fact, some Apple technicians will train and begin servicing customer devices without ever having worked on a practice unit or having performed a dry run, with their only experience being the online simulations and course material.

"HQ" aka back room of your local apple store on a iMac with training material to read. Who knew turning a screw driver was an elegant repair. Does that mean if the cavemen turn the same screws they are now elegant or "Geniuses". I hope one day a person can sit you down and show you how easy it is to fix these devices minus the software locks Apple puts on their stuff to prevent it. Whats elegant is being able to replace parts that are broken and see it work again with your own hands.

This information is correct.

 

[puma1552]

Never understood why people would spend $700+ on a phone only to have it repaired somewhere other than an Apple store or authorized service provider. Even though that article says genuine replacement screens replaced by non authorized providers won't work, what are the odds of a non authorized service provider even using a genuine screen to begin with? Probably zero. News flash - the kiosk repair guy at the mall is using the cheapest junk possible.

Want it done right, bring it to Apple or an authorized provider. This is a non story...stop being cheap.

 

[JPack]

Never understood why people would spend $700+ on a phone only to have it repaired somewhere other than an Apple store or authorized service provider. Even though that article says genuine replacement screens replaced by non authorized providers won't work, what are the odds of a non authorized service provider even using a genuine screen to behin with? Probably zero. News flash - the kiosk repair guy at the mall is using the cheapest junk possible.

Want it done right, bring it to Apple or an authorized provider. This is a non story...stop being cheap.

That's just a false narrative.

Why have a store replace the display when it's a 5 minute job? There are simply 3 flex cables held down by Philips screws. The iPhone 8 is as easy as it gets.

I'm not sure why people are bowing down to Apple Store for such a simple job. The OEM display is widely available.

 

[EM2013]

That's just a false narrative.

Why have a store replace the display when it's a 5 minute job? There are simply 3 flex cables held down by Philips screws. The iPhone 8 is as easy as it gets.

I'm not sure why people are bowing down to Apple Store for such a simple job. The OEM display is widely available.

1. It’s easy for you. Not everyone can do it.

2. You can damage something while attempting to fix it, then you’re screwed.

3. You fix it only to find out you messed up something else (see above links) then you’re screwed.

 

[jpbknirr]

So, does no one on here think that a phone that works perfectly fine after a third party repair for months and then suddenly an update bricks the phone, isnt a total rat bastard move on Apple's part? Can anyone say error 53 again.

Its one thing to tell people that a third party repair will brick the phone before the repair, but these phone were working just fine and then an update bricked them with no warning at all.

 

[JPack]

1. It’s easy for you. Not everyone can do it.

2. You can damage something while attempting to fix it, then you’re screwed.

3. You fix it only to find out you messed up something else (see above links) then you’re screwed.

Yup, so let me do what I want with my phone.

If I want to axe in half, so be it.

None of this overbearing crap from Apple please.

 

[puma1552]

That's just a false narrative.

Why have a store replace the display when it's a 5 minute job? There are simply 3 flex cables held down by Philips screws. The iPhone 8 is as easy as it gets.

I'm not sure why people are bowing down to Apple Store for such a simple job. The OEM display is widely available.

Because of reasons like what the articles outline. Clearly they aren't working, so that's why you have the store do it.

Link to genuine, verifiable Apple displays? Far as I know Apple doesn't allow third parties of any kind, authorized service provider or not, to sell genuine Apple parts other than user replaceable consumables like laptop batteries. Please don't show me an alibaba link with some cheap junk display with poor English all over the page claiming to be a genuine Apple display. Just because a display claims to be genuine, looks the same, or is claimed to be built to Apple specs doesn't mean it is, and definitely doesn't mean it's genuine Apple. I've personally never seen a genuine Apple part for sale outside of consumables like batteries for laptops.

So, does no one on here think that a phone that works perfectly fine after a third party repair for months and then suddenly an update bricks the phone, isnt a total rat bastard move on Apple's part? Can anyone say error 53 again.

Its one thing to tell people that a third party repair will brick the phone before the repair, but these phone were working just fine and then an update bricked them with no warning at all.

You paid $500-$1000 for a phone, treat and maintain it like one. This is a non-issue and you got what you paid for by trying to cheap out on maintaining it. And if you knew about error 53, then doubly shame on you for servicing outside authorized service providers anyway...

 

[JPack]

Because of reasons like what the articles outline. Clearly they aren't working, so that's why you have the store do it.

Link to genuine, verifiable Apple displays? Far as I know Apple doesn't allow third parties of any kind, authorized service provider or not, to sell genuine Apple parts other than user replaceable consumables like laptop batteries. Please don't show me an alibaba link with some cheap junk display with poor English all over the page claiming to be a genuine Apple display. Just because a display claims to be genuine, looks the same, or is claimed to be built to Apple specs doesn't mean it is, and definitely doesn't mean it's genuine Apple. I've personally never seen a genuine Apple part for sale outside of consumables like batteries for laptops.

http://www.rewatechnology.com/e-cat...ple-parts/for-iphone-series/for-iphone-8-plus

Genuine OEM displays.

You might not be familiar with repair supplies but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist or are hard to find.

 

[puma1552]

http://www.rewatechnology.com/e-catalog/For Apple Parts/for-apple-parts/for-iphone-series/for-iphone-8-plus

Genuine OEM displays.

You might not be familiar with repair supplies but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist or are hard to find.

OEM is not the same as OE, but gets thrown around mistakenly all the time as if it is OE, especially in the automotive world.

OEM means it's built to the same manufacturer's specs by other companies, but only OE is the exact original equipment that the product originally shipped with. This is why you see OEM listings 500x more than you see OE listings.

Notice how the very top of the page says "One Stop Electronics Aftermarket Solutions"? Aftermarket parts.

 

[nviz22]

Never understood why people would spend $700+ on a phone only to have it repaired somewhere other than an Apple store or authorized service provider. Even though that article says genuine replacement screens replaced by non authorized providers won't work, what are the odds of a non authorized service provider even using a genuine screen to begin with? Probably zero. News flash - the kiosk repair guy at the mall is using the cheapest junk possible.

Want it done right, bring it to Apple or an authorized provider. This is a non story...stop being cheap.

You do know some people do not live near an Apple Store within a drivable vicinity? Apple Stores aren't like McDonald's. Some people are also on budgets and do not necessarily spend $700 on iPhones. Believe it or not, AT&T still offers contracts and give discounts on full prices, especially recently with their Directv and customer loyalty deals. Others also get phones on a BOGO deal too. People also do trade ins to save $ on their iPhones by getting rid of older models. T-Mobile offered $300 for some old models last year. If you could get rid of an iPhone 6 or 6S for $300 without much hassle? Isn't that worth it for some?

Just because a phone has a MSRP does not mean everyone pays said MSRP because carriers have promos and others have phones to trade in. California is working on a right to repair bill:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/8/1...ir-bill-apple-microsoft-service-replace-parts

You shouldn't be forced to go to Apple just to repair a phone. Apple would love it if they and their authorized partners are the only spots to do repairs. Plenty of kickbacks or cuts from partners.

Apple is known for its famous Error 53 message and had to backtrack on it too: https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/18/a...-ios-to-restore-iphones-disabled-by-error-53/

 

[puma1552]

You do know some people do not live near an Apple Store within a drivable vicinity? Apple Stores aren't like McDonald's. Some people are also on budgets and do not necessarily spend $700 on iPhones. Believe it or not, AT&T still offers contracts and give discounts on full prices, especially recently with their Directv and customer loyalty deals. Others also get phones on a BOGO deal too. People also do trade ins to save $ on their iPhones by getting rid of older models. T-Mobile offered $300 for some old models last year. If you could get rid of an iPhone 6 or 6S for $300 without much hassle? Isn't that worth it for some?

Just because a phone has a MSRP does not mean everyone pays said MSRP because carriers have promos and others have phones to trade in. California is working on a right to repair bill:

https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/8/1...ir-bill-apple-microsoft-service-replace-parts

You shouldn't be forced to go to Apple just to repair a phone. Apple would love it if they and their authorized partners are the only spots to do repairs. Plenty of kickbacks or cuts from partners.

Apple is known for its famous Error 53 message and had to backtrack on it too: https://techcrunch.com/2016/02/18/a...-ios-to-restore-iphones-disabled-by-error-53/

Then vote with your wallet and don't support a company whose corporate repair policies you don't agree with. This isn't hard. You too seem clearly aware of Apple's history on this kind of stuff so it's like wtf?

Just because you got a deal on the phone doesn't mean it isn't still a high end device requiring high end repairs...it's just like people who buy a 10 year old S class for $10k just because it's an S class for not much money but forget that no, it's actually still a $100k car with $100k car maintenance and repair bills, regardless of how old it is or how cheap the buy in was.

 

[JPack]

OEM is not the same as OE, but gets thrown around mistakenly all the time as if it is OE, especially in the automotive world.

OEM means it's built to the same manufacturer's specs by other companies, but only OE is the exact original equipment that the product originally shipped with. This is why you see OEM listings 500x more than you see OE listings.

Notice how the very top of the page says "One Stop Electronics Aftermarket Solutions"? Aftermarket parts.

You’re confusing the automotive world with smartphones. Not surprising since it’s clear you don’t have any experience with the iPhone part supply chain.

There is no OE/OEM difference with iPhone because Apple does not permit its suppliers to manufacture aftermarket parts. Apple has exclusive contracts with their suppliers which prevents JDI or Sharp for example from manufacturing an aftermarket LCD for iPhone. All original Apple parts are marked OEM.

Rewa sells aftermarket (clone) and OEM parts for Apple.

 

[puma1552]

You’re confusing the automotive world with smartphones. Not surprising since it’s clear you don’t have any experience with the iPhone part supply chain.

There is no OE/OEM difference with iPhone because Apple does not permit its suppliers to manufacture aftermarket parts. Apple has exclusive contracts with their suppliers which prevents JDI or Sharp for example from manufacturing an aftermarket LCD for iPhone. All original Apple parts are marked OEM.

Rewa sells aftermarket (clone) and OEM parts for Apple.

The difference between OE and OEM doesn't differ industry to industry. OEM is not OE, in this industry or in any other. Not sure why you would think that the definitions change when its convenient to fit your narrative.

Apple doesn't allow its suppliers to sell genuine Apple parts, period. Surely you are smart enough to realize Apple absofreakinglutely has that on lockdown in contracts with suppliers? You are not buying genuine Apple parts on that website, no matter what you think you are buying. It is well documented all over the internet that the only place to get genuine, OE Apple parts is Apple themselves or Apple authorized service providers, nowhere else no matter what any website claims.

 

[nviz22]

Then vote with your wallet and don't support a company whose corporate repair policies you don't agree with. This isn't hard. You too seem clearly aware of Apple's history on this kind of stuff so it's like wtf?

Just because you got a deal on the phone doesn't mean it isn't still a high end device requiring high end repairs...it's just like people who buy a 10 year old S class for $10k just because it's an S class for not much money but forget that no, it's actually still a $100k car with $100k car maintenance and repair bills, regardless of how old it is or how cheap the buy in was.

This isn’t just about Apple. Other companies score low on ease of repair tests too. If you own a product, you should be allowed to use a 3rd party service to fix it. You basically ignore depreciation because a $10k car is $10k and could’ve been $100k before coming off the lot.

So people who cannot afford Apple’s repair charges shouldn’t own an iPhone? I’ll be sure to see the next person receiving a gifted iPhone can afford possible LCD or OLED repair bills.

 

[C DM]

Never understood why people would spend $700+ on a phone only to have it repaired somewhere other than an Apple store or authorized service provider. Even though that article says genuine replacement screens replaced by non authorized providers won't work, what are the odds of a non authorized service provider even using a genuine screen to begin with? Probably zero. News flash - the kiosk repair guy at the mall is using the cheapest junk possible.

Want it done right, bring it to Apple or an authorized provider. This is a non story...stop being cheap.

People spend many times more on cars that they take to independent mechanics for all kinds of repairs and other things.

 

[puma1552]

So people who cannot afford Apple’s repair charges shouldn’t own an iPhone? I’ll be sure to see the next person receiving a gifted iPhone can afford possible LCD or OLED repair bills.

Basically. If you can't afford to maintain something, you can't afford it. Pretty simple, really. There's always more than just the buy-in and if you go into a purchase only thinking of the buy-in and not the maintenance and/or repair costs, that's on you. At the end of the day we are talking about an LCD replacement which is what, $179 at Apple? No it's not super cheap but in the grand scheme we are talking about a sub-$200 repair, and the delta is even less when you compare the difference to what a 3rd party non-authorized mall kiosk or similar is going to charge you. So we are up in arms about what, $100 or so? Much bigger things to get upset about, write Apple a letter to complain rather than just complaining here on the forums.

It still stands that you previously knew Apple didn't play well with non-authorized repairs (error 53), so low repairability scores for other brands (which is true, nothing is really repairable by the end user anymore) don't absolve you from the fact you still chose to buy and service an Apple product at non-Apple authorized providers - you really have no right to complain that Apple pulled something similar to what they've already proven to do in the past. You could've bought some Android phone and had it serviced with 3rd party parts at mall kiosks to your heart's content.

 

[nviz22]

Basically. If you can't afford to maintain something, you can't afford it. Pretty simple, really. There's always more than just the buy-in and if you go into a purchase only thinking of the buy-in and not the maintenance and/or repair costs, that's on you. At the end of the day we are talking about an LCD replacement which is what, $179 at Apple? No it's not super cheap but in the grand scheme we are talking about a sub-$200 repair, and the delta is even less when you compare the difference to what a 3rd party non-authorized mall kiosk or similar is going to charge you. So we are up in arms about what, $100 or so? Much bigger things to get upset about, write Apple a letter to complain rather than just complaining here on the forums.

It still stands that you previously knew Apple didn't play well with non-authorized repairs (error 53), so low repairability scores for other brands (which is true, nothing is really repairable by the end user anymore) don't absolve you from the fact you still chose to buy and service an Apple product at non-Apple authorized providers - you really have no right to complain that Apple pulled something similar to what they've already proven to do in the past. You could've bought some Android phone and had it serviced with 3rd party parts at mall kiosks to your heart's content.

I haven't ever had an Apple product repaired by a 3rd party place. What I is weird is that there are consumers, such as yourself, who are providing Apple a slippery slope to dictate the entire product ownership. I have Apple Care + on products I know that will break down over time, like my MacBook. People do not purchase smartphones expecting to replace the LCD or other parts. It doesn't matter if it's a "grand scheme of things" for an individual. The $ piles up for each person. A $29 battery replacement vs $79 battery replacement is a sizable profitability difference. I am not going to write Apple a letter because that requires me to write other OEMs letters too because I would want to be consistent.

I always go through the manufacturer's warranty for Android devices too. Any phone I have owned after 2 years would get replaced when it ceases to stop functioning because I am not interested in replacing a HTC G1's internals or replacing a LG Nexus 5X's internals.

If you're not for right to repair bills, then you can keep patronizing manufacturers. The ball should not stop rolling because there are consumers who do not acknowledge the issues' impacts on future consumer purchases.

 

[JPack]

The difference between OE and OEM doesn't differ industry to industry. OEM is not OE, in this industry or in any other. Not sure why you would think that the definitions change when its convenient to fit your narrative.

Apple doesn't allow its suppliers to sell genuine Apple parts, period. Surely you are smart enough to realize Apple absofreakinglutely has that on lockdown in contracts with suppliers? You are not buying genuine Apple parts on that website, no matter what you think you are buying. It is well documented all over the internet that the only place to get genuine, OE Apple parts is Apple themselves or Apple authorized service providers, nowhere else no matter what any website claims.

LOL, if you don't anything about the iPhone servicing industry, then learn about it. Stop spewing crap. Don't use automotive industry terms like OE/OEM and pretend it applies to iPhone.

Rewa buys genuine Apple OEM parts from Apple Authorized Service Providers. In countries where Apple has no store presence (e.g. India), Apple will sell OEM parts to AASPs. Due to lack of enforcement, these AASPs can sell the parts to Rewa.

 

[puma1552]

LOL, if you don't anything about the iPhone servicing industry, then learn about it. Stop spewing crap. Don't use automotive industry terms like OE/OEM and pretend it applies to iPhone.

Rewa buys genuine Apple OEM parts from Apple Authorized Service Providers. In countries where Apple has no store presence (e.g. India), Apple will sell OEM parts to AASPs. Due to lack of enforcement, these AASPs can sell the parts to Rewa.

Well I'm sure you have a source for that illegal activity you claim AASPs and Rewa partake in then, right? Sounds like you're spewing the crap here because nobody credible is going to document that illegal activity online so you can parrot it here.

Anyway, keep buying parts from 3rd party sites and coming to MacRumors to complain Apple screwed you because you wouldn't just pay an extra lousy few bucks to get your stuff fixed by Apple or their authorized service provider and now the parts you swear are OE don't even work so it doesn't even matter if they are or not. Seems like lose-lose for you, but I couldn't care less, personally. My stuff is 1000% known legit and I don't have to whine about Apple on MR.

At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if your parts are genuine or not if they don't work.

Anyway, I'm done here because this is going nowhere at all so there's no point in either of us posting any further. Enjoy your phone.

 

[MarkCollette]

Thats not how those systems work at all. You should really learn about these systems. The home button being replaced in no way is a security risk. The scanner is only an input device. It only sends a data package containing the data read from the sensor. Replacing it with another sensor doesnt somehow make the phone open up. It still has to send a data package to the SoC so it can be confirmed by the security inside the die.
The screen needs no calibration. Again QC at the point of manufacturing "calibrates" the screen. It would be very dumb manufacturer processes if all of your devices come off the line not in good working calibration. These are phone screens not electron scanning microscopes.

The home button could be replaced by one that’s been engineered to record the fingerprint input for future output. If Apple allowed any random third party part to be used. Which they luckily don’t.
Next time think before trying to correct others.

 

[MarkCollette]

I don’t care if there is malicious code or whatever on TouchID or whatever with their party repairs. I went to fix it with third party retailer, I take full responsibility on whatever happens. Apple has no right to disable my phone with software updates.

Right, and other people don’t want to make that security trade-off, just to save a buck. We get your perspective, and maybe you get our perspective.

You don’t care about our security, and we don’t care about you saving a buck.

 

[C DM]

Looks like iOS 11.3.1 has been release to address this: Apple Releases iOS 11.3.1 Update With Fix for Third-Party Display Repair Issue

 

[Winterfibre]

Same thing on my 6s, changed the display and light sensor stops working, and proximity sensor stops working as well.

 

[Aoligei]

Right, and other people don’t want to make that security trade-off, just to save a buck. We get your perspective, and maybe you get our perspective.

You don’t care about our security, and we don’t care about you saving a buck.

There is no excuses that Apple disabled FaceID with screen replacement (thanks God that Apple was forced to walk back).

There is no excuse disable battery health with third party battery, when previous iPhone (iPhone before Xs) can display health information. There is no reason ambient light sensor gets disabled with third party battery.

There is also no valid reason for Apple to disable certain camera function with camera replacement.


All in all, Apple is forcing user to pay for services to Apple and monopolize repairs, in the name of security.