Washington: Days after the newly launched iPhone 13 reached everyone, including people who tinker, teardowns revealed a major change to how the iPhone repairs work.
The change is that the iPhone 13 will disable Face ID if you get its cracked screen repaired by a local shop. Now, iFixit has confirmed the same and published a detailed report on how the new restriction brings a “dark day for fixers, both DIY and professional.” This change to the repair process of the iPhone 13 will also force third-party iPhone repair shops to shut down, India Today said in its report adding that iFixit said that the display of the iPhone 13 is managed by a small microcontroller. This means that repairing the display would require a microscope for “one of the most common phone repairs” that could easily be done previously with hand tools. Local shops often rely on these commonly-used apps for phone repairs, but to be able to repair the iPhone 13, they will have to make huge investments in new equipment. If they cannot, they would just be forced to shutter their iPhone repair business.
The microcontroller system, called “serialization” in the tongue of repair technology, is sophisticated, which is why third-party repair shops will find it nearly impossible to pair a new screen with an iPhone 13 unless they buy the expensive equipment. The serial number on the microcontroller will need to be verified with Apple servers for the pairing to work, otherwise, Face ID will not be activated. “Authorized technicians with access to proprietary software, Apple Services Toolkit 2, can make new screens work by logging the repair to Apple’s cloud servers and syncing the serial numbers of the phone and screen,” said iFixit in its report.