Upcoming Apple software update will stop iPhone 13 screen swap block

Apple will soon release a software update that will allow iPhone 13 models to get their screens replaced at third-party repair shops more easily.

Currently, third-party screen repairs will break Face ID functionality on iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro models. That's because of a tiny chip that pairs the display to the device.

The company told The Verge on Wednesday that a software update is on the way that will make third-party display swaps easier.

As detailed by repair specialists iFixit, display repairs are complicated now because the aforementioned chip serializes a screen to an iPhone. Because of that, swapping a screen requires technicians remove the chip and solder it onto a new screen — a complicated and expensive procedure.

Apple's upcoming update will do away with the serializing, though details about how are scarce. Presumably, however the fix will allow independent repair shops and consumers to swap a screen without Face ID becoming broken.

The serialization chip stirred controversy in the repair community, since screen swaps are among the most common repairs made to devices. It isn't clear if the anti-repair behavior was intentional, since a source within Apple said it would be "fixed" at a later date.

It isn't clear when the software update will arrive, but it will likely be a point release for iOS 15.

5 Comments

darkvader 1146 comments · 15 Years

About 3 years ago

Sounds like Apple got a nastygram from the FTC.

elijahg 2823 comments · 18 Years

Excellent, good job Apple.

There’s no way however this wasn’t intentional, as there is no need for the software to verify the serial of the display before it’ll work. That kind of FUD is on the level of Google claiming they “accidentally” vacuumed up passwords from open wifi networks, and “accidentally” bypassed Safari’s tracking protection.

Hopefully this’ll make them see that asinine policies will get backlash.

I’d look forward to the back-pedalling from those here who said it was all for security. No doubt they’ll be conspicuously absent, though it is probably hard to speak with your foot in your own mouth.

macseeker 541 comments · 8 Years

I see that Louis Rossmann made his comment about FaceID being disabled after the iPhone 13 screen has been replaced.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqzEltEHgrg

MplsP 4021 comments · 8 Years

Still no word on why a serial code chip is even necessary for the display.

There's a lot of stuff that doesn't make sense here. Adding such encoding adds expense and complexity to the part and is additional coding with the OS. Why would Apple go to the trouble of doing this? Either for financial gain to preserve repair business or for security purposes. Most people claim that Apple does not make significant money on repairs, but if it truly was for legitimate security purpose, why would they disable it?

beowulfschmidt 2349 comments · 12 Years

AppleInsider said:
The serialization chip stirred controversy in the repair community, since screen swaps are among the most common repairs made to devices. It isn't clear if the anti-repair behavior was intentional, since a source within Apple said it would be "fixed" at a later date.

Read on AppleInsider

Of course it was intentional. The fact that there's a software fix for this means there's no way a check like that was "accidental". That just doesn't happen. And they only fixed it because of the noise it generated.

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