The fact that Apple would try to find a way to disable FaceID if the screen is replaced by an unaffiliated repair shop is cause for serious concern.
Phone repairs are getting more and more ridiculous – here's why.
Apple tried to make it very difficult for independent repair shops to replace the iPhone 13 screen without disabling FaceID. Thanks to a microcontroller chip tied to the screen, only Apple can easily perform a replacement. Well, Apple, an Apple Independent Repair Provider (IRP), or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (ASP).
Other repair shops (or private individuals) will have to perform a much more labor-intensive process, carefully transferring the current chip to the new screen. Apple has since reversed its decision after much backlash, but this is likely not the end.
“This decision by Apple undermines the work of independent repairers unless they achieve ‘official Apple repairer’ status, which is extremely expensive to obtain,” Matt Thorne, co-founder of refurbished iPhone retailer reboxed, told Lifewire in an email. “It’s a major hurdle for the Right to Repair team and the pre-owned community.”
