Apple opens up the use of used replacement parts to repair iPhones

Replacing a broken screen, camera or iPhone battery might cost us less in a few months. Thanks to a long-awaited step by Apple: it has opened up the possibility of using used spare parts in repairs. It announced it a few days ago on its website and it is a novelty that should be released in the autumn, starting with the iPhone 15 or newer.

In short, we will be able to have these cell phones repaired with used parts – screens, batteries and cameras – without any modification to the functionality of the product. Yes, because there has always been a loss of functionality when we have used spare parts for iPhones that are not new or not original.

Of course, Apple will continue to limit the functionality of products created by other companies (therefore “non-original”), at least in the immediate future; the novelty instead concerns the full citizenship given to original second-hand iPhone parts. The devices will “see” them as new ones. This results in a certain saving for users and also a benefit for the environment.

So far, replacing some parts with components from other iPhones results in a warning on the screen and the disabling of some functions. If you replace the screen of an iPhone with another, for example, the True Tone function, which makes the screen colors more natural, stops working. The technical reason is that these components are effectively tied to the device with which they were originally supplied, a practice commonly known as “pairing”. So far, the only way to restore full functionality is for an authorized technician to use new, company-certified Apple parts through a “system setup” process.

It has also always been the most expensive way to repair an iPhone

The new feature announced means that configuration takes place directly on the phone. It no longer requires the repairer to provide the serial number of the part. Apple said it had to work quite a bit to figure out how to make this new setup work properly while maintaining security, privacy and product quality. “Used Apple Original Parts will now enjoy the full functionality and safety guaranteed by the original factory calibration, just like new Apple Original Parts,” we read in a note. The repair of smartphones is an increasingly common practice because in the current level of market maturity: users tend to stay with the same device for more than two years; technological innovation from one year to the next is in fact only incremental now, so much so that smartphone sales have been stagnant for years.