While an expert is always the preferred approach, you might be able to employ a little DIY if your iPhone breaks in 2022.
If you’re kind of handy with your tools and aren’t afraid to do a little dabble, if you end up smashing an iPhone screen in the future, you might be able to fix it yourself. That’s a bit of a change from the way things have been, but it’s something Apple is working on, with self-service repair coming in 2022 for iPhones and Mac.
While you’ll still probably want to take a broken device to a professional, the good news is folks who are savvy enough to play and not afraid of a little breakage may not actually have to, as the company looks set to release a repair program with guide and modules available to fix some of the common problems with broken devices.
The idea will come to the US and other countries, with Australia possibly being one, and will see a repair manual sent to customers keen to try it themselves, followed by an order for the genuine parts from a new side of Apple’s online store, the Apple Self Service Repair Online Store. Broken parts returned from that device can be sent back for credit at the store, with Apple set to sell over 200 parts and tools, initially focusing on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 range, and how to fix common issues.
“Creating greater access to Apple genuine parts gives our customers even more choice if a repair is needed,” said Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer at Apple.
“In the past three years, Apple has nearly doubled the number of service locations with access to Apple genuine parts, tools and training, and now we’re providing an option for those who wish to complete their own repairs,” he said.
To start with, Apple’s fix-it-yourself program will focus on the iPhoen display, camera, and battery, with other repair jobs coming later in the year, but the company has said Mac computer repair guides and parts will be available for M1 Macs later on, too, meaning it’s not just iPhones you’ll be able to fix.
While the announcement of the self-service repair program is interesting, we’re not sure it’s the sort of thing everyone should necessarily take Apple up on.
People trained to do this typically also have the insurance needed so that if or when something breaks on their end, they should be able to replace it easily, while taking your device to Apple directly will mean it’s fixed by those trained specifically by the makers of said devices. Doing it yourself will lack that, and while anyone can learn, you may accidentally break something if you’re not at all confident in the process.
As such, a DIY repair iPhone might sound great and easier for all, but it also might be a risky hassle if you’re not confident in what you’re doing. When it goes live in Australia, tread carefully, because our guess is if you break your iPhone further while trying to fix it, Apple isn’t just going to give you a new one for trying.
It will be interesting to see if DIY repairs affect trade in, as how repairs work in relation to Apple’s trade-in program come with their own share of catches. Long term, if you’re planning to upgrade later, it might be easier to just get a professional to do it.
