Apple is making a major change that will make it significantly cheaper and easier to repair broken iPhones

If you always break your iPhone, a new Apple update will make it much cheaper and easier to repair your device.

From this autumn, ‘select iPhone models’ will be able to receive used components – such as a screen or camera – from another iPhone, as long as they are ‘genuine’ Apple parts.

Currently, when someone puts a used component into their iPhone, the device rejects it by limiting functionality and sending ‘part unknown’ messages.

It marks a positive step forward for the ‘right to repair’ movement, which is putting pressure on tech giants to make their phones easier to repair.

However, one expert said the multi-billion-dollar company is only making the change because of pressure from lawmakers.

In a blog postApple said the update is coming to “select iPhone models,” though TechCrunch reports that this refers to the iPhone 15 and the upcoming iPhone 16.

“Used Genuine Apple parts will now benefit from the full functionality and security provided by Original Factory Calibration, just like new Genuine Apple parts,” Apple says.

Currently, Apple requires customers to endure a controversial process called ‘part pairing’ when they want to put new parts into their iPhone.

When you buy an iPhone, the phone’s software is coded to recognize the serial numbers of the various components, such as the screen and the battery.

As a result, if the iPhone is equipped with components with serial numbers that the software does not recognize, several iPhone functions will not work properly.

What’s more, users will get messages telling them that the phone is unable to determine whether the newly installed battery or screen ‘is a genuine Apple part’.

According to a test by iFixit, with the current ‘part pairing’ restrictions, if a broken iPhone 15 screen is replaced with an identical screen, key features such as the front-facing camera, Face ID and automatic brightness will stop working.

This is because the phone recognizes every part that is ‘paired’ with it, limiting the ability to replace parts without a proprietary process to restore functionality.

With the new update, it looks like Apple is taking the first step away from part pairing.

Starting this fall, calibration for genuine Apple parts, new or used, will be done on the device after the part is installed, the company said in the blog post.

However, it is unclear whether a repaired iPhone will have full functionality from the autumn; MailOnline has contacted Apple for more information.

Apple has defended part pairing by describing it as ‘critical to maintaining the privacy, safety and security of iPhone’.

But right-to-repair advocates say it fuels the world’s e-waste problem by making perfectly functional components expendable.

Nathan Proctor, senior director of the Public Interest Research Group’s right to repair campaign, said Apple is facing increasing regulatory pressure to end the practice.

The move coincides with a bill being heard in the Colorado Senate that would ban companies from throttling repairs using a sneaky tactic known as ‘part pairing’.

“Make no mistake—the reason Apple is doing this is because the right to repair is moving forward, thanks to the efforts of state lawmakers and our coalition of tinkerers, fixers, manufacturers, and environmental and consumer advocates,” Proctor said.

‘Electronic waste is the world’s fastest growing waste stream and represents a global crisis.

“Companies that use software to prevent compatible parts from working fully are exacerbating this problem while harming consumers and undermining local workshops.

‘Legislators should ban these repair restrictions in full, not just a few units from one manufacturer.’

Proctor stressed that this doesn’t mean the pairing of parts is coming to an end, adding that it will ‘definitely continue’ based on this announcement.

“Apple does not outline the steps you need to take to restore functionality to used or exchanged Apple parts, only that it will be allowed on select iPhone models starting this fall,” he said.

“Apple still deliberately opposes bill to limit pairing of parts.”

Danielle Purkiss, materials system design expert at University College London, said that part pairing creates a ‘digital lock on device components’.

“In many cases, this activity creates a form of manufacturer monopoly on product repair services and reduces options for spare parts,” she told MailOnline.

“This makes the costs for repairs and parts less competitive and therefore generally more expensive for citizens.

“It is bad for society and for the environment as it leads to unnecessary costs and discourages people from repairing their products and replacing them instead.

“Overall, the results of activities such as mating of parts that prevent repair and prematurely shorten the life of products, increasing environmental impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions and negative impacts from metal extraction needed to manufacture replacement products, and environmental damage caused by the growing mountains of waste electronics globally.’

Apple has a Self Service Repair program that sends parts and tools to people’s houses for a fee so they can fix their broken iPhones and Mac computers.

According to The edgethe new change means users won’t have to bother giving their phone’s serial number when placing an order.

Apple launched the service in the US in 2021 and the UK the following year, although it has been criticized for being too complex and having ‘disastrous’ results.

However, Apple said the program is only suitable for ‘customers who have experience with the complexities of repairing electronic devices’.