I’m slightly late posting about this here but figured I’d do so anyway.
You can see what their anti-repair measures look like at around the 7:50 mark.
With this new iPhone release, they have also stopped shipping their charger ($19), USB charging cable (opting instead for a lightning to USB-C cable), and earbuds ($159+). They have cited environmental concerns as their excuse to force their customers to spend possibly hundreds of dollars extra for products that will be end up being delivered separately.
As some people have hinted or guessed at in this thread, there is a specific software tool you must run on the phone once you replace components like the camera, battery or display. This tool is only made available to Apple and to its certified repair partners. I will leave it to everyone else to discuss the implications of this policy.
Source: I fix Apple phones
Continuing to purchase their products will only encourage this behaviour further. Boycott Apple.
But but the text message bubbles are blue /s
This is done in order to prevent supply chain attacks. iPhones are used by reporters, government employees, and many who live in countries where their rights aren’t protected. If someone maliciously slips in third party hardware, the owner of the phone could be open for attacks that violate their privacy. This could potentially be life threatening.
Hardware must be cryptographically signed in order for the phone to operate. Apple does sell these parts, and also a tool kit that will allow you to do these repairs yourself. Of course, the parts and kit are expensive, so it might be cheaper to head to the Apple Store for any repairs.
I can understand why some might not appreciate the cost and inconvenience, but you have got to hand it to Apple for their security measures.
You absolutely do NOT have to hand it to Apple for taking away right to repair and affordability from everyone at the pretense of a few incidents happening to very specific users. In fact, you have to take it away from them.
You might be downplaying “a few incidents”. This type of attack has been successfully deployed against major phone, PC, network equipment, TV, and even refrigerator companies. Thousands of companies spanning across the globe have been affected by supply chain attacks.
Apple is a trillion dollar company and has devoted great work into research and development in the security field. The layers that protect your data are so safe that a three letter government agency could steal your iPhone and STILL not see what is on that phone.
Like I said, this repairability and cost inconvenience is not for everyone. Apple is probably not going to go backwards and start weakening their stance. I doubt any company will at this point if they are serious about protecting the data of their customers.
There are other phone manufacturers out there that are specifically designing phones to be repaired by the user. Not recommending them at all, but they do exist.
If security is that important then why wouldn’t apple make the phone display a pop-up or splashcreen to the user informing them of the modification, whilst still allowing the phone to be used? There is no need to render the device unusable, just leave the choice up to the user. I think it is much more likely that these measures are taken to monopolise the repair of iPhones and overcharge customers. I think talking about this as a life-threatening problem is quite overdramatic.
