When purchasing a new iPhone, the AppleCare+ plan is often one of the value-added services that users struggle with the most. After all, the high cost of iPhone repairs is really unbearable. Today, Apple’s official website released the repair price list for the iPhone 15 series, in which the price for damaged back panel glass of the iPhone 15 Pro/Max is 1,548 yuan. Compared with the previous generation iPhone14Pro/Max, it is 2,050 yuan lower.
access:
Apple Online Store (China)
(Image source: Apple)
The reduction in repair prices is mainly due to the new mid-frame structure design of iPhone15Pro and iPhone15ProMax. The back glass is easier to disassemble and assemble, which greatly reduces the difficulty of repair. This change may give users who are struggling with whether to purchase the AppleCare+ plan for iPhone 15 a clear direction.
Who would buy AppleCare+ when it’s easier to repair?
In 2012, the epoch-making iPhone 5 was officially released, featuring a Lightning interface, a 4-inch retina display, and an A6 dual-core processor. Every upgrade surprises the entire mobile phone market.
The biggest change in the iPhone 5 is actually the body structure. Starting from this generation, the iPhone needs to be disassembled by removing the screen. This means that almost all internal repairs require disassembly of the more expensive display, which is high risk and low benefit.
The iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus that debuted last year were the first to make changes: a new frame design allows the back glass to be completely removed, greatly reducing the risk of repairs. For some unknown reason, Apple did not allow this new structure to appear on the iPhone 14 Pro.
(Image source: iFixit)
Repair organization unitedlex believes that iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus are Apple’s easiest-to-repair models since the release of iPhone 5, with a repair difficulty of only 3 points (out of 10 points). Some popular flagship models, such as Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, have a repair difficulty of 6 points, and Huawei Mate40 Pro has a repair difficulty of 5 points.
Nowadays, the more easily disassembled design has been used on iPhone15Pro and iPhone15ProMax, and the repair price of backplane glass has naturally dropped to a relatively reasonable range.
From the iPhone 14 disassembly report displayed by ifixit, we can see that the front and back glass of the new-architecture iPhone can be easily removed, especially the latter, which can be removed by simply heating with a hot air gun. The only cable is the connection line between the wireless charging coil and the battery, which is very difficult to disassemble.
(Image source: iFixit)
The iPhone 14 Pro is still a "traditional" solution to disassemble it from the screen. Especially this generation of iPhone can only be opened from right to left. If you are not careful, you may cause damage to the cable. If you need to replace the back glass separately, you may need to use a more violent blade to clean it. In the process, it will inevitably cause damage to the camera and stainless steel frame.
The advantages of the new design are:
Disassemble the phone directly from the back to replace the battery more quickly and conveniently.
The screen panel and back glass are the two most fragile parts of a mobile phone. Independent disassembly can reduce consequential damage to related components.
At present, the most intuitive feeling of the new design is that the maintenance cost has been reduced a lot. iPhone15 series users regardless of the use of protective cases can also enjoy the wonderful feel of the "bare metal".
New design, but still too expensive
In theory, the new design brings an easier-to-remove glass back panel, and repair costs should be reduced to a reasonable range, but the reality is not satisfactory.
The official after-sales service provided by Apple has always been expensive. Especially since the iPhone 13 series uses super ceramic glass panels, the quotations have gone straight to the sky. Before 2022, Apple will only provide repair services for screen, battery and other three options. Damaged or broken glass back cover will be classified as "other" repairs.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max undergoes "other" repairs, and the price is as high as 4,699 yuan.
(Image source: iFixit)
After the release of the iPhone14 series, Apple provided glass backplane repair services separately, but the price was equally expensive: iPhone14 and iPhone14Plus were 2,998 yuan, while iPhone14Pro and iPhone14ProMax were as high as 3,598 yuan and 3,998 yuan.
Compared with competitors, Apple’s price for replacing the back cover is still too expensive.
It is understood that the Xiaomi Mi 13 backplane repair cost is 100 yuan, plus the out-of-warranty labor guide price of 40 yuan, the total is only 140 yuan. The recently released Huawei Mate60 has a back panel glass repair cost of only 899 yuan. This is the second-generation Kunlun glass with stable and solid structure.
(Source: Huawei Mall)
From this point of view, although the newly designed structure reduces labor costs to a certain extent, the price of glass panels is still very high, which results in the final maintenance cost being still much higher than that of competitors.
In any case, although the repair price of the iPhone 15 series has dropped significantly, the cost of repairing the glass back cover has almost accounted for 1/5 of the cost of a new phone, which is difficult for most users to accept. If you don’t want to spend this money, then consider wearing a protective case, which is very helpful in reducing damage caused by accidental drops.
To reduce maintenance costs, Apple seems to be hiding a big secret
iPhones are easier to repair, which is definitely a good thing for consumers, but not necessarily for Apple.
A report provided by SquareTrade, a third-party warranty service provider, shows that the most vulnerable parts of the iPhone are the screen, back glass and rear camera. The screen panel and back glass both support independent replacement, and the difficulty of repair is further reduced, which means that more third-party service providers will be able to provide high-quality repair services.
(Source: AppleNewsroom)
Obviously, Apple has maintained the repair price at more than 3,000 yuan, completely losing its ability to compete with third-party service providers. In a sense, "price reduction" is also a helpless choice. But when the price drops to about 1,500 yuan, most consumers will give priority to official services. After all, official services have low risks, high degree of completion, and better services.
However, the reduced repair costs may affect the sales of AppleCare+ plan.
We have also mentioned before that whether it is back glass or other repair items, it is a huge expense for iPhone users. For example, it costs 2,498 yuan to repair the back panel of iPhone 13, which is nearly half of the official selling price of the phone. Most consumers will think it is too expensive.
(Source: AppleNewsroom)
If the user chooses to participate in the AppleCare+ plan, a single repair will only cost 1,787 yuan, which is obviously more cost-effective. But now that the price of backplane repair has dropped to about 1,500 yuan, the advantages of the AppleCare+ plan are less obvious.
As we all know, Apple is accustomed to creating more peripheral profits in a single product. For example, it strongly recommends iPhone users to purchase AppleCare+ plans, larger-capacity iCloud services, or AppleMusic.
The adjustment of maintenance fees obviously conflicts with the benefits of the AppleCare+ plan. Could it be that Apple is hiding some little secret?
The iPhone 15 series is the first model for which Apple has put "repair" on the table since the birth of the iPhone. "Easier to dismantle and repair" has become a breakthrough for Apple in this generation of iPhone. It is also reported that the reason why Apple adjusted the backplane glass repair costs of iPhone15Pro/Max is mainly because the newly added titanium middle frame performed poorly in the drop test, in an attempt to use "price reduction" to "prevent" users.
As for whether the iPhone 15 Pro is really as rumored, it is so fragile that Apple needs to open a "green channel" for it, and we will have to wait for it to be tested after it is officially released.