Digital repair technology website iFixit announced today that it has retroactively lowered the iPhone 14's repairability score from 7/10 to 4/10 due to Apple's post-repair parts matching requirements, just over a year after the device was launched.
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iFixit said the business model of many independent repair shops is threatened by this requirement.
iFixit initially praised the iPhone 14's internal redesign with a more repair-friendly mid-frame, which was later extended to the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max, but it decided to revise the score based on feedback from the repair community.
"While we enthusiastically gave it high scores when it launched last year thanks to its innovative repair-friendly architecture, we're still big fans," iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens said in a blog post. "Most major repairs on modern iPhones require Apple's approval. You have to purchase parts through their system and then have the repair verified through the chat system. Otherwise, you're stuck with limited or missing functionality, along with annoying warnings."
iFixit refers to Apple's post-repair system configuration software tool, which, according to Apple, "verifies genuine Apple parts, updates firmware, and calibrates parts to ensure peak performance and quality." In June, Apple announced that self-repair users can now initiate system configuration by putting their devices into diagnostic mode and following on-screen prompts.
iFixit's blog post outlines various functional issues and warnings that can occur when system configuration is not completed.
In summary, while iFixit acknowledges that Apple has made some progress with its "right to repair," it believes Apple needs to be held to a higher standard and has adjusted its repairability scoring system accordingly.