Apple issued a press release yesterday and plans to adjust its repair policy in the United States later this year. Users and independent repair shops can use second-hand Apple original accessories to repair some iPhone models.
At the same time as the announcement was made, John Ternus, Apple’s head of hardware engineering, spoke with TechCrunch about the iPhone’s controversial “parts serialization” process.
The repair website iFixit lowered the iPhone’s repairability score last year due to “parts serialization.” The state of Oregon in the United States also recently passed a law that clearly prohibits the use of “parts serialization” solutions for digital devices produced starting from January 1, 2025. .
Turners said in the interview that the iPhone is still compatible with many third-party parts:
“Parts serialization” is a very broadly used term that often has a pejorative connotation in the eyes of many consumers.
Many consumers mistakenly believe that we [Apple] are somehow preventing the use of third-party parts in iPhones, but in fact we do not.
From our standpoint, our serialization pairing needs to know what the components are in the device. One, we need to verify that this is a genuine Apple biometric device and not counterfeit, and the other is to achieve a better fit through calibration.
Turners stated that for security reasons, we prohibit pairing third-party components related to Face ID and Touch ID:
Consumers store a lot of private data on their phones, so we absolutely prevent security-related parts such as Face ID and Touch ID from pairing.
At this stage we are unable to verify the performance of any third-party biometric technology, so we explicitly do not use third-party parts to implement critical security features.
Improve maintenance transparency
Apple will alert users if iPhone parts are not genuine. If your iPhone has been repaired, a Parts & Service History section will appear under General → About in the Settings app to show whether non-genuine Apple parts were installed.
Turners said:
The hundreds of millions of iPhones we currently use are second-hand or third-hand devices. These devices are a great way for people to experience the iPhone at a lower price. We think it’s important for them to know: Has this device been serviced? What parts are used? Questions like this.
