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For the repair shops regarding Apple's iOS

This is not really a question as it is just a forum post to hear other people's experiences.

As most of us know some of the IOS updates are a pain in the ass because they very often come with a lot of problems. Problems that repair shops often have to deal with without actually knowing that the IOS updates are the cause.

In the IOS 11.3 many repair shop customers reported problems with their new screen regarding touch. This happened mostly on the iPhone 6S, 6S Plus and in some occasions the iPhone 7. The solution was to update to IOS 11.3.1 which in the beginning was working as expected.

What many repair shops did not expect is that the problems was even worse in the IOS 11.3.1 as not only did the touch on the screens not work, but for some iPhones the screen would just be completely black. A soft reset usually did the trick but only for a few hours. These problems where reported for all iPhones between the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 plus. This time it was especially the iPhone 7 who had the most problems and most of the time the touch would not work at all. A new update came short time after these problems where reported. IOS 11.4.

Many of us was quick to tell all the customers to update to IOS 11.4 and in almost all situations, that fixed the touch problem.

But it is not over yet. Still in IOS 11.4 customers are reporting lack of touch functionality in iPhone 7 and in this update also iPhone 8 and 8 Plus.

Another update is released, IOS 11.4.1 which seems to completely fix the touch problems but of course comes with new ones.

In IOS 11.4.1 customers are reporting small white lines across the screen that sometimes are there and sometimes not. There is also reports of the phone overheating, back light flickering, screen is a lot slower and less battery time.

That being said. I am sure a lot of repair shops here mainly uses iFixit replacement display's for the iPhones. And i am sure a lot of us has had no option other then replace the screens again for the customers between these updates.

In my opinion this is a nightmare that has been going on way to long. And to me it seems that apple is doing this on purpose. Because as far as i know this is only happening on third party screens. I am sure that many repair shops have had unhappy customers that don't understand that this is not the repair shops fault and because of that maybe have gotten a bad reputation.

Apple is trying to make it hard for us to do iPhone repairs. The updates described in this post have been released with a very small time frame between each update, but there is no information on the updates regarding the fixes that we have experienced. I think the time frame is small enough for apple not to get fined by doing this but long enough to give repair shops a headache.

I am not saying this for sure but it makes sense. Apple has done similar things before but in that case they have been fined by certain countries and organizations.

I would like to hear from other repair shops with this or similar experience.

What have you experienced?

How did you handle it?

Did you get any unhappy customers because of this?

What can be done in the future to make this sort of situation as painless as possible both for you as a repair shop and the customer?

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This question was migrated from https://www.ifixit.com/Answers.

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Yes, Apple is curbing the independent repair shops!

While I won't agree if the screen issues was by design. There are other actions that are more blatant!

The lack of even offering parts directly (or through a clearinghouse service) thats the real issue! With the screen failure as we can only get reverse engineered parts or parts that might have a deviation on what Apple wanted (failed QC).

Look at it this way I can go to the authorized dealer and get the needed OEM part for my car or truck or go to a NAPA store get a knockoff.

This becomes more an issue when you have a system that Apple no longer supports. Thus forcing people to upgrade to a newer system which in some cases won't even offer the same functionality as the older system had. And lastly, the onboard diagnostics on Mac's which fire off useless info on the defect and aim the customer to Apple for repairs.

Thats why you need to support the right to repair movement! As strongly as you can.

We are also facing another force here Throw-Away Phones & PC's. So far Apple is the worse on this front.

The fact the latest models are more sealed up and in the case of the newest MacBook & MacBook Pro there is really only three serviceable parts! The display, uppercase, & logic board; thats it! Each is $500 or more.

And sadly, I think we need to think about pointing people to other repairable systems because Apple will only change if their bottomline suffers and that is not likely to happen that quickly. Keep in mind the addiction to ones iPhones, iPad or Mac's is a tough one to crack!

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Sorry it took me so long to reply.

We want to support the right to repair movement but we are in Norway and at the moment there is nothing like it here or in Europe at the moment. Not as far as i know. When i first tried to give my support it was clear that only US placed Repair shops or citizens can do it. Maybe i am wrong? If so please let me know what i can do.

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Hey @captaintech we have a larger discussion forum for repair pros to talk shop. Check it out at http://talk.ifixit.com

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If the issue is with 3rd party parts, why not set up a recycling bin for phones in the repair shop? Wipe them, then scrap them for the useable parts that are in good condition. Then, BAM! You have OEM parts. Probably don’t do this with displays or outer parts as they are probably scratched up. You could even use the OEM parts as known good as they won’t have software bugs like 3rd party ones do. This won’t be enough to supply the entire inventory but it would still help. @kyle maybe ifixit should set up a recycling program like this! People are offering to send you parts and old phones for free sometimes right? I’ve seen people asking on meta before. (I’m guilty of this too)

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@captainsnowball That doesn't work for most shops. They need to warranty the work and part. You cannot guarantee a used LCD from an liquid damage iPhone is going to work or not break down under the warranty period. You generally never find out how much water the phone was exposed to unless you get the whole device and that's rare. I wouldn't use such parts in someone else's phone for this specific reason. It's fine on a hand me down I need a screen for but I need to see the donor phone complete so I can see if it will suit my use. I don't trust the sellers 100%; trust but verify.

It's fine for hobbyists to pick up donor devices as needed but shops can't be as quick to swipe a $50 S6 up for the screen; they need to get it for less so they can eat the cost if it's a piece of crap. There's better options out there if you know what to look for with Samsung that generally aren't water damaged junk. If you see how bad the hard drives I get with the used systems are you'll begin to understand - I've seen more junk then good ones so I check the drive and treat it as junk until I see the hours and POH AND good SAMRT data. This isn't to hurt you - I'm just trying to give you an understanding of why these junk phones are generally only used for DIY repairs I would do to a hand me down Samsung that's a few years old.

I wouldn't take an old but usable Samsung to a repair shop because they charge too much due to the reason above. I also wouldn't because I can find a junk phone sold for parts and get the LCD with frame to do the same job with less work.

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@nick I've always seen full phones in phone recycling bins. At my local police station there is a bin full of phones to be recycled that you can drop phones in.

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Huge difference. That's for recycling; not parts recovery.

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I know. but people do throw full phones in.

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