The entire purpose of Self Service Repair is to deter people from doing it. Apple launched the program so their lobbyists can say: "See? We gave people the opportunity to fix their own devices, and nobody used it. We don't need Right to Repair legislation." It's irrelevant that Apple made it cost-prohibitive, as inconvenient as possible, and linked it all to each individual device.

They just did this as a marketing gimmick, there's a reason self service is basically the exact same cost as doing it at the apple store. As long as they can monopolize the service, they can charge whatever they want for it.

Don't ever let anyone tell you Apple cares about the environment.

Apple Self Service Repair is basically "malicious compliance" to right to repair rules.

As an employee of a major electronics retailer, when we first became certified to perform iPhone repairs and we were given all of these tools, part numbers and instructions, our reactions were about the same as yours

It really is passive aggressive. Apples like "oh, you want repairability? well, here's all the pro tools right from the factory you wanna do it right don't you?" They really didn't have to go this hard like, other companies manage it so they can too.

As a former mobile repair tech, iPhone screens are incredibly easy to remove and replace. It's crazy Apple wants is doing all of this.

At Apple headquarters: -Sir, someone actually rented the ridiculously gigantic repair kit! -Someone WHAT?!

Apple had to have made this available just to punish people who wanted to do it themselves 😂

I did not expect a company to go through so much effort to scare people away from sustainable phone culture, just to buy their new model 😂😂

1: Screwdriver kit 2: hairdryer 3 : parts 4: software These are literally all you need but ofc apple won't sleep right until they turn a $100 process until its thrice that.

This also confirms that all the devices parts are serialized to be disincentive to third party repair and resellers, regardless of self service.

By the way, I was a certified Apple technician that fixed a ton of phones. These were the exact tools that we used for every repair. They were nifty little things but I don't think I'd bother doing the self repair if it costs that much.

The tool rental is actually quite well priced. $50 for a 7 day rental of a number of high quality tools is actually a steal imo. But the parts are quite expensive.

They did this in the wake of user repair rights just to legally say "we let you fix your own device" with massive asterisks

Don’t forget that the Genius Bar repairs come with a warranty, whereas if you do it yourself and it goes wrong you don’t get a warranty🤷🏼‍♂️

4:26 It absolutely is Apple being passive aggressive about people who want to self repair. No question about it.

I'd say it wouldn't be nearly as bad if the phone call to support to verify the phones post repair wasn't there and done automatically since they have the data server side already. Also, if the prices weren't so dang expensive to the point of just getting repaired at the store or a new phone anyways

honestly the thing which was the cheapest best value part of this was the tool rental. The kit you get in the rental is insane.

I noticed after I replaced my iPhone 13 screen using an ifixit replacement kit. It did show an error saying the screen wasn't a genuine part, but after updating from iOS 17 to iOS 17.1.1 the error message completely went away. Seems like apples taking a step away from the stricken approach of bombarding you with non genuine part messages/errors. I paid around $130 for the parts and only took me 30 minutes to do the repair, that being my first ever phone repair. 😁

this is why more regulation is needed to ensure the devises are made with repairability in mind

Those "incredibly fancy little screwdrivers" are from Wera, not terribly expensive all things considered but really good. If you use screwdrivers (or ratchets) often enough to need a decent set, I can fully recommend that brand, they make really solid tools.

I work with Asurion repairing phones. I only use a heated mat, a metal pry tool to get the screen off, a screwdriver to remove the screws, and the rework kit to replace the adhesive, screws and cover the old damage glass. None of these machines are "necessary". They just make the job a lot more controlled. Don't let this video scare you. Repairs are much easier to learn without all these jigs and tools. This video is a great representation of what is given to do a repair, meanwhile everything can be done with a few tools I can hold on my hand, (except for the heated mat).

It was painful to watch Austin trying to open the screen 😂😂 I live in Cuba and I am a cellphone technician, I do iphones screen replacement almost daily , the second I saw him pushing the screen against the sucking stuff I almost scream out hahaha, so many errors, but he tried at least, by the way , Apple is nuts

to be fair assuming you are just buying the parts you need repaired w/o tools it should be cheaper right,i think ideally the repair shops would buy the tools and youd pay them just for parts and service

When figuring out the viability of self serve anything you also have to give your time value. Your spare time isn’t worthless! It’s more valuable than your work time because you have less of it. Adding in an hourly rate for your own time while doing these repairs blows it out of the water, better off taking it to the Genius Bar and doing something else with your spare time

It’s really cool to see (as someone who works in an Apple Store) that these tools are all the exact same things they actually use in Genius Bar repairs.

The the price scale with the model of iphone? If you were repairing a newer iphone that may cost more to replace, is self service then cheaper?

Im okay with not letting consumers have access to original / genuine parts but serialising parts even disposable parts like batteries IS CRIMINAL

Well, EU is forcing user replaceable batteries to all battery operated things by 2027. So self changeable batteries are going to return to phones soon. And if Apple thinks this is their solution to that, it is not going to cut it.

So you don't need to remove the old screen adhesive or does all of it comes off with the screen?

I worked at an apple repair depot before, we would call those tiiiny little screws fleas, and there’s a dozen or more holding in your MacBook antennas/hinge covers. They’re such a PIA, they strip the threads very easily, even with the torque driver.

I used to run a cell phone repair store. This is ridiculous

So Happy to have gotten off the apple cool aid a few years ago

I’d love to see you do vid contrasting this process with the iFixit method/toolkit

Something to note is that the tools provided in self service repair are the exact same tools we use at an authorized service provider location. From the screen removal tool to the battery roller to even the screwdrivers. Tools weren’t specially made for self service repair, it’s the exact same tools that technicians. It’s the Apple way all the way through. The biggest differences are we don’t rent the tools, instead we buy them in upfront and we get access to the back end diagnostics portal. If you repair iPhones often through self service repair you can buy the tools to keep rather than to rent but for most renting is the best option. I do wish for self service repair when renting you could pickup the tools at an Apple Store rather than having it shipped but I guess it could be a stocking issue.

Actually, Austin made it look like fun. I agree Apple is doing their best to discourage anyone from repairing their stuff. But, I'd be lying if I didn't admit the tools they gave him looked cool. Next, Apple just needs to make that desoldering/resoldering robot and sell it to us so those of us with shaky hands won't need to visit the noisy Apple Genius bar ever again.

never let austin evans fix your iphone

Austin, I just upgraded my iPhone 11 Plus for the iPhone 15 Pro Max. The battery was going on the 11 and would freeze when typing in a Google search.

bro austin has a sleeper gym build........that forearm veins are POPPING

18:50 That's the thing Austin, Apple only supports self service repair if you do it through them, they don't want third-party repairs to even exist but they know if they completely made it so no third-party parts work, the governments would be on their tail.

Apple makes this available to please the 'right to repair' crowd but they make this as inconvenient and expensive as possible to keep the everyday person from repairing their phone themselves

But when you install the iFix It Parts, will the warning go away? Or are you tuck with them?

The main reason why I partially dislike this method is because of the need to still call in for reserialization. If you have to enter your devices serial number anyways, all of the parts could be serialized by Apple or by their distributor before shipping, making the process easier.

Apple - Being Environmentally Friendly by planned obsolescence and making it easier to create tons of e-waste instead of being to fixing things since 1977

What about flashing the battery and the screen so it works with the phone i can buy a flasher for 200.00 and install my own battery and screen for 200.00

As for someone who does this for a living 😂😂it was great seeing you attempt it, you didn’t do to bad😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

I think it’s easy to say this is Apple’s passive aggressive way of preventing self service repair and they obviously don’t care about the environment. But does anyone genuinely believe they went out of their way to develop a cumbersome way to repair their products just so people wouldn’t do it? It looks more like this is the way Apple’s own support teams repair their products so they’re giving people access to the same pro level of equipment that they use internally. In other words, these tools were never meant to be used by consumers but since they were pressured to create the program, they had no choice but to give people exactly what they use internally. Now you could argue that they should’ve spent the time creating a consumer friendly set of tools. Who knows if they will or won’t. What’s clear is that that would take time

Apple bouta be crazy in the future💀

You can get a cell phone heater and a seperator/press for cell screens as two seperate parts for about 100 bucks online.

1:04 thats actually one of the coolest shots ive ever seen that is beautiful

Ordering that kit could be a good repair side hustle

Only exists to seemingly comply with some right to repair regulation

Having worked at a third-party repair place that was certified by all the major brands including Apple, these are the exact tools and manual that were available to us. The only difference with the self-service option was that we also had a macbook that we used to handle their display and battery "calibration" to pair the new parts with the board directly and run their tests and calibration process on the device. Austin doesn't show that part of the process in this video, but the last time I saw someone do full review of the repair process it required calling in and having that processed remotely, not just entering information into a portal for whatever reason, but that may have changed since the program is several years old at this point. To be fair, this process is complicated because it makes sure the device is at factory spec again once you are complete. Not just for the issue you are trying to repair, but the entire device as a whole. The battery press makes sure a set pressure is applied evenly across, so issues due to damaged internal connections don't happen (like the Samsung Galaxy Note 7). I saw quite a few display replacements fail calibration in my time due to small installation issues or other issues with the device that weren't considered field-repairable. If the device has other issues they won't let the repair complete because it won't be at factory-spec even after repair. It is a thorough repair process, but it is not very consumer friendly. I am not a fan of Apple, however... the two options Apple had for consumer repair like this were essentially to either make a consumer friendly option that compromised their existing working process that creates a true factory spec repair (something many other manufacturer's repair processes still DON'T do), along with the perspective they believe customers should have of their device repair system... or just move the complicated professional process over and show people how it actually works at the expense of it not being consumer friendly. Since Apple rarely does anything consumer-friendly and they didn't want to do these repairs in the first place, they obviously went with just opening up the existing process that worked.

That tool rental is extremely cheap and awesome! As a vehicle technician I wish rental tools were that cheap. But holy damn, they are massive and look like great quality

As people want smaller phones with better features and water/shock resistance... phone interiors have gotten tighter and more layered and much harder to repair. Similar to old vs. new cars. So, I think it's less they're building with the intent to make it impossible to repair, it's just a unfortunate side effect of miniaturization and added features.

Ken was 100% correct. They did that mess on purpose to discourage people from doing it themselves

I'd love to see Austin try to repair a phone with ifixit's tools ans guides

We have a local business where im from.. they did my battery and screen for 120 phone runs 9-11 hours w/ heavy usage, and no problems with display. At the time it was an 11 pro max

They're doing it out of obligation by legislation - they are required to make the tools available, they're not required to make them cheap.

I wonder what happens if you keep the 70 lbs worth of equipment and resell it 😅 or fix multiple phones and start a business 😂 i dont think apple really thought this one through, theyre putting a lot of trust in people

As a cell phone repair tech for the last 2 years, im not even halfway through and this video has already given me anxiety...

Your laugh after the battery installation is classic!

I love how much of a scam and pasive aggresive marketing gimich this is.

am i first?

FYI good repair shops can reprogram your True Tone. Also all in repair for a cracked screen using a OLED panel is under 130 installed. -Austin Texas 1Up repairs

Do they sell parts for the iPhone SE 2020?

A few questions. When you had to reprogram the battery and screen, did you have to call Apple? When self service program first came out people had to call them and it was a big nuisance. Did you remove the original adhesive? Or did you just stick on the new adhesive over top the old material as you didn’t show with that in the video. By the way, even if I use original display, you'll still get all those messages. You have to buy the parts directly from Apple. When using aftermarket or not programming, original screen, you’re going to lose auto brightness and true tone, the auto brightness is for 13 and newer.

I use to do apple iphone repair and iphone batterys at staples and yes they gave us training and didnt even have that machine because u dont need it a heat gun is just fine.

I replace the screen and battery on an Iphone 6s plus. Bought the small 6s battery and the right screen. Used nothing but a pointy knife and a guitar pick to pull the screen off. The smaller batter still worked, just had to tape it down and use a bit of super glue. Popped in the new screen on an IOS 14 phone, (there's a reason you don't update), and fixed. Had I updated the phone, I probably would have had issues with the screen and apple breaking that shat on purpose.

One thing that I would consider and would really like to know. , is how long did it take you to do the repair from the time you ordered the parts until the time you were finished? And compare that to how much time it would have taken to take it to A repair shop and have them do it for you.

Third party repair shops have the tools to bypass the serial numbers, like a tool to copy the old data/serial number from the old display to the new third party display so it will look like it still have the original display on the phone

Could it be worth buying these tools for your own repair shop? For one shot use I don't think it makes sense

Self repair isn’t available in Ontario Canada unfortunately.

Man, such complicated tools! Jerry rig everything makes this look way easier with basic razor and simple suction cups.

You can do some undetectable screen replacement but it involes transfering BGA parts.

And I use high quality parts but aftermarket. A beautiful OLED and charge $130. Also I can transfer the cooks which remove those error notifications. You choose

Where is the Apple Repair Support for an Ipod Touch? They were still selling these up until like a year or so ago. Why did they instantly drop support???

Is it even possible to buy those tools? Because if so then I could definitely see a use for people who own shops and can recoup the expense, similar to a mechanic

I hear TWEEZER and The Verge's PC BUILDING MASTERCLASS flashes before my eyes! 😂 Trauma attack is real!

Why did it look so white at the end? He got the color filter or the white balance adjusted ?

Apple: “You have the ‘Right’ to repair your phone, That doesn’t mean we’re have to make it easy for you” 💀😭😅😂

This is the equiv of when in the 90s yours younger sibling wanted to play the SNES too and you were like "I promise you won't like this game it's too hard" and you hand them the controller for SMW but you're 3 levels deep into Star Road and you tell them this is what all the levels in the game are like so it's better if you just let me handle it LOL! Not a real scenario I swear... 12:10 believe it or not some parents think the same way about having kids, not the throw away part but just give up on current and try again (well some throw away) wow that got depressing fast..

Of course before this I get an ad for the iPhone 15

my mouth was legitimately floored through the whole video

Doesn't Genius Bar replace the phone, like they've always done. With that, you lose any data on the phone. I know they say backup, but there are so many non technical people who won't.

Another factor you could have looked at is users who actually purchase apply care protection plans.

We use the same pelican cases for our stuff at the American Red Cross

I always imagined that this is catered more towards third party repair stores who’d make their money back easily and Apple just gave us common folk the option to buy/rent it as well.

They should include a magnetic iphone diagram screwmat with the repair kit

Who edited this? Them animations where clean.

9:59 Now take a picture of that and send it to Casetify so they can stop stealing shit…

I have an old iphone x i had up until last year that i bought a 13 lol, but just having am extra phone for idk music like an ipod or letting my baby play with it could be an interesting thing to try to fix on my own

How great that you can replace the screen with a mere 30-some steps and a big machine that you have to rent. Thanks for being so consumer and environmentally friendly Apple :)

I've replaced 2 weeks ago the battery from my iphone 12 pro without all these tools. You only need a hairdryer, the tools from ifixit like special screwdriver etc. and the suction-cup also from ifixit. It's possible if you don't have 2 left hands ^^

The state I live in, West Virginia, does not have an Apple Store I have to drive two hours to the nearest one.

That was pretty damn unbelievable! Just wow.

So what’s the charge if you don’t return the tools? Only halfway thru but I hope Austin tells us.

For a older phone like that to have a second chance the fix has to be cheaper so 3rd party is the way to go currently Or use a hair dryer and suction cup to pull the screen yourself

The not even the most important thing. They are fully specific with thread length and size locations. If you put them ina wrong spot it could even damage the board. I used to be a in store repair tech. Thats why myself knows about that. The screw drivers are calibrated to what the torque of apple decided. They are not just regular bits and drivers The heat press was introduced when they made the liquid ingression stronger with the 12 series forward. You are also supposed to do one repair first normally GSX didnt use to like multiple serial numbers replaced with in the same repairs. In our front end