The iPhone 15 Pro Max back is cheaper to replace than Z Fold 5's display: Apple lowers repair costs
After making the iPhone 14 line easily repairable, Apple now extended the courtesy to the iPhone 15 Pro series and lowered the glass back repair or replacement costs with the most on record.
Whether prompted by the European Union's mandate for easier repairability, battery swaps, and standardized USB-C connectivity, or by its own good heart, Apple did wonders to rearrange the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max internals for much cheaper back glass repairs.
iPhone 15 Pro Max vs iPhone 14 Pro Max display and back glass replacement price
Apple's toughened Ceramic Shield glass has been protecting its handset displays since the iPhone 12 series. The so-called "Shield" is just a fancy naming for a substrate that is more resistant to drops and scratches than what we have on, say, the iPhone 11. Apple says it is up to 4x more drop-resistant, and subsequent drop tests proved that it is, indeed, tougher to break.
Apple has now added a new titanium frame and designed the iPhone 15 Pro line that the back glass can be replaced independently. Previously, repair shops had to strip the iPhone components down to its shell to replace nearly the whole body of the phone when the glass back got cracked, or use special lasers to peel off the covering.
In any case, the new frame design lowers the back panel replacement price by the whopping 65%, from $549 to just $199 on the iPhone 15 Pro Max as you can see from the comparison table below. One will no longer have to pay for a simple cracked iPhone back more than for its OLED screen replacement, hooray!
| Display repair or replacement price | Back panel | Display and back panel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max/15 Pro | $379/$329 | $199/$169 | $499/$429 |
| Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max/14 Pro | $379/$329 | $549/$499 | $649/$599 |
| Apple iPhone 15 Plus / 15 | $329/$279 | $199/$169 | $449/$399 |
| Apple iPhone 14 Plus / 14 | $329/$279 | $199/$169 | $449/$399 |
The price to repair the iPhone 15 Pro Max glass back is now even lower than the $499 foldable display replacement price for the Galaxy Z Fold 5! Shocking, we know, but as recently as the iPhone 14 Pro Max that wasn't the case. That one's glass rear still costs $549 to replace, higher than a friggin 7.6-inch foldable phone display! For another comparison, the front 120Hz screen of the Z Fold 5 costs just $129 to swap.
Apple iPhone display replacement and back repair costs timeline
Apple's repair and replacement costs without warranty or AppleCare subscription have always been quite... extraordinary, but thankfully that era is over, as you can see from the timeline of Apple's iPhone repair costs below.
| Display repair or replacement price | Back panel | |
|---|---|---|
| Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max / 13 Pro | $329/$279 | $499/$449 |
| Apple iPhone 12/12 Pro | $279 | $449/$549 |
| Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max and XS Max | $329 | $599 |
| Apple iPhone XS and iPhone X | $279 | $549 |
| Apple iPhone 11 and iPhone XR | $199 | $399 |
| Apple iPhone 8 Plus and 7 Plus | $169 | $399 (8 Plus), $349 (7 Plus) |
| Apple iPhone 8 and iPhone 7 | $149 | $349 (8), $319 (7) |
Whether we have to thank the European Union's newfangled repairability, interoperability and sustainability guidelines, or some Apple design revelation, going from a $599 back panel repair price in the iPhone 11 Pro Max to the "mere" $199 of the iPhone 15 Pro Max is certainly one of the most welcome new developments with the 2023 Apple iPhone crop.
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