Repairing an iPhone 14’s screen is easier, yes, but only in official Apple stores

We, as tech enthusiasts, just love our gadgets. This is why it's so painful when we accidentally break our phones. But fatal accidental drops sometimes happen, and when they do, we have two options: to fix the phone or buy a new one. And, according to Apple, the all-new iPhone 14 lineup is easier to fix than the previous models. This sounds encouraging, right? However, it appears that it may not be that easy to fix at third-party repair stores.

Sources from within the third-party repair community told Engadget that tearing an iPhone 14 apart is easy, yes, but getting it to work as intended after putting it together, well, that is much harder.

It appears that the issue comes from the iPhone 14's two ambient light sensors, which are used to calibrate the brightness of the display. If you decide to use an unauthorized center for the replacement, the ambient light sensors will just stop working, leaving your screen completely black. This means that you will need to remember the exact position of the screen brightness slider and manually adjust the brightness every single time. Now, this doesn't sound very encouraging, does it?

It seems Apple has adopted a "part pairing" restriction, which means that every part has its own digital ID that the iPhone 14 recognizes. If it doesn't recognize the screen's ID, then it won't work as intended.

The only way to fix this issue is by manually approving the new ID. Unfortunately, this can only be done through an Apple in-house software and by an Apple-authorized technician. Previously, a third-party technician could use a special device called EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read-only memory) programmer, which enables its user to rewrite information stored on an EEPROM microchip. By using that device, a technician could read the ID from the original display and write it into the new display. However, this method doesn't work with the new iPhone 14 lineup.

So, yeah, we guess that your best option is still the AppleCare+ warranty, which includes unlimited accidental damage coverage. Of course, it isn't free. In order to have a 2-year AppleCare+ warranty coverage, iPhone 14 users must pay $9.99 per month or a one-time fee of $199. And if they want theft and loss protection, then the prices jump to $13.49 per month or $269 as a one-time fee, again for 2-year coverage.