Apple is offering limited onsite iPhone repairs through its Authorised Service Provider Go Tech Services in select cities, meaning some customers can have their repairs done at their home or work.
Having someone come to your home or office to repair your iPhone isn’t a new thing—there are plenty of companies that offer the service right now. But Apple often avoids authorizing these repairers which means the service isn’t available under a typical Apple warranty. Plus, before now it was not possible to find them, or a “repair onsite” option, when going through Apple’s official repair portal.
MacRumors reported last week the onsite repair option now appears on Apple’s repair portal for some, fairly basic, physical damage repairs on the iPhone, including cracked screen and screen or display quality problems (but not repairs for things like water damage or software issues). Apple states on its support site that onsite service is available in “select locations,” and MacRumors reported those include Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
If the service is available in a customer’s region for a specific repair, it will populate among other in-store options like Best Buy and the Apple Store. When selected, Apple notes that Go Tech Services can “repair your device at your home or office” but that an additional “onsite free visit fee may be charged in addition to the provider’s standard repair cost.”
If the Go Tech Services option is selected, Apple will prompt users to consent to sharing the details of their needed repair—including the repair location, serial number, case ID, the reason for the repair, the type, and model of the device, and whether the service is covered by AppleCare—with Go Tech Services before sending the user to a separate repair portal from the company, where Apple customers can then book their appointments.
It’s not clear which specific devices or repairs are eligible for the service, and Apple did not immediately return a request for comment for further specifics. It was also unclear how much the onsite fee will run each individual customer, but an out-of-warranty screen repair for an iPhone cost $US199 ($297)—so prices appear to be on par with what Apple charges for the same repair.
Apple still runs a monopoly on your device repairs, but at least now some customers will have the option to pay out the ears for cracked iPhone repairs in the comfort of their own home.
Editor’s Note: This article has the US release date. We will update this article as soon as possible with an Australian release date, if available.