If you’re looking to purchase a new iPhone 13, you’re going to want to put that bad boy in a protective case immediately because it looks like you’ll have to go directly to Apple for screen repairs from now on.
According to YouTube channel Phone Repair Guru, third-party screen repairs could prevent your Face ID feature from working.
After taking apart the device, Phone Repair Guru discovered a “catastrophic to third-party repair”.
“Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple display,” a message in the iPhone settings menu reads.
After this message appears, the Face ID function is rendered entirely useless, which is a major issue for anyone prone to dropping their phone.
Phone Repair Guru does explain that third-party repairers could — in theory — take some extra steps to bypass this warning. However, he asserts this would likely be “too sophisticated” for most repairers to bother with.
This is the first time such an issue has been found in Apple devices, and is particularly interesting considering “microphone, ambient light sensor, and proximity sensor” repairs aren’t impacted, according to 9to5Mac.
Outside of warranty and without AppleCare+, the iPhone 13 range costs a pretty penny to repair. According to the Apple website, you’re looking at $359 to $519 to repair the screen, depending on which phone you have — which is on par with the iPhone 12 pricing.
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Apple is yet to comment on the situation, or confirm whether this will be fixed in an update. However, the timing is particularly interesting as the ‘Right to Repair’ debate ramps up.
If you’ve somehow managed to smash your brand new iPhone 13 already (don’t worry, we’re not judging), you’re going to want to get it repaired directly through Apple to avoid any warranty issues.
Gizmodo Australia has reached out to Apple for comment and will update this story when more information is available.