I was completely blindsided by this. I do regular laptop and smartphone repairs for friends and family and getting original parts often is difficult or even impossible. There are many scammers around that will sell "original OEM" i.e. cheap knock-off trash.
Ebay is OK-ish for second hand parts but sometimes you are just out of luck.
I am pretty excited about this too, but it (somewhat understandably) targets latest iPhones only for now so any chance of servicing and resurrecting older devices with official parts is not a reality.
Will be interesting to see if they roll support backwards or only provide the ability to fix from current devices onwards.
Hopefully this means they'll either stop intentionally binding parts to its original device (so they can't be swapped) or provide official tools/software to bind them to the replacement device.
They can even still use the mechanism for theft-deterrence by checking whether the original phone is iCloud-locked before allowing you to associate the part with the target device.
> Hopefully this means they'll either stop intentionally binding parts to its original device (so they can't be swapped) or provide official tools/software to bind them to the replacement device.
Each piece will probably come with a unique QR-encoded serial code that will require activation online before it can be paired with the phone. Not really a rocket science.
> provide official tools/software to bind them to the replacement device.
Via iFixIt:
> You’ll be able to buy parts and tools through the ‘Self Service Repair Online Store,’ where you’ll also have access to service manuals and some version of their repair-enabling software.
Why not? There's no technical reason why the touch or face sensor needs to be trusted. The actual security processing happens in the secure element. The sensor is just an input device.
That doesn't prevent a malicious FaceID chip from recording and replaying sensor output, allowing a backdoor to unlock the phone, or a variety of other attacks.
If someone has access to the inside of your phone, where they can micro-solder a custom chip in, they are capable enough that face-id was never going to slow them down.
If you believe that you are the target of such a threat actor, you probably aren't keeping much on your phone. I would assume that if you are under that kind of threat, you don't keep secrets on a device that isn't airgapped.
If someone has physical access to your iPhone, it's game over. The US government holds your decryption keys, and there are third-parties that sell exploit kits that are a lot cheaper than spoofing some encrypted I2C interface (see: Greykey).
Wait until you see the price of parts. I am betting iPhone battery will be $30 to $50. i.e You save ~$20 compared to doing it at Apple Store.
Generally speaking Apple charge their repair parts at cost + their normal margin. Not saying this is bad, but people may have different perspective once they see it.
I dont mind paying a premium for genuine parts. Ive done lots of my own iphone repairs in the past and have been plagued by shitty batteries and screens.
I was completely blindsided by this. I do regular laptop and smartphone repairs for friends and family and getting original parts often is difficult or even impossible. There are many scammers around that will sell "original OEM" i.e. cheap knock-off trash.
Ebay is OK-ish for second hand parts but sometimes you are just out of luck.
I'm pretty excited about this, to say the least.