Apple Will Now Fix iPhones With Third-Party Screen Repairs And Not Void Warranty

iPhones who had third-party screen repairs are now being accepted and fixed by Apple stores under warranty—but there’s a catch.

Many electronic devices, not only limited to Apple iPhone devices, are very strict when it comes to offering warranty services to devices that have seen third-party alterations and repairs. Botch open your Xbox One and poof! Warranty out the door. Bring your cracked iPhone to a non-Apple repairer and bam! Goodbye AppleCare+.

But those are the dark days. Today, new information has leaked via Apple Insider that’s bringing back the “care” in AppleCare+.

According to various sources that has confirmed the leak to Mac Rumors, an internal memo was distributed by Apple this week, changing the old policy that instructed Apple technicians to deny warranty services to iPhone units with a third-party display repair.

Before, when you bring in an iPhone unit that has been tampered with—meaning if you’ve had its screen changed in a non-Apple-certified store—Apple will not fix the device or replace the broken part under the in-warranty pricing, regardless of whether you’re still within your standard one-year warranty period or AppleCare+ Protection Plan. That means that you’ve just let your warranty wash down the drain, no matter how much extended protection you’ve paid for, the moment you let them non-Apple people touch your iPhone.

However, after the memo that was sent out to Apple stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers this week, there are a few new things to note.

Apple will now accept and try to fix broken parts of your iPhone, and charge you with the in-warranty price, even though you’ve had a third-party screen repair or replacement, as long as you’re still within the warranty or AppleCare plan. But there’s a caveat—Apple will only fix iPhone issues that do not concern the replaced display.

So if the iPhone unit is still under warranty but the required fix is display-related, or you would like to replace your third-display altogether with a genuine Apple product, the Apple technician will charge you the out-of-warranty pricing.

If, however, the iPhone fix required is not a display issue per se, but the presence of the third-party part is causing the repair to be unsuccessful, the customer will be charged the out-of-warranty price to replace the third-party part that’s causing the malfunction.

Apple technicians, however, are still instructed to decline fixes or repairs on any iPhone that has undergone functional failure due to unlicensed third-party aluminum enclosure, logic board, battery, Lightning connector, headphone jack, volume buttons, mute switch, sleep/wake button, and certain microphones.

While this new Apple memo proves to be a (tiny tiny) little more lenient with iPhone customers, it’s still quite a pinch if you’re turning in your iPhone for repairs. Ballpark, an out-of-warranty screen replacement at an Authorized Apple Service Center for a standard iPhone 6 would cost you $129 easy. This is why a lot of iPhone owners are turning to third-party repairers, carrying with them the promises that it’s just as good as a genuine Apple fix, but at an enormously low price.

But if you know yourself to be quite the klutz, not caring for shock-proof iPhone casing at all, then it’ll be better for you to invest in an AppleCare+ Plan. AppleCare+ will set you back an additional $99 for a three-year additional protection for your iPhone or iPad. In hindsight, however, you will save tons of money since AppleCare+ covers accidental damange and will repair or replace your iPhone for a set fee of $79, whether you break it or just carelessly drop it in the pool, Mac World reports.

According to Tech Radar, the new Apple memo regarding iPhone third-party displays has only been confirmed in the US and Canada as of the moment, but they are expecting other regions to be included in this change in policy, as well.

[Featured image by Vladimir Borozenets / Shutterstock.com]