When the iPhone 13 hit the market earlier this year, iFixit called the device “a new low for repairability.” citing its aggressive anti-repair safety precautions. Similar protection appears in the new Pixel 6, but much to Google’s credit, it serves a clear purpose and doesn’t prevent home or “unauthorized” repairs.
In case you missed it, the iPhone 13’s Face ID functionality will be interrupted if you replace the device’s screen without the help of an “authorized” technician. While the Pixel 6 doesn’t have Face ID (or Face Unlock functionality), iFixit found that its fingerprint reader stopped working when you replace the display. (If your fingerprint reader isn’t working right now, Google has a few quick fixes.)
But unlike Apple, which doesn’t provide any reasons for its iPhone 13 repair backups, Google is surprisingly transparent here – making repairs or replacing parts could make your fingerprint sensor less accurate, requiring you to calibrate it after certain repairs. Google offers a free tool to calibrate your home fingerprint sensor, and this tool was introduced with the Pixel6.
There is an important footnote on this story. Apple recently told The edge that it will remove the anti-repair safeguards from iPhone 13 in a future software update. Though I wish we could turn around and say, “The iPhone 13 is now more repairable than the Pixel 6,” but that’s technically not true. The Pixel 6 repair process looks pretty straightforward on iFixit’s short teardown video, and you can even swap out the display without any glue.
And from a customer perspective, it’s frustrating to see Apple ditch its anti-repair safeguards without ever explaining it why these fuses exist. The company did this two years in a row, by the way – it went through the exact same process when the iPhone 12 hit the market.
Source: iFixit
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