Phone repairs are getting ridiculous - Here's why.

in front of me I have three iPhone 15s

oh God oh my God oh my God oh my God

ouch oh I hate this I hate

this now why did I do that that was

extremely painful and stupid well you

might want to cover your eyes for this

one because it's about to get worse this

is essentially the sharpest pick that I

own so let's use it to carve my favorite

song lyrics ever into the back of each

one

never gone perfect now for number two

there we go gently does it and number

three I'm trying to match them as

closely as possible finished so what

I've done here is strategically

destroyed each one of these iPhones

using the same amount of force in the

same places on both the front and the

back so that we can answer a very

important question who should you be

getting to repair your phone let's call

this one phone number one I've set a

nice cheap looking green background to

represent the fact that this one we're

going to get repaired from literally

whoever will take the least amount of

money phone 2 this middle yellow one is

going to be repaired by someone who I

think is charging a fair price then I'm

going to set a deep red wallpaper for

phone 3 because this one is going

directly to Apple and it's probably

going to be expensive so we're going to

be able to see how the entire experience

Works who does it the cheapest and who

does it the best okay so Step One is we

make some phone calls so what are the

local options in my city these are the

kind of places that I imagine will

hopefully be cheaper than Apple okay

let's start with phone garage

hello hey

he I have just managed to smash my

iPhone 15 in a pretty brutal way would

you be able to repair it yes you can do

that to you it's nearly 320 320 for the

screen of the iPhone 15 and if you want

the gentic one 180 and then also about

the back plate cuz I've scratched up the

back of the phone as

well5 on extra how quickly would you be

able to repair it take like 4 to 5 hours

big only half an hour it's very

interesting that this guy's saying the

official Apple screen is going to cost

me

£320 for a phone that I only bought for

£699 but it is cool that he gave us that

cheaper option of £180 and then £75 for

the back cuz I'd be very curious how

close to the originals quality that can

get that's closer to what I imagine it

actually should cost for the original

parts but then I found someone willing

to go even further you know the ones

which don't actually have a website but

just like a really poorly kept Facebook

page if anyone's going to do a cheap rep

I think it's going to be these guys 180

180 I can give you screen Protection

free we don't change only back glass we

change full housing but what that means

is I'm going to have to get the front

repaired from this guy and then the back

repaired from the first place and that

will be a non- genuine screen quality is

very good same as the Orion thank you

very much and that go is pretty nice so

£180 for the screen which he's saying is

original Apple quality without being

original Apple he'll throw in a screen

protector for free so that I I don't do

it again to myself and then if I have

any problems with it he'll fix it

although we do need to find out exactly

how long that warranty period would last

for so E mobile repair is going to be

our cheapest option well wait the dude's

already sent me a text that is

absolutely crazy you know in this year

after your first date you should wait a

couple of days before texting this guy

was just straight in now on my route to

finding a fair Middle Ground repair

option I ended up having an extremely

interesting chat with a not Apple but

supposedly Apple certified Repair Center

thank you than you for calling a genuine

Apple replacement screen is £300 on

those the third party screens they don't

really do one for the 15 there is the

odd ones about but they will not do very

good at all has Apple changed something

on the 15 that makes them less

repairable yes it's Hardware locks on

stuff so things are paid up to them now

if you tip the camera out of another

iPhone 15 original one put it into your

the camera won't work at all what some

of them do do to try and falsify a

little bit is detect the chip from the

original screen and transfer that chip

onto the replacement screen mhm and then

it will stop the notifications coming up

I'm an apple technician but not for here

when I'm at the other shop I can do them

that's the shop that's authorized do so

we have to do them from that geo

location as such oh I see so Apple

actually like tells you where that

repair can happen as well yeah

everything's coded when we order the

parts they come direct to that store and

we can use them within that store cuz

obviously Apple would know by the IP

what address where you doing it wow

there's a lot into it they're very

clever now I thought while we're here we

might as well also ask this guy if he

thinks Apple makes a profit on the parts

IT supplies to repair centers or if

they're doing it at Cost oh they'll make

profit on them the mid shaft is for a

genuine they're

439 15 Pro Max a shf is £600 and a

screen is £400 um what 400 just for the

screen can that be right but also Apple

actually geol loocks the location of the

repair centers that are authorized to

make sure that the repair only happens

in that exact location that's been

approved right now I guess we have to

bite the bullet and call Apple

themselves okay I think you actually

have to go through their website so they

have this tool that lets you calculate I

guess so cracked screen iPhone 15 yeah £

289 and then what if the back glass is

damaged 169 is what it's saying hm so

then I can do cracked screen and back

glass damage together and that's going

to be 399 that's definitely cheaper than

what the last guy was telling us but

it's all just so weird how much

disinformation there is between these

different repair places anyway is turns

out there is no Apple store in my area

but it's fine because what Apple does

then is sends you to a store that

they've approved to do it on behalf of

them so let's call them we have apple

trained engineers and they use all Apple

certified parts so it's the same as

getting it repaired through Apple

themselves most repairs if we've got

Parts in take about three hours okay

that's pretty fast if we've not got

Parts in um which both parts we might

not uh you're normally looking around

about two to three working days for you

it seems like the nearest appointment

you have is Tuesday is that

right okay I mean there's kind of good

news in the sense that I was expecting

this to potentially take 10 to 15 days

going the official route he's suggesting

it can actually be done same day

although because they're so busy that

same day has to be 5 days from now what

I'm finding really interesting here is

that Apple themselves are not actually

the most expensive repair option the

most expensive actually seems to be the

companies who use official Apple Parts

but who aren't themselves Apple the way

that it clearly works is you either go

to you go to a local place and you get

local unauthorized parts and that is

going to be your cheapest option or you

go to Apple themselves in which case you

pay a high price but then you do get

everything the official way it doesn't

feel like there's an in between option

though that makes sense in any way like

if you go to third party repair places

but then specify that you also want

Apple official Parts you'll actually pay

more than just going to Apple but we

should try it as a third option just in

case there are any surprises on the way

so let's call up the delightfully named

ick and I just wanted to get a quote

330b for the standard quality screen 450

for the original screen and original bag

this standard screen like how good is it

compared to the original screen it's

obviously not that good but the original

screens you get from used iPhones is

that right yes for you we'll stick with

the 4501 then it will be take three to

four working days it's so strange that

there's a situation in which the really

kind of dodgy hodg Podge repairs why

that is more expensive than Apple's

official one right so I think we have

our three repair options we have the

completely unofficial repair which is

going to cost £180 for the screen from

one shop and then £75 for a new back to

be stuck on from another shop then

there's unofficial repair but using real

Parts which is going to cost £330 for

the screen and then £1 120 for the back

so £450 and then there's the full

official Channel which is Apple's £400

lb repair let's get the ball rolling

with them so we're still on Day Zero

we're on our way to the cheapest repair

place going to say actually kind of

proud with how symmetrically I've

managed to destroy these almost like a

work of art

oh okay I don't think it's open yet

that's actually a very cool logo though

you see the the phone with the notch

might just like give the phone number a

ring hi uh I called earlier today I

we're waiting outside the store for a

phone repair not 10 open 10 apparently

oh oh my God

[Music]

[Music]

so you were saying you could do a

unofficial screen repair for 180 and

then you give a tempered glass screen

protector so basically every feature

should work the same way and you think

the quality looks the same yeah you

could do this you're saying within about

an hour yeah yeah right well I can't

speak to the quality of the repair yet

but what I really like about these small

shops as opposed to the big corporations

is they just get it done as opposed to

like scheduling an appointment and then

we'll check stock of parts and maybe

we'll order them in from our warehouse

but we move time to tackle our next

repair

[Music]

store ey crack ey crack sounds a bit

funny than that but never mind why did

they call themselves ey crack that

implies they're the ones doing the

cracking what was wrong with eye fix

what a glorious Haven of a modern

society a broken iPhone here my friend

carbed something into it

330 for the standard quality both and

450 for the original screen and the

original G unless you get it replaced

from the Apple itself you will get a

message saying it's not an apple

original part

£450 is just wild for a phone that I

paid $699 for something about the

current state of the repair industry

really sucks and I can't tell right now

if it's because of Apple who is

specifically coding the parts in your

iPhone to make sure they only work in

your iPhone or if it's just on the

repairers so both non-apple repair

phones have been dropped we're still on

the first day mind you so I was

expecting to wait a little bit of time

to hear from anyone but I have learned

never to underestimate eMobile repair

okay we've only been back about 45

minutes hi just want to confirm phone

fixed and ready thanks

crazy hello the entire front panel is

gone and that's what been a place okay

it's the actual screen that's being

fitted I actually think that it's a

generic one that brand stick has been

stuck on afterwards just to add

legitimacy to it sorry I peeled that

label so true tone works yeah yeah exact

copy exact copy yeah right so I guess

this is one immediate downside of going

via the ultra cheap rout cuz it's

basically just 2 month warranty

scribbled onto a tiny little receipt I

think they'd probably honor it out of

Goodwill but you don't really have a

guarantee in the same way that you do

when you go via official channels but

remember we're not done yet with this

one because mobile repair didn't offer a

back replacement I have to make another

stop to be able to get that done my

friend decided to carve something into

it so I just want to swap it you guys

said you could do it same day about

£75 to order it so it will tomorrow

tomorrow okay we'll order the back yeah

that's it's kind of unfortunate really

they did say on the phone that it would

be done the same day and now they're

saying that you actually have to pay the

cash first so that they order the part

so that they can bend do it it's still a

faster than the official rout but it

just doesn't feel good to be thrown

around like

that okay so we're about to colapse the

fully repaired cheapest repair phone

yeah just working on your phone again

the connection was loose we'll come back

in 15 minutes is that okay that actually

doesn't give me a lot of confidence in

the quality of repair if they've already

found a loose part so I did what I

always do when I have 50 minutes to

spare the Pokémon card shop never gets

old right now let's pick up the phone so

the robber bands are keeping the back on

yes do you think this will Avid the

warranty as well

yes she kind of feel bad for it it looks

like it's just come out of surgery o

actually I've just realized

something okay we need to talk about

this oh wow it's Lally giving me a

temperature warning obviously the glue

gun they've used to fix this is not an

apple approved fixing method there's

been a slight hiccup with phone number

two we can't get that original screen

and origal will back for it right now

there are some shops which deal with the

original parts how do they get the parts

the original parts I have no idea but

very honest so it's not great that

they've agreed to a service before

knowing that they could do it and

slightly alarming that they don't know

where their parts are coming from is

there a way you can just request the

original parts and we wait a bit longer

I can ask the guy in the main lab half

an hour I'll get back to you yeah he

didn't get back to me it's not available

in the market as I told you before so

you have have no estimated time when

that's going to come exactly I think

I'll leave it then thank you oh

dear hey we are bright and early on day

number five and we're going straight to

our very official Apple appointment talk

now how is the official Apple cheaper

than many other places official pricing

would display separately about so I'm

not sure if they were take into account

that cheaper when you get both done at

the same time with the 50 remve the back

BL now okay so it'll be display you

taking off taking off cuz on the old

models you would have to replace the

entire back of the phone so means I

don't need to wipe my phone or anything

like that like that's really good how

does the warranty work is it the same

warranty that I purchased it with or do

you get an extended warranty it's

continuing the warranty you have at the

moment or if you had less than 90 days

it would extend so we're out of back at

the

moment fre working days so

Tuesday so you guys can't tell me now

when it'll be in it'll be a text uh it

be a text this is a pretty positive

experience to be honest like yes

obviously expensive but now we know that

it's not as expensive as it gets and it

is really good to know that the official

Repair Route no longer needs you to wipe

your vote and I suppose the other part

of it is as much as I don't love that

this is a thing this is your only way to

guarantee that you can actually keep

your warranty like as soon as you start

getting those not genuine parts messages

it's it's gone right this is actually

really interesting like there's a good

chance you've heard that Apple has been

in quite a bit of hot water over the

last few years for trying to control the

repair process and rightly so to be

honest cuz I mean if you think about the

percentage value of the phone that we've

just had to pay just to fix it it's

almost cheaper just to buy a working

used one on eBay but I do feel like

we've just witnessed the first signs of

that changing let's just try Opera's

Arya AI here what has Apple changed on

their newer iPhones that allows them to

be cheaper to repair okay so modular

design which means that individual

components are easier to take off

separately so I guess that's why they no

longer need to completely replace the

phone they can just fix what's there and

then also easier disassembly so fewer

mechanisms and adhesives so I can get

rid of all of this and the new tab

within a new tab Island which is one of

the best things about Opera's browser

everything actually feels organized so

if we go to Apple's repair cost

estimator iPhone 15 which is what we

already did it's going to tell us that

it will cost $399 we knew that but but

if you change that to iPhone 14 pro

which is the last phone using the

previous less repairable architecture

619 to repair a phone that is an

absolute joke the only remaining

question then is this whole Parts

pairing thing that Apple does this idea

that Apple has to specifically assign a

part to authorize it to be able to work

within your specific iPhone otherwise

it's non- genuine parts popup messages

and voiding of your warranty as well as

in some cases the parts just not working

at all that's an ARA question too to be

fair what are the Arguments for and

against Apple's Parts pairing on their

iPhones so yeah the perks are quality

control it's Apple's way of making sure

that if you get an iPhone you're having

the iPhone experience all the time but

then I suppose to some extent it is also

for the security of the customer like

let's say you go to a knockoff repair

store to fix your face ID scanner for

example and then they fix that with a

knockoff face ID part that may scan your

face data in a less secure way and then

something happens and then you blame it

on your iPhone I guess Apple's trying to

avoid that situation but then on the

other hand Parts pairing does severely

limit the users Choice when it comes to

options for repairing their phone like

this whole process has been very

shocking to me I expected to be able to

walk into these shops and there' be 15

different tiers of repair options I

could go with all at different price

points but the truth is it's just not

worth it for most companies because the

iPhone's going to reject most kinds of

repair and the consumer won't be happy

with them and then yeah actually also

the fact that people feel like this

behavior encroaches on their right to

repair the fact that like I'm having to

pay £400 or else there is a pretty major

downside that does feel like a problem

but there's a glimmer of hope it feels

like it is creeping towards the right

direction cuz actually 2 weeks ago Apple

changed their policy to allow you to

repair iPhones using used parts like

they still have to be genuine parts it

doesn't fix that problem but they can be

genuine parts from an older used iPhone

that isn't specifically the one model

that those parts were designed for okay

let's skip to actually picking up the

two remaining phones so we can dig into

some results and if you want to try the

Opera browser for yourself that sponsor

of this video to be able to do all of

this stuff then link is in the

description I would strongly recommend

at least trying so time to pick up the

finished phone from Apple and the

remains of the phone from I what's the

reason that they're not coming up parts

no no exactly okay all right well thank

you that's all right hello I'm just

picking up a repair so they've done the

screen and they've done the back glass

you miss who the box that is me yes way

oh you watched together

yeah M using a

pixel it's lovely to meet you now

clearly this did not go as I was

expecting it to go I thought there'd be

a really cheap option a middle option

and then the premium official option and

that after all of this I would end up

telling you middle is fine now I would

say that the premium option is about

what I expected it to be it's expensive

I mean £400 to repair a phone that once

you've used it is only worth about 5 to

600 is absolutely crazy but also you're

not likely to get an appointment

straight away which means that even

though the repair in this case was

pretty fast it took 2 Days in total

because I had to wait 5 days to actually

get that repair in the total time is 7

days which in today's age is a long time

to spend without your phone but there

are clear perks you keep your original

warranty and the warranty is actually

extended if you're near the end of it

your phone keeps its waterproofing and I

mean it really does just look like apple

gave me a brand new phone with the perks

of actually them not having to replace

the device I mean I can't see a single

Perfection on either the front or the

back so clearly there are some

substantial quality checks in place when

you go down this route the middle option

makes no sense at all I mean if you want

genuine Apple Parts you're going to have

to just pay more going through this way

than just going through Apple everyone

loses in this situation you're not going

to get the same quality checks your back

is effectively going to be glued on so

it's going to be messy and you're going

to lose your waterproofing your warranty

is basically void on arrival and even

though they can use official Apple Parts

there is still a very good chance that

you're going to get a notification

saying that they're not genuine parts

because of this whole Parts pairing

thing so only apple as well as the few

sellers that they authorize to work on

their behalf have the software required

to authenticate your parts and without

that the resale value of your phone is

just going to plummet and that's if

these third party sellers can even find

a real Apple part which in my case they

could not so I just told them don't

bother I just going to have to take the

L on this phone but hey if you're

finding this video useful then a sub to

the channel well would be

cracking just not I cracking cuz they

didn't but the cheap option this one is

a lot more interesting because this in

total has cost me$

255 and in my case it took one day and

that's just because of the delay getting

the back plate in but had they had that

in stock this could have been a same day

repair and like obviously I am in the

lucky position where if I send my phone

in I have other smartphones I can use

but a lot of people don't for a lot of

people handing in your smartphone might

well mean living with a dumb phone or no

phone for that time and so being able to

minimize that Gap is a big perk but what

is the quality of the repair like feel

like we got a Bonus gift with these

rubber bands okay for starters the

tempered glass screen protector they'

put on the front is actually not quite

the right size for this phone it's kind

of peeking out the bottom of the screen

in a way that once you've noticed it for

the first time is pretty distracting oh

it's really not good there's actually a

crack in in the screen protector itself

already there's a weird shadowing around

the dynamic Island which actually makes

it look a lot like a fake iPhone let's

take this screen protector off oh wow

yeah even without the screen protector

the screen he's fitted is actually a lot

thicker so the phone is much less

seamless too than it originally was the

viewing angles are absolutely atrocious

like as soon as you rotate this more

than 30° just turns into a red mess does

true tone still work let's see well

actually yeah it's gone the option for

True tone is has disappeared from the

phone because it knows it's not using a

genuine part the phone is much more

aware of what parts it's using than I

originally expected it just feels like

everything happens a tiny bit slower

than it does on the real phone oh but

the back is the real problem like the

glue is still seeping around all four

corners it feels terrible it looks

terrible but also they've got it in the

cameras like if you look really closely

here there is glue behind the glass on

my phone it's not a great look but to be

fair it doesn't show on camera or

particularly affect the image quality so

you know for the 10% of people who just

will not pay £400 to repair their iPhone

this is a cheaper option that does also

do the job the best option for most

people though will be the official

repair route but if this video has

taught me one thing it's that the repair

industry in general just sucks and that

cases and screen protectors just make

too much sense