Exciting news for iPhone users
Apple is aiming to reduce the time it takes to repair a cracked iPhone screen.
By the end of this year, Apple will put its proprietary machines for mending cracked iPhone glass in to roughly 400 authorised third-party repair centres in 25 countries.
The move is a major turn for Apple which has traditionally kept a tight grip on official repair services for its products.
Fixing cracked screens has evolved into a multibillion-dollar international business.
Apple had previously restricted use of its screen repair machine, the Horizon Machine, to its 500 retail stores and mail-in repair centres.
The design of the machine has been guarded closely but now it will be deployed to non-Apple repair shops around the world.
This change comes as eight US states have launched “right to repair” bills which strive to reveal the tightly controlled repair networks of major high-tech manufacturers.
Apple said that legislative pressure did not influence this decision to share repair technology.
The company has allowed Reuters to view and photograph the Horizon Machines, which until now have never been formally acknowledge by Apple.
At the moment, customers can get their iPhones fixed at any repair store but doing so will usually void the Apple warranty.
In the next few months, Apple will rollout Horizon Machines into 200 of Apple’s service providers worldwide. By the end of the year, the company plans to double that figure.
Senior director of service operations at Apple, Brian Naumann, said, “We’ve been on a quest to expand our reach.” Brian explained that at some of the busiest Apple stores, repair wait times have grown.
A few machines are currently operating at Miami, London, Shanghai and Singapore. Countries that have no Apple retail presence will also receive the machines such as Colombia, Norway and South Korea.