Apple is once again making it difficult to perform third-party repairs on the iPhone 13 series. A new repair video of the iPhone 13 by Phone Repair Guru shows that replacing the phone’s display could lead to Face ID being disabled and the phone throwing an “Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple display” message.
The YouTuber replaced the iPhone 13 display panel with another one from an iPhone 13 itself for the repair. However, doing so rendered Face ID inoperable and the phone throwing an error. When the display is replaced, the Face ID components are not swapped between the units, which possibly leads to the issue.
On the plus side, Apple has made replacing other peripheral display components, like the ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, and microphone. Swapping these parts from another iPhone 13 unit did not create any issue.
This is not the first time that Apple has highlighted using non-genuine parts on its devices. Soon after the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro launched, it was discovered that these devices show a similar message even if the display is swapped with a genuine one.
Apple has expanded its Independent Repair Program to include smaller repair shops in the US in recent times. The company is now seemingly trying to ensure that any iPhone that’s repaired with an unauthorized third-party shop will basically have some of its core functionality disabled. In turn, this will force customers to take their iPhone to an authorized Apple Service Provider, Apple Store, or an authorized third-party store.
It is possible that Apple could patch and hide this error message with a future iOS 15 update following backlash like it did in the past. Whether that happens or not is something that only time will tell, though.
