Apple has been making some much-needed improvements to the iPhone repair experience. Last year, the company made wide-ranging improvements to the iPhone 14’s hardware design make it more repairable, a move that signaled that Apple was starting to actually care about easier iPhone repairs. Now, the company has made even more improvements to the iPhone 15 Pro — and as a result of these new improvements, official repairs through Apple are much, much cheaper.
Apple has touted that the new iPhone 15 Pro is much easier to repair thanks to a “new internal chassis architecture” that simplifies the replacement of the back glass. This change is also reflected in the cost of official repairs, so the reduced complexity in back glass repairs is passed onto you as considerable savings. For the iPhone 15 Pro, repairing damaged back glass now comes at a cost of $169, while the larger 15 Pro Max model is priced at $199 for the same repair. These prices are identical to those for replacing the back glass on the iPhone 14, 14 Plus, 15, and 15 Plus models, all of which share the same removable glass back. In contrast, the iPhone 14 Pro’s back glass costs $499 to repair, while the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s back glass is $549.
And if you want to pay for an AppleCare+ plan for your iPhone, the rate is significantly reduced to just $29 for back glass replacement if needed. The repair cost without AppleCare+ might still be seen as a little on the expensive side, but $169 is much, much better than $499.
Apple recently decided to support the Right to Repair Act bill in California, and between this and the cheaper iPhone repairs it looks like the company is moving towards becoming less hostile towards hardware repairs. The California bill ensures that manufacturers provide the necessary parts and tools for customers and third-party repair providers to fix products, marking a significant step toward greater device repairability. But in contrast to the positive developments regarding iPhone repairs, Apple has raised the price of battery replacements for its Apple Watch lineup. Previously priced at $79, replacing an Apple Watch battery now costs $99.
If you’re getting an iPhone 15 Pro, you can rest easy knowing that repairs won’t completely break the bank.
Source: 9to5Mac
