Apple Ends Parts Pairing iOS Policy with iPhone 16

Hey, repair pros, have you disassembled an iPhone 16 to see what’s inside?

If yes, you’ve discovered that Apple has stuck to its promise of ending its parts pairing policy. This means that unlike the iPhone 15 and its predecessors, this year’s iPhone 16 won’t need only authorized components as replacements.

With the iPhone 15, you could not take out one phone’s part and use it in another. Apple simply didn’t allow this without you losing some functionality.

It’s not just iPhones either – Apple has followed this parts pairing practice across the board with most of its devices. This obviously called for heavy criticism from the cell phone repair sector, because not everyone is willing to pay for authorized parts when their devices go faulty.

The iPhone 16, however, sees the end of the ‘punishing’ parts pairing policy that made life tough for both the consumer and repair technicians. Any change in parts could result in Apple disabling features like displaying battery health information.

There’s even more good news for repair store owners. According to iFixit, the iOS 18 update also allows you to reuse some parts on iPhone 15. This works for the rear cameras, the battery, and the back glass panel. With the new repair assistant, you can calibrate the replacement components on the iPhone on your own. So, you don’t need to buy anything from the Apple store anymore.

While some complex features like Face ID require you to replace individual components on the iPhone 15, this is not the case with this year’s phone. You can swap the Face ID module from one iPhone 16 to another, and it works. The repair assistant successfully calibrates the new component. The only change you will see is that your device will display Face ID as a used part.

This move by Apple is being appreciated across the repair industry. But its also important to stress the importance of parts sourcing in this scenario. Unless you have built-in integrations for inventory management in your repair shop POS software, you cannot offer reliable repair services. With RepairDesk’s inventory management system, you can track, order, and organize your inventory to avoid delaying any repair order.