With the iPhone 13 collection Apple made the Face ID notch smaller. Nevertheless, one change that was not publicized is that the every telephone’s display screen panel is linked to the Face ID system – in case you substitute the display screen, Face ID will cease working.
The wrongdoer is a Tic Tac sized chip that now lives on the flex cable connecting the display screen to the motherboard. There was no such chip earlier than, so this wasn’t a problem. In fact, official Apple restore facilities and retailers which can be a part of Apple’s Unbiased Restore Program have entry to proprietary instruments that reprogram the chip to simply accept the brand new display screen.
The brand new chip subsequent to a grain of rice
Restore retailers with no ties to Apple, nevertheless, have just one possible way of maintaining Face ID working – desolder the chip from the damaged display screen and solder it onto the brand new one. And that’s the tough half. As talked about, the chip is tiny, above is a photograph of it subsequent to a grain of rice.
And right here is a photograph of the chip being eliminated. That grid of dots known as a Ball Grid Array (BGA) and is used for advanced chips that require a number of connections. Contemplating the dimensions, this isn’t the form of factor that may be soldered by hand.
A number of restore retailers have developed instruments and skilled their technicians on easy methods to do it, however just a few. And it’s nonetheless a time-consuming, finicky job in comparison with what was earlier than.
There may be nonetheless an opportunity that this was unintended habits and that Apple will launch an iOS replace that may clear issues up. It’s not as unattainable because it sounds, truly, one thing very related occurred final yr with the changing iPhone 12 cameras – at launch, swapped cameras refused to work, however an replace got here just a few months later that re-enabled them (although it confirmed a warning message).
If you wish to learn extra about what this might imply for the way forward for third-party iPhone repairs, head over to the detailed write-up by iFixit. It contains an fascinating look into how impartial retailers switch the chip and the difficulties this entails.