The DIY Repair Kit by Apple is No Joke and Can Make the Nerdiest of Nerds Sweat
Sean Hollister from The Verge recently decided to repair his iPhone Mini and Apple sent him a toolkit in two suitcases, weighing a total of 36 kgs to repair a small device. Apple charged $1,200 on his card for the heavy toolkit and charged an additional $49 to rent the tools for a week and $69 for a brand new battery. the funny thing is that you can get the battery replaced by Apple for just $69, the only difference is that the expert is going to do all the work. You can see the behemoth of a tool kit below.
With that said, if you are someone who is nerdy about DIY repairs, then Apple has your back. The toolkit it sent to Hollister contained everything that you would need to put together an iPhone, including an industrial-grade heating station as well as a massive spring-loaded press. So what’s the problem? Well, not everyone is an Apple engineer and knows how to take the phone apart. If you have little to no experience repairing phones, you might find yourself in a rut somewhere in the process of repairing with the chances of things going wrong very high. Apple also sent a repair manual along with the toolkit, however, Hollister still ran into some issues getting things right. The manual was not all that helpful when the heating machine displayed an error code, and removing the tiny screws was also a challenge even with the provided torque drivers. The “most frustrating part” of the repair process per the report was that the iPhone did not recognize the genuine battery Apple provided as it flashed an “unknown part” warning and apparently, you have to call Apple’s third-party logistics company after the repair so they can validate the part. This becomes a whole other process that requires someone else to remotely access your phone. Overall, Apple’s repair process sounds tedious and makes one think if it is actually a roadblock for all the self-repair enthusiasts than a step in the right direction.
