The soon-to-be-released Apple iOS 15.2 update will include a feature that will tell the user whether the repairs/replacement of their iPhone parts have used official parts or not.
The patch will include a new option, “Parts and Service History” inside the Settings app on the iPhone. This will allow the user to trace back the phone’s service history, and tell what all parts have been replaced in the iPhone. It’ll also tell you whether it’s an authenticated part or if it’s unknown to Apple. If the replaced/repaired part was worked on by an Apple authenticated repairer, the part will appear as “Genuine Apple Part” in the service history, else will be shown as “Unknown Part”.
The “Parts and Service History” can be accessed from Settings -> General -> About, containing a new section describing the Parts and Service History of the current device, including whether they are identified as genuine Apple parts, links to the date of when the service took place at Apple.
The feature was announced by Apple via its support page, with the company stating the importance of using parts “designed, tested, and manufactured for Apple quality and performance standards.”
Apple also confirmed that the alerts will not take away access from using the device, however, can result in loss of warranty coverage.
Users with the newest versions of the iPhone, the iPhone 12 or 13 will be able to verify the entire repair history for their device’s battery, display, and camera. Users of the iPhone 11 will only be able to view the repair history for the batter and display. And all other users with older generation iPhones such as the XR, XS, XS Max, and second-gen iPhone SE will be able to view only the battery repair history.
Clearly, Apple wants to dissuade people from using third-party components, and buy only from Apple authorized services, or potentially replace it themselves. The tech giant plans to launch self-service Apple stores in the future, starting off with repairs and manuals for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, and this move seems to be a step in that direction.
