A discovery by online gadget disassembler iFixit has revealed that the Face ID feature on the new iPhone 13 range won’t work if the screen is replaced by a third party.
After tearing down the device, iFixit discovered that the Face ID feature refused to work no matter what techniques were tried, leading them to the conclusion that each iPhone 13 screen is serial-locked to the device itself. As things stand, the site states that “Right now, if you replace your screen, Apple kills your Face ID, unless they control the repair”.
It’s not all bad news, though. The site states that it spoke to a licensed repair technician who has been told by Apple support that the issue is in fact a bug that will be fixed in a future iOS update. Given the recent push by President Biden to fight back against unlawful repair restrictions (and not to mention the potential annoyance of being forced to stick with an Apple repair vendor), one would hope that the bug is squashed in the near future.
Coupled with the recent news that some iPhone 6 Mini owners are noticing some ‘jelly scrolling’ effects, this hasn’t been the smoothest of launches for the California tech giant. Still, with the pride Apple has in its own products, we have every faith that everything will be rectified swiftly. Just be very careful with your shiny new handset until then, eh?
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