Can modern smartphones be repaired and to what extent? This study says it all

New research sheds light on the design of modern smartphones and their repair options.

Before modern smartphones, many manufacturers allowed owners to replace batteries themselves. But thanks to corporate monopolies and planned obsolescence, smartphone designs and interfaces are becoming more complex over time.

This is why tech giants like Apple are going out of their way to explain to users that you can no longer safely repair your device at home alone. Experts are needed to analyze the situation and offer replacements when a switch is needed. Aside from tools, many repairs require third-party tools to get the job done properly.

According to device repair platform iFixit, modern devices use special materials such as strong glue and screws. This is why tech giants Apple and Samsung score pretty poorly in terms of repairability. Surprisingly, iFixit experts gave Pixel 8 and 8 Pro six out of ten in their index.

Several factors are taken into account for the assessment. For example, it is important how quickly you can get the documents for a repair and whether parts are needed that are not easy to find. Is the battery glued in places that are easy to reach? Do you need the help of an expert to unscrew the device and get to a certain place on the device?

There are many questions to answer and the better a device answers them, the better its ranking in the repair index. You’ll be surprised to know that the Samsung Galaxy device only managed a score of four out of ten. However, it was praised for using regular Phillips screws.

iPhone devices also only received a low score of four out of 10. Still, according to iFixit, the latest range of iOS phones scores quite well in terms of easy battery replacement. The same goes for the screen, which can be quickly replaced.

When it comes to spare parts, Apple is at a disadvantage. The part allocation is complicated on iPhones because each part is assigned a digital serial number. Therefore, you can’t go to just any repair shop, you have to go to a shop with special software to get the work done. This means that the repair becomes more difficult.

Smartphone repair ratings (10 = highest)

The rating includes 10% for the service manual, 10% for spare parts and 80% for the ease and time required to replace major components.

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