Apple Stores to soon offer iPhone 5s & 5c screen replacements, other repairs

iPhone 5s Teardown via iFixit

Apple is gearing up to soon begin hardware repairs for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in its chain of retail stores, according to sources with knowledge of the upcoming initiative. These sources say that Apple Stores will be able to replace several parts of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c on-site, meaning that Apple will no-longer need to fully replace iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c units with damage or other problems…

The sources say that Apple will be providing its stores with special machinery to replace the touchscreens on both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. These machines will be used specifically to calibrate the displays. The screen replacements cost $149 for each device, and this price point is significantly more affordable than the several-hundred dollars required to completely replace a device with a damaged/cracked screen.

In addition to displays, Apple will have the capability to replace the volume buttons, vibrating motor, rear-camera, and speaker system on the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Apple Stores will be able to replace the conventional Home button on the iPhone 5c, but it does not appear that Apple will be able to conduct swaps for the Touch ID-based button on the iPhone 5s.

If a customer's iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c is under an AppleCare warranty, part replacements due to defects will be free of charge. If the iPhone is not under warranty, there will be fees for individual part replacements. For example, a battery replacement will cost $79, and a new iPhone 5c Home button will cost $29.

The screen replacements inside Apple Stores typically take approximately one hour (sometimes around 30 minutes), but that amount time may be considered short in comparison to the amount of time required for syncing, backing up, and replacing content on brand-new replacement iPhone.
Apple began conducting in-store display replacements and repairs with the iPhone 5 earlier this year. Besides the factor of saving customers time and money, this process saves Apple the money required for producing replacement iPhones and handling the entire replacement process.

Sources say that the replacement parts, new iPhone screen calibration machines, and training manuals for conducing these repairs have begun arriving at some Apple Stores, so it seems likely that Apple will boot up the new in-store repair programs in the near-future.