Changes in the design of the iPhone 13 screen will make it more difficult for third-party repairers to replace the display. This was reported by Phone Repair Guru on YouTube, explaining that disassembling the device is not difficult but replacing a damaged screen could prevent FaceID from working.
The need to replace the display is a common problem among smartphone repairers. With the iPhone 13, apparently, this type of repair can only be done by Apple or authorized service centers.
According to the Phone Repair Guru channel on YouTube, replacing a display with an identical display from a different iPhone 13 works; however, the user is shown a warning stating that the component is not genuine and the Face ID is not available.
Replacing the display seems problematic at the moment but it is instead possible to intervene for components such as: microphone, proximity sensor and ambient light sensor.
The message that appears after replacing the display even with an original product means that there is some procedure to be activated to ensure that the display is recognized as valid, something that - at least at the moment - only centers know of authorized assistance.
It's not the first time that replacing a display on the iPhone has become problematic for Apple's crook. In 2018, an update to iOS 11.3 blocked the touch functionality of the iPhone 8s of some users using aftermarket displays; in some cases the impossibility of exploiting the automatic brightness had been reported and the ambient light sensor was deactivated.
The new difficulty with the iPhone 13 display replacement comes at a time when the various companies under the umbrella of the so-called "Right to Repair" are fighting with Apple to try to get the right to repair, trying to force the various manufacturers (not only Apple but also others) to respect design and assembly criteria for devices that are easy to repair even by the user himself and to distribute spare parts and repair instructions.