Apple has announced how much it’ll charge to repair the new iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. For the iPhone 12 Pro, the $279 screen repair price is unchanged compared to the iPhone 11 Pro last year, despite using new ceramic-hardened glass. However the $279 cost of repairing the base iPhone 12’s display has increased by $80 compared to the iPhone 11, and the cost of repairing “other damage” has increased by $50 to $449. Repair prices for the iPhone 12 Pro Max and 12 mini are yet to be announced.
For the base iPhone 12, that’s a substantial price increase compared to the $199 you’d pay to repair the iPhone 11’s screen, likely because it now has an OLED rather than an LCD display. However for the 12 Pro this $279 price is the same as what Apple’s charged for screen repairs since 2017’s iPhone X. The price of screen repairs covered by AppleCare Plus insurance plans is unchanged at $29.
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The new ceramic-hardened displays used in the iPhone 12 series, which Apple says is “tougher than any smartphone glass” with four times greater resistance to damage from drops, doesn’t appear to have caused a price increase for buyers, despite potentially cutting into Apple’s profit margins.
It’s a similar story when it comes to what Apple is charging to repair “other damage” like that resulting from liquid, for example. The cost to repair the iPhone 12 Pro is $549, which is unchanged from the iPhone 11 Pro. However, the iPhone 12 now costs $449, compared to $399 to repair the iPhone 11. The price of other repairs covered by AppleCare Plus remains at $99.
All told, repair costs are unchanged for prospective iPhone 12 Pro owners, though it’s a shame to see the new baseline iPhone facing more expensive repairs. Here’s hoping that Ceramic Shield cover protecting the displays is tough enough to prevent repairs in the first place.
