Update: iPhone 14 is easier to repair — but we have bad news, too.
Getting your iPhone repaired out of warranty has never been cheap, unless you have AppleCare Plus. But each passing year appears to hit the wallet slightly harder, and the launch of the iPhone 14 range seems to be no exception.
Apple has updated its repair pages to account for the impending release of the iPhone 14 range, and that includes revealing just how much the various out-of-warranty repairs will cost. Unsurprisingly, some prices have increased this year. That means, unless you have AppleCare Plus, the cost of repairing the iPhone 14 will be more expensive than repairing the iPhone 13.
The most notable price change is the cost of battery replacement. For the iPhone 13 range, a replacement battery is listed as costing $69. But, should you need a new battery in any iPhone 14 model, you’ll have to pay $99 — an increase of $30, or 43%.
Repairing the rear camera will also cost you a little more this year, but only if you get an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max. The cost is $219 for both phones, compared to $199 for the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max. Meanwhile, iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus camera repairs cost the same $169 as on the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini.
A similar tale rings true for a cracked front screen. iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max and Plus models command a $329 repair fee, or $29 if you have AppleCare Plus. The iPhone 13 Pro Max screen repair also costs $329, but the 13 Pro is $50 less at $279. Both the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 command the same $279 screen repair price tag.
Replacing cracked rear glass is also a pretty pricey endeavour: $169 for the iPhone 14, $199 for the 14 Plus, and skyrocketing up to a respective $499 and $549 for the 14 Pro and Pro Max. If you have AppleCare Plus, that fee drops to $29, which is also the only way you can get that particular repair on all four iPhone 13 models right now.
Anything else will fall under the rather general “other damage” category, which is also the most expensive kind of out-of-warranty repair. That’s an extreme $699 for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, $100 more than the iPhone 13 Pro Max and only $100 less than buying a brand new iPhone 14. The 14 Pro isn’t much better, with a $649 price tag compared to the iPhone 13 Pro’s $549.
You’ll have to pay $599 for the same repair on the iPhone 14 Plus, and $549 on the iPhone 14. Meanwhile, an "other damage" fix on the iPhone 13 would cost $449, but in the case of all seven handsets AppleCare Plus reduces the cost of repair to just $99.
In short, you’re going to want to take special care of your iPhone 14. Granted you should always take care of something that costs several hundred dollars, but the increased cost of iPhone 14 repairs means you should be extra vigilant.
Pick up a case, possibly a screen protector, and seriously consider paying for AppleCare Plus. It's already proving to be an essential spend for anyone buying the Apple Watch 8 Ultra, and the benefits of paying for it on the iPhone 14 seem to outweigh the negatives.
Admittedly, it's not cheap in its own right: you'll be paying $219 for two years of iPhone 14 protection ($11.49 a month) or $269 for two years of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro max protection ($13.49 a month). The good news is that Apple has updated the terms of the coverage, offering unlimited repairs for accidental damage, rather than the previous limit of two per year.
