Apple Launches iPhone 14 Plus Camera Repair Program

If it is a hardware problem, why are they limiting it to 3 years from sale of the iPhone? Do they magically fix themselves after 3 years?

Also, for those wondering how the 14 Plus Rear Camera program works and actual internal qualifications, it goes like this:
[LIST=1]
* You have to both be eligible via the serial number checker, since those are the ones that fall within the April 10 2023 to April 28 2024 manufacture date range outlines on the public site.
* Your phone fails a functional test (we open the camera app and see no image in preview), also has to explicitly fail our Camera test, which is just a thing that runs in Diagnostics mode and takes pic with all 4 cameras and allows technicians to visually mark any imperfections.
* Unit has to be within 3 years of your Date of Purchase.
* Unit has to pass VMI (Visual Mechanical Inspection), which is just a set of guidelines to determine if there is damage and what is defined as damage and all that. Things like scratches or small dings are fine generally speaking
* You have none of the following, which would make you ineligible for the program:

* Damaged rear camera (doesn't specify if camera lens only or rear camera module itself but usually if the latter is damaged then so is the former)
* Liquid damage
* No Power On situation
* Damage that prevents rear camera SUR (same unit repair). This usually can be things like swollen battery, or bent frame, or broken Display (our fixtures rely on an intact display to open device up), etc. List is too big for the purposes here but for many people this won't be a huge issue.



Assuming you've made it this far, then bring it in for your appointment time, or walk-in if your AASP allows it, and our system will autofill necessary coverage information and price it out at $0 for part and labor and all the fun stuff :)

If it is a hardware problem, why are they limiting it to 3 years from sale of the iPhone? Do they magically fix themselves after 3 years?

3 years is a very long time to run a repair program. By the time those 3 years are up parts are unlikely to be produced anymore - which I think is probably the reason for the very broad period.

It is disconnecting frequently, CarPlay doesn’t connect automatically, music is garbled at times for 10 seconds or so. AirPods disconnect frequently as well.

Apple sent me a replacement with the same issue without even using my Apple Care+, so they are aware of the issue, just trying to hide it.

I reckon that is a very long bow to draw as to why they replaced it and your version of the story seems to contradict yourself. If they were replacing it with one that did performed the same way, logic tells me they aren't sure what the problem is and they have sent the same thing to you because there is nothing that has been fixed. If they were 'hiding it' they would have sent you something that performed differently.

Hate to say it but it seems likely to be isolated to your particular environment or setup, so in all probability the phone is not the one to blame.

Notice how this is missing in the US doco?

Its also because north america as a whole has consumer protection laws that are about as effective as a wet paper bag. Once you're outside your 1 year warranty, or no Applecare+, and credit card warranty extensions no longer apply, and begging Apple Support for CS code(one time exception) doesnt work out, you basically get to gobble on Tim Cooks gentleman bits as far as covered repair avenues go. Thats a huge thing other places get right, EU and UK/Ireland and Aussies/NZ have some serious consumer protection laws that wouldve helped soooooo many people that I've seen over the years for all sorts of issues that should've been covered but aren't because of the date of purchase limitation on many repair extension programs :/

If it is a hardware problem, why are they limiting it to 3 years from sale of the iPhone? Do they magically fix themselves after 3 years?

It's a fairly regular timeframe Apple has used for their REP's (repair extension program) and QP's (Quality Programs) A lot of programs are either 2 years or 3 years from Date of Purcahse (DOP), though a handful have made it to 4 or even 5 years. Some REP's/QP's also have specific test results that need to be registered in AST2 (apple Service Toolkit 2, the cloud based diagnostic system) in order to qualify, some are serial number based, etc.

Some other examples
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* iPhone 12/12Pro No Sound REP - 3 years from DOP
* iphone 11 Display REP - 2 years from DOP
* iPhone X Touchscreen REP - 3 years from DOP
* iPhone 7 No Service REP - 3 years from DOP
* Series 6 40mm Blank Screen - 2 years from DOP
* Airpod Pro 1st Gen Sound REP - 2 years from DOP
* 15" Macbook Pro 2015 Battery REP - No end date technically but has 1 Top Case per unit limit
* 2016-2019 Macbook Pro + 12" Macbook Butterfly Keyboard - 4 Years from DOP
* 2017 Macbook Pro 2port SSD REP - 3 years from DOP
* 2016 13" Macbook Pro Display REP - 4 Years from DOP
* Plus whole bunch of internally-exclusive ones that didn't have public facing page like Swollen Battery on iPhone being free if within 2 years of DOP or swollen battery on Macbook being free if within 3 years of DOP (both of which are gone now), or the 2018 Macbook Air Logic Board No Power one which had 4 year from DOP limit.

Etc. You get the idea. Having worked under Apples system since roughly 2016, this is basically par for the course and nothing unusual to anyone who is on the receiving end of Apple Supports appointment system.

It sucks since many people come in with issues to this day but there's nothing we can really do about it assuming Apple Phone support doesn't want to issue a CS Code (customer Satisfaction code, one-time exception basically). They sometimes do if you're fairly recently outside of the REP's timeframe or have some other circumstance, but the longer you wait the less likely you are to get one, not to say its guaranteed at all since it is entirely at the discretion of the Tier2 advisor. The biggest slap in the face is that by the time the REP/QP launches

3 years is a very long time to run a repair program. By the time those 3 years are up parts are unlikely to be produced anymore - which I think is probably the reason for the very broad period.

Apple has part availability for either up to 5 years, 7 years, or even 10 years, depending on the product and part type. Anything thats under 5 years from the last time that generation of product was sold new has full part availability (with occasional temporary constraints based of global supply chain). Business as usual basically. Anything over 5 years from the last-sold date is considered Vintage status (dont take the word literally) and will either have no more availability like whole unit replacements (apple watches, ipads, etc), or will have reduced availability of parts for devices that have Same-Unit repairs (which is basically only iPhone and Mac as of writing, everything else is effetively whole unit replacement). Anything 7 years from last-sold date is considered Obsolete status (again, not literally) and there are no parts or whole-units left at all, with the exception of some Top Cases for some Retina Macbook Pros, which have an oddball clause of having limited availability of Top Cases up to 10 years from last-sold date for whatever reason.