Apple last year launched its hardware diagnostic tool for anyone interested in DIY repairs as part of its Self Service Repair program. Before that, the software was limited to Apple Retail Stores and Authorized Service Providers (AASP). iFixit has now shared an in-depth analysis of Apple’s diagnostic tool and how helpful it is.

For those unfamiliar, Apple’s diagnostic tools help technicians find hardware faults in a device by running a series of validation tests. For example, it can identify problems with the display, cables, and cameras without requiring a person to manually test each of these parts.

Following the introduction of Self Service Repair, which provides genuine Apple product parts to consumers who want to repair their devices themselves, Apple has made this tool available to everyone. But how useful are they in highlighting what’s wrong with a device? According to iFixit, Apple’s tools are quite useful, although there are some limitations.

“If the tool detects a problem, it may give you something useful, like the number of the Apple Support article you should follow to fix the problem,” iFixit explains. At the same time, some of the information displayed by the diagnostic tool is quite vague. In some cases, it just says that a non-genuine part has been detected rather than showing whether it has a problem or not.

Of course, this may be mainly because the tool was created to tell Apple technicians if a device has all the genuine parts to check if it’s eligible for repairs under warranty. iFixit claims that Apple is doing “what’s required” by bills such as the California Right to Repair, but the company could do a lot more to help its customers.

Even so, the tool can help someone buying a used iPhone to check that everything is right with the device or that it actually has all the genuine parts. At the same time, third parties working on repairs can more quickly check what’s wrong with an iPhone. “The very fact that Apple built it is a good sign, and it will end up being quite useful,” iFixit says.

You can read the full analysis on the iFixit website.

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