Apple is strictly against the prospect of allowing its products from being repaired. So with the use of heavy software integration with the hardware, it becomes a very difficult process for third-party repair shops to perform their own repairs. Even though the company has allowed third-party repairs and states that it will not void the customer’s warranty, there is a machine that might help Apple’s monopolization of the repair business as well.

The iPhone Calibration Machine Could Become a Huge Revenue Generator for Apple as far as Repairs Go – 3rd-Party Repair Shops Would Be Left High and Dry

A former employee from the Apple Genius Bar describes the machine as follows, according to Motherboard.

“It was a big clunky machine that honestly looked like someone built it in their backyard. There were different 'moulds' that different iPhone models would go into before going in the machine, and it would take around 30 minutes … there was some weird liquid that needed to be placed in the machine that we would have to wear gloves with to fix it. Lots of gas type valves and whatnot. It literally looked like some backyard home job. Not very Apple-like at all.”

Justin Carroll, CEO of Fruit Fixed states that it would makethings a lot easier for repair shops if they had one of these contraptions.

“It would be great if a machine like that were available to independent repair shops. If we're testing a battery or swapping a screen it would make our lives a lot easier. At the very least, it'd help if Apple open-sourced its diagnostic modes to other people.”

According to people close to this information, Apple started using these machines soon after the release of the iPhone 5s. However, there is one capability of the machine that no repair shop has even been able to accomplish; allow a new Touch ID button to be paired with an old device. The sensor can be recalibrated with the old phone meaning that if Apple starts to incorporate fingerprint readers that are embedded in the display, it would give the tech giant unprecedented powers when it comes to repairs.

Though third-party manufacturers can still find other ways to repair and replace different components of the iPhone, screen repairs are often the most common ones and such repairs will not be able to get carried out by them in the future.