Good.

While serialized parts allows a record of the repairs and replacement parts on a device, which is especially nice when buying used and refurbished, the hijacking of functionality is the real crime. Screen replacements, for example, on the iPhone 14 series, even when using genuine Apple parts and without "re-pairing" by a certified technician or through SSR, results in the loss of True Tone, auto-brightness, and other critical functionality.

Here's an (incomplete) list of some of the functionality lost when doing a replacement of said part, even when parts are genuine, off of the top of my head:

1. Battery -> loss of battery health metrics
2. Display -> loss of auto-brightness, True Tone, and Face ID
3. Camera -> loss of portrait mode, buggy Camera app functionality, and loss of optical zoom

There is no technical reason why this should be the case - based on teardowns and hardware analysis even -
other than to make non-genuine parts so crippled to discourage self repair, third party repair or to encourage a device upgrade.

EDIT: Some posts below mention the "theft deterrence" argument, where serialized parts may discourage iPhone thefts by making their parts less valuable by inhibiting functionality. There is no evidence to suggest that this is an effective theft "deterrent". In fact, iPhone thefts are up and parts are still being sent to China in record numbers, even with these "deterrents".

Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)

The issue at hand is not "planned obsolescence ", which is defined as the practice of designing products to break quickly or become obsolete in the short to mid-term. Considering how long most Apple products last and are supported, the company arguably does the exact opposite.

Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)

The serialisation of the parts helps prevent device theft for parts
if any checks are removed, the only real benefits will be to those selling stolen phones for parts

apples solution may not be ideal, but I’d rather live with it than having the hell it was before

Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

So you are ok with your phones being stolen and shipped to China to be parted out?

Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)

The organization added that Apple's self-service repair program is bad for the environment given that Apple ships large and heavy tools to customers.

I'm not happy about the serial number requirement, but this part is crazy. Apple has been criticized for years for not giving customers the ability to repair their own phones, but now they're being criticized for giving customers the tools they need to repair them? They can't win.

Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)

So you are ok with your phones being stolen and shipped to China to be parted out?

I only have one phone and it is old enough that I'd feel honored if China wanted to part it out. ;)

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)