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US: Apple repair guidelines include laser damage to iPhone cameras

Apple iPhone cameras are damaged often enough by laser light that the company has repair guidelines for replacing the camera.

A few pages and graphics were leaked from a 22-page Apple document, the March 3 2017 “Visual/Mechanical Inspection Guide,” including this page showing the service eligibility for common problems:

Pic 2017-09-05 at 2.21.43 PM

The page lists common items such as liquid damage, broken screens, cracks — and “Damage due to laser contact with camera.”

Pic 2017-09-05 at 2.21.24 PM


It is likely that elsewhere in the leaked document are details about the laser damage, along with other example photos. However, only a few pages of the document were publicly revealed.

A page like this was first revealed in 2014. The document leaked September 1 2017 covers Apple’s most current iPhones: 6, 6S, 7 and associated “Plus” versions.

From Business Insider via MacRumors.

US: Apple repair guide lists laser damage to camera as a service item

Laser damage to the iPhone camera is listed as one of Apple’s “Out-of-Warranty Service” items, along with liquid damage, cracks and fractures, and bent phones.

This information comes from a 2014 “Visual/Mechanical Inspection” guide provided by Apple to authorized repair centers. An image from the document was provided by a worker to Consumer Reports’ Consumerist blog. In the upper right is the laser damage information:

Apple iPhone laser damage

This item is relatively new. Laser damage is not mentioned in the 2012 version of the iPhone Visual/Mechanical Inspection Guide.

From the Consumerist. For more on laser damage to consumer cameras and camcorders, see our Lasers and camera damage page.