iOS 16.0.1 is shown to recant certain anti-independent-repair locks in the iPhone 14, but not the 14 Pro

The vanilla iPhone 14 may have taken what some right-to-repair activists might describe as a step in the right direction with a build that allows it to be opened from the back rather than the front as in its Pro silbings.

Now, the YouTuber Phone Repair Guru claims to have established that the base-model Apple flagship has also dropped at least some of the software locks that normally impair or even break potentially important features should its system detect a non-factory display, battery or logic board.

Another vlogger, Hugh Jeffreys, set out to check if the same changes were present in the more expensive Pro variants, in a comparable, by-now annual procedure involving the purchase of 2 such units (at a total cost of AU$3,500 (~US$2,350)), taking them apart, swapping the main components as above and re-assembling them.

Unfortunately, the 14 Pros proceeded to exhibit symptoms about as severe as the pair of 13 Pros before them. The 14 did not drop its own errors until it was updated to iOS 16.0.1; however, this was not the case in the Pro, with 1 unit even "rejecting its original camera" under the newer version after swapping it back.

Then again, the 'refurbished' higher-end variant did have some other front camera functions restored to it following the software update. Apple just might remove the rest of the locks in subsequent versions of iOS 16 for the iPhone 14 Pro, although nothing is certain as yet.

In the meantime, it seems the Cupertino giant would vastly prefer an owner of a new Dynamic Island-enabled flagship get their displays repaired through authorized services if necessary, whereas the 14 (and 14 Plus, perhaps?) has been set loose to seek its potentially more sustainable fortune throughout its life-cycle.

Don't take chances with a case for your new 14-series unit