iOS 11.3 Stops iPhone 8 Copy Screens Working

Introduction

If you’re an Apple iPhone 8 or 8 Plus owner, you might be aware of the news that iOS 11.3 has stopped copy screens (those designed and manufactured from scratch by third-party companies) from working.

For a few days, Apple were still “signing” iOS 11.2 so that it was possible to get the screen to work again by downgrading. However, they’ve now stopped signing the older version, meaning that as soon as you upgrade there’s no way to revert back. This doesn’t affect original screens, only copies. The manufacturers of copy LCDs have now been forced to update the software on the screen’s touch IC to make it compatible with iOS 11.3.

What Can I Do If This Affects Me?

If this happens to you, and you’ve had your screen changed recently, then you’re probably still covered by the warranty- assuming you can get the store to honour it! However, if the glass is cracked, or it’s now out of warranty, chances are you’ll be forced to pay for a new screen replacement.

If the store doesn’t know about these issues, they might try a couple of their screens which- of course- will have the same problem, and they’ll most likely dismiss the whole thing as a write-off after that.

Now, to be fair, if the shop was open about the fact that the screen was a non-Apple copy, and the customer was happy to go with that to save money, then that’s pretty much the chance you take. However, if they were duped by the store into thinking it was an original, or there was no choice and it was never made clear that what was being fitted was a copy screen, then we’d consider these unfair and unethical business practices.

Why We Disagree with Apple’s Move

While we’re not generally fans of copy screens– for good reasons!- we still disagree with what Apple has done here. You should be able to use any part in your device as you’re the one who owns it!

To put this in perspective, imagine a car manufacturer stopped your car working because you serviced it with non-OEM parts, or fitted different tyres to the manufacturer recommended ones? We might agree with it if Apple provided replacement parts to buy, similar to the way printer manufacturers operate. Epson sells the printer, then sells the ink for you to use. We can understand why they might try to compatibles working, but since Apple doesn’t sell replacement parts anyway, we don’t see why they should be allowed to do this to your device!