During the last weeks I told you that Apple is preparing some important changes for the warranty system for iDevices, and starting today was implemented one of them. Apple Lossless Audio CODEC (ALAC), now offers customers in the US the ability to replace the screen of a iPhone 5 at the price of $150, the option being available separately from the one by which for $229 a customer can go home with a refurbished iPhone. This change plus several others would reduce the annual warranty costs by up to 1 billion dollars, the amount being high enough to motivate Apple not to fully satisfy its customers.
In the past, any defective iPhone was exchanged for a refurbished one, that is, a terminal repaired and rechecked by Apple, which was basically a new iPhone. Now the company will repair the broken ones on the spot, or a few days later, offering customers a terminal that does not benefit from the same careful check as a refurbished one. What final effect these changes will have remains to be seen, but the cost reduction will probably generate other problems for Apple.
