Skip to main content

Ding-dong, Apple calling: Get your iPhone repaired without leaving the house

If you’ve got a problem and no one else can help, maybe you can call the Apple team. Apple is now listing an on-site repair service for its devices, meaning a “Genius” will come to your home or place of work to fix your broken Apple product. For example, if your iPhone 11 Pro has a cracked screen and you schedule a repair with Apple directly, the option for an onsite service may be available depending on where you live.

Recommended Videos

Where do you need to live for Apple to grace you with its presence? In the United States, for a start, and then in any one of six different cities: New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, or Dallas. This is according to MacRumors, which discovered the service. Don’t expect the repair to be free either, as Apple’s support pages do mention an additional fee for on-site service, which is in addition to the normal cost of the repair.

There’s a further caveat, in that not every product and not every repair is covered by the on-site repair team. While selecting a screen repair for an iPhone shows the on-site repair service may be an option, depending on your location, requesting a battery replacement does not, and none of the software or related problems seem to be covered either. It’s the same situation when you look to get a MacBook repaired, with no mention initially of an on-site option.

Apple has apparently enlisted the help of Go Tech Services for its on-site repair service, which is an authorized Apple service provider, meaning the work will be carried out by trained and approved engineers, but not Apple itself. This shouldn’t make any difference to the work, or for ongoing warranties either.

While Apple provides onsite support to some of its large corporate accounts, it’s an unusual option for regular people who have purchased an iPhone for their own use. This small launch may be the precursor to a larger scale launch later on, with more repair services available in more places in the U.S., and internationally. It may prove particularly helpful for those who don’t live near an Apple Store or authorized repair specialist.

Andy Boxall
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
Google Gemini arrives on iPhone as a native app
the Google extensions feature on iPhone

Google announced Thursday that it has released a new native Gemini app for iOS that will give iPhone users free, direct access to the chatbot without the need for a mobile web browser.

The Gemini mobile app has been available for Android since February, when the platform transitioned from the older Bard branding. However, iOS users could only access the AI on their phones through either the mobile Google app or via a web browser. This new app provides a more streamlined means of chatting with the bot as well as a host of new (to iOS) features.

Read more
A must-try Android app has finally arrived on the iPhone
Person holding a phone with Google Gemini Live being shown.

A few days ago, Google Gemini appeared in the Apple App Store for a user in the Philippines, who was even able to download it. We took it as a sign that the new AI assistant would soon make its way to the App Store in the U.S. Well, we were right, as you can now download Gemini as a standalone app on your iPhone, after previously only being able to access it through a browser.

The Gemini app is free to download and has a surprising number of features available. More powerful functions are available for a $20-per-month subscription, but you can try Gemini Advanced out for one month for free. It grants priority access to new features and gives a "1 million token" context window.

Read more
A new iPhone may arrive sooner than you think
iPhone SE (2022) held in a mans hand.

With the release of the iPhone 16 models recently, you may think Apple is all done with new releases for a while. Perhaps not, as attention is now shifting to the upcoming year, and we may get another new iPhone sooner than you think. Apple's first new handset, expected in early 2025, will likely be the iPhone SE 4. We now have a clearer idea of when this phone might be launched.

According to Korea's Ajunews (via MacRumors), component manufacturer LG Innotek is expected to begin mass production of a camera module that will potentially be used in the iPhone SE4 as early as next month. The company will supply the front camera module for the budget-friendly phone. The report also stated camera production often starts about three months before the final phone arrives on the market. A spring 2025 release for the iPhone SE 4 has long been rumored, and the report seems to back this up.

Read more