As part of a shift to lower repair costs, Apple has begun replacing iPhone 5 screens at its retail locations. The new display replacement service is priced at $149 and can be purchased with or without AppleCare+.
Changes to Apple's repair policies first surfaced last month, where a town hall session revealed that Apple would begin in-house repairs of displays in June in an effort to save approximately $1 billion per year.
MacRumors heard from a tipster this morning that the new repair policy had been implemented and the changes have since been confirmed in a forum post from iPhone repair site Quick iFix. The repairs are available for cracked displays as well as screens that experience multitouch issues.
Quick iFix notes that Apple's $149 repair cost is competitive, causing the site to change its own repair costs. Quick iFix charged $174.99 for a display replacement in early May, but began offering repairs for $139.99 a few days later.
Apple's new display repairs are in line with AppleCare+ pricing, which costs $99 up front and then $49 for each replacement. The repair service is a more affordable alternative for iPhone users who opted not to purchase AppleCare+, as iPhone replacement previously cost $229.
Apple is expected to roll out additional in-house repair options in July, offering repairs of the iPhone's camera, sleep/wake buttons, and logic boards. Additional changes to AppleCare are also reportedly in the works, with Apple rumored to be switching to a subscription based plan tied to customers rather than individual devices.
