A new feature was discovered in the files of the fourth iOS 17.5 beta called Repair State. What it does is place your iPhone in a special hibernation mode that doesn’t force people to disable Find My when sending their device in to be serviced.
The way it works currently is whenever an iPhone is taken to a repair shop, users must turn off Find My in the settings menu. Doing so hasn’t been a problem for anyone until the introduction of the Stolen Device Protection feature on iOS 17.3.
Stolen Device Protection “adds extra security steps” to certain functions like requiring biometric authentication whenever an iPhone owner wants to access stored credit card information. It also adds a time delay when changing certain sensitive settings, such as Find My. This forces you to wait a full hour until you’re allowed to use your smartphone again regardless of how long repairs took. As a result, people have begun to complain about the lockout.
Repair State is the company’s solution. It lets users confirm “their Apple ID and password” designating them as the iPhone’s owner to technicians without having to deactivate Find My or Stolen Device Protection. According to MacRumors, phones under this mode have a “Ready for Repair” label alongside a stethoscope icon inside the list of devices.
Work in progress
It’s been confirmed the feature is “only available on iPhones”. None of Apple’s other gadgets have been spotted with Repair State. You can check it out yourself by installing iOS 17.5 beta 4 from the tech giant’s Developer program However, it is recommended that you leave it alone. 9To5Mac in their report states users can enable the mode “when trying to remove their iPhone via [the] Find My app.” But once activated, there isn’t a way to disable Repair State.
The publication states there may be two reasons why you can’t revert the phone back to normal. It’s either because the company has yet to implement a way to turn off the mode or an Apple technician must first complete repairs before removing the mode.
There doesn’t appear to be any performance issues associated with Repair State. None of the reports we sifted through mention anything relating to iPhones becoming inoperable. In fact, it’s quite the opposite as the hardware apparently “remains fully functional.” Still, just to be on the safe side, it’s better that you don’t mess with it.
Apple’s WWDC 2024 is the tech giant’s next major event kicking off on June 10. While we don’t know what’ll be shown on the big day, we do expect to see iOS 18 make its world debut and Repair State may be one of the new tools on display.
Until then, check out TechRadar’s list of the best iPhone for 2024.