Smartphone repair shops are poised to enhance their capabilities in fixing certain screen issues by adopting a laser technology that manufacturers already use for creating OLED panels.
Scotty Allen, an engineer who runs the tech-focused YouTube channel Strange Parts, shows how the repair process works in his latest video. As you can see in the demo, there’s a persistent green line that appears on the broken iPhone screen, an issue that’s a fairly common occurrence among OLED displays that can be caused by physical damage.
At about 5:04 into the video, you can see the technician using the laser machine and makes quick work of the green line. Using the same manufacturing process in the factory to create the OLED panel, the machine repairs the panel’s internal pathways that are responsible for transmitting electrical signals across the display. Damage to this wiring network is often the cause of green lines and other visual defects.
The repair process does not even need the display to be turned off, which is great for the technician as they can immediately determine if the issue has been fixed. While it works like magic to the layperson, the machine does have limitations. The screen must be free of water damage, and the glass covering—if it’s shattered—must be removed.
Nevertheless, the repair can significantly help customers save on the repair costs. Without insurance or extended warranty plans, a phone repair could cost nearly as much as the full price of the phone itself. The machine lets owners reuse the same display instead of resorting to expensive replacements while the broken display ends up as another e-waste.
Repair shops interested in this machine will need to shell out around $12,000. It’s a huge investment, indeed, but it’ll likely pay off in the long run.