iFixed
The iFixit and Google partnership announced in April is already underway. iFixit says genuine parts for Google smartphones are now on sale in the “US, UK, Canada, Australia and European countries where Pixel is available.”
It appears that iFixit offers screens, batteries, and rear camera sets for most Pixel phone models, along with smaller dots and ends such as cooling tape and graphite. Despite the official partnership with Google, we would not say that the iFixit Pixel store is a complete source of Pixel parts. For the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, which are currently in production and should have tons of parts available, you can’t buy replacement glass back panels, charging ports, front cameras, or any of the delicate cables you might accidentally break while you’re at it. is disassembling the phone. Just compare the official parts list of the Pixel 6 Pro, which has only six items, with any of the parts lists on the iPhone, which has about 30 pieces, and you can see that many items are missing.
Announcements
iFixit says it’s just getting started, though, and will “continue to add more types of parts to our catalog” for Pixel 2 and later. For the Pixel 6a, which will be released in late July, iFixit promises “a full selection” of parts “as soon as possible.”
iFixit says Google has continually improved the repairability of its devices, even though the repair site never rated the Pixel 6 or 6 Pro. (The last complete disassembly of iFixit’s Pixel was on the Pixel 4 XL in 2019.) iFixit also praised Google’s willingness to make available online software repair tools, such as an easy operating system flashing tool to use and a fingerprint reader calibration tool for the Pixel 6. If Google is really concerned about device longevity and e-waste reduction, we’d like the company to outperform its competitors in terms of software support, where the three years of major updates to Google’s operating system are still lagging behind Samsung (four years) and Apple. (five years).