According to several employees, select Apple Stores are about to begin testing a repair program that sends some iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s and 6s Plus devices off-site for repairs, 9to5Mac reports. Apple has previously completed all repairs in-store while customers wait, but the new pilot program will have Genius Bar employees shipping phones to a repair center if they’re unable to power on, won’t boot up past the Apple logo, or can’t connect to iTunes on a computer.
Apple has communicated to employees that the change is being made because these specific issues take a significant amount of time to repair, increasing wait times for customers with simpler issues. A new automated system within the Genius Bar will determine whether the device can be fixed in-store or needs to be shipped out, and those customers agreeing to have their phones sent out for repair as part of the pilot program will be loaned a 16GB iPhone 6 to use for the three-to-five business days that it’ll take to service their device.
Select stores in the U.S., Europe and Japan are taking part in the pilot program, but Apple hasn’t publicly announced the change or commented on which specific locations will be taking part.
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