iFixit promises more parts in the future with a “full selection” for the Pixel 6a.
The iFixit and Google partnership announced in April is now live. iFixit says that genuine parts of Google smartphones are now “for sale in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and European countries where Pixel is available.”
It looks like the iFixit Pixel is offering screen, battery and rear camera assemblies for most models of phones, as well as small possibilities and tips like sticky and cooling graphite tape. Despite the official partnership with Google, we will not call the iFixit Pixel Store a comprehensive source of Pixel parts. For the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro — which are currently in production and should have plenty of parts available — you can’t buy a replacement glass back panel, charging port, front camera or any delicate cables you could accidentally tear. The phone is ringing again. Compare the official Pixel 6 Pro parts list with just six items compared to any iPhone parts list, which has about 30 parts and you can see that there are a lot of missing items.
iFixit says it’s just starting out, and it will continue to “add more types of parts to our catalog” of the Pixel 2 and later. For the Pixel 6a coming in late July, iFixit promises a “complete selection” of “as soon as possible” parts.
iFixit says Google is constantly improving the repairability of its devices, although the repair site did not actually score a Pixel 6 or 6 Pro. (iFixit’s last full pixel teardown was on the Pixel 4 XL in 2019.) iFixit also praised Google’s desire to make software repair tools available online, such as easy-to-use OS flashing tools and fingerprint reader calibration tools for the Pixel 6. If Google is really concerned about the longevity of the device and reducing e-waste, we’d like to see the company match its competitors in terms of software support, where Google’s three-year major OS updates are still behind Samsung (four years) and Apple. (Five years).