iPhone XS Max Repair

iPhone XS Max Repairs: The First Really Big Face ID iPhone

The XS Max was Apple’s first attempt at a large phone without a home button, and it set the template every Max and Pro Max since has followed. A big OLED panel, a stainless steel frame and a battery to match. Seven years on, the ones still in service are usually there because their owners like the size and see no reason to change.

Repair pricing is now very reasonable. A screen is £59, a battery £49, and back glass, camera or charging repairs are £45 each.

All work is carried out at our Essex repair centre with a twelve month warranty.

Screen Replacement (£59)

A large bonded OLED panel replaced as a complete assembly. Bigger displays flex more across their length during an impact, which is why Max handsets tend to crack from an edge where smaller phones crack from a corner.

• Cracks running from an edge or corner impact
• Dead areas where touch no longer registers
• Green or pink vertical lines after a drop
• Black patches bleeding outwards over several days
• Ghost touches occurring without any input

Large phones are also two-handed phones, and the drops that break them usually happen mid-task from standing height rather than out of a pocket. That means a harder landing. Even so, check whether yours still rings and vibrates with a dark screen, since a dislodged display connector costs far less than a panel and we test for it first. For faults with no impact, read phone screen flickering. Our iPhone screen repair page covers the process.

Battery Replacement (£49)

The XS Max shipped with a large battery for its era, and that has an awkward consequence seven years later: owners remember excellent endurance and find the decline particularly stark. Most original cells we test are well under 70 percent capacity.

• Maximum capacity below 80 percent in Settings, Battery, Battery Health
• Lasting a few hours where it once managed a full day
• Sudden shutdowns with charge still displayed, worse in cold weather
• Charge dropping in large steps rather than smoothly
• The phone feeling slow as well as short on charge

At £49 this is by far the most worthwhile repair on an XS Max. Because iOS reduces peak performance when battery health is poor, a replacement usually restores speed as well as endurance, and a phone that felt hopelessly outdated becomes perfectly usable again. Rule out software first with our guide on why a phone battery drains so fast, and see iPhone battery replacement for pricing.

Back Glass Replacement (£45)

Bonded rear glass removed with a laser separator. The XS Max has a large bonded surface area, which makes clean removal harder than on the standard XS, and the wireless charging coil sitting directly behind the panel is easily destroyed by anyone using heat and prying tools instead.

• Loose fragments scratch the camera lenses from behind
• The moisture seal fails as soon as the glass cracks
• Wireless charging becomes unreliable or stops
• Sharp edges are a real nuisance on a phone this size

See iPhone back glass repair for the method, and the cracked back glass guide for why home kits go wrong.

Charging Repair (£45)

Lightning port with seven years of use behind it. The internal contacts wear, so the cable still clicks in and holds firmly while the electrical connection has become unreliable. Charging that works when you press the cable and stops when you let go is the tell.

First, though, expect a socket packed with years of compacted lint, which on handsets this age is frequently the entire problem and costs nothing like £45 to clear. We check and test before quoting. Try a different cable and mains plug, then read why a phone will not charge. Our iPhone charging port repair page explains replacement.

Camera Repair (£45)

A vertical dual lens arrangement with both lenses under a shared piece of cover glass. One crack across it looks dramatic while the modules underneath are often entirely undamaged, which makes this a much cheaper repair than people expect.

• Cracked lens cover with the modules beneath intact
• Blurry images across every shooting mode after a drop
• Rattling or grinding as optical stabilisation fails
• Camera app opening black or crashing on launch
• Telephoto dead while the main lens works normally

We establish which you need rather than quoting for a module by default. Where nothing was dropped, phone camera not working covers the software causes.

Face ID Faults on Older Handsets

Face ID failures become steadily more common with age, and the XS Max is now old enough that we see them weekly. Refusing to enrol a new face, failing repeatedly in low light, or reporting itself unavailable all point at the TrueDepth array behind the notch.

Being straight about it: Face ID is paired to the logic board at manufacture, so a damaged TrueDepth module cannot be swapped in from another handset and made to work. A torn or disconnected flex cable is repairable. On a phone worth what an XS Max is worth today, that distinction decides whether the repair makes sense at all, and we will tell you which you have before you commit to anything.

Water Damage and Unexplained Faults

Liquid damage is assessed rather than quoted blind, and after seven years historic corrosion is very common. We will give you an honest view on whether the work is economic on a handset of this age rather than taking your money to find out it is not. Our iPhone water damage repair page explains the approach, and phone data recovery is available when the photographs matter more than the phone.

Anything else unclear carries a £15 diagnostic, deducted from the repair if you proceed. Phone keeps restarting and phone overheating are useful first reads.

Turnaround, Warranty and Booking

In-store repairs are usually completed within one to three hours on the same day and you are welcome to wait. Mail-in repairs are typically finished within eight to twelve hours of arriving and returned tracked, most customers seeing their phone in two to three working days. Send-back postage is free and Klarna is available at checkout.

All eligible repairs carry a 12 month warranty on parts and labour whatever the age of the handset. Faults relating to our work are put right at no cost. New accidental damage, liquid damage and unrelated faults are excluded.

Book online through our Essex repair centre page, call 07939 990557, or contact us.

We also repair the iPhone XS, iPhone XR, iPhone X and iPhone 11 Pro Max, with the full range on our iPhone repairs page.