FixBot walks you through a problem step by step. We've all been there: You can't (or won't) get help when something breaks, but the YouTube clip doesn't cover your specific issue. It's what repair gurus at iFixit want to solve with FixBot, an AI-enabled app that talks you through whatever repair you're doing. The chatbot will help you diagnose the problem and then walk you step-by-step through the fix. Plus, it's voice-enabled so you won't have to get your phone all smeary when you're elbows-deep in a job.

FixBot can check on the health of your devices and talk you through necessary repairs. You can even point your phone's camera at broken gear to get started. The company's new app helps guide people through the repair process. The online repair service iFixit has a new app out today . When you open it, you will see something you've likely grown to expect in a new release: a chatbot.

When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Everything is free, though the AI will eventually charge a fee. While the iFixit app for both Android and iOS will be free, the new FixBot may not be. The company's plan is to make it free for now, then split it off into a free tier with access limits and then a paid Enthusiast tier with voice and document upload, according to the company. That tier will cost $4.99 per month or $50 per year, the company said.

Freelancer has accused Anthropic, the AI startup behind the Claude large language models, of ignoring its "do not crawl" robots.txt Meanwhile, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens said Anthropic has ignored the website's policy prohibiting the use of its content for AI model training. Matt Barrie, the chief executive of Freelancer, told The Information that Anthropic's ClaudeBot is "the most aggressive scraper by far." His website allegedly got 3.5 million visits from the company's crawler within a span of four hours, which is "probably about five times the volume of the number two" AI crawler. Similarly, Wiens posted on X/Twitter that Anthropic's bot hit iFixit's servers a million times in 24 hours.

Experienced PC enthusiasts who want to build their own computer, upgrade it with new hardware, or simply maintain it need more than just a simple screwdriver. With the right tools and gadgets, you'll be able to assemble your PC faster and make the experience much more enjoyable -- and less stressful. If you take building PCs serious, these tools make working on a computer so much easier. The company helps people repair their devices independently. To do this, it not only supplies the necessary tools and spare parts, but also helps with troubleshooting instructions and very high quality, free repair instructions for disassembly and assembly.

Apple does not have a good track record in terms of letting customers repair their hardware. The last decade-plus has seen Apple's computers become essentially impossible for users to service or upgrade, and the iPhone has always been a locked box. Adventurous owners might follow guides from iFixit to try and do repairs themselves, but it's a dangerous proposition. Remember, it was just earlier this year, when we discovered that replacing the display on an iPhone 13 would disable Face ID (something Apple eventually made an about face on). So Apple's announcement earlier this week that it would start selling parts and tools directly to consumers and offer repair guides was a huge surprise, and a move immediately hailed as a victory for right-to-repair activists.

Apple says it will release an update to address an issue related to iPhone 13 screen repairs that could disable the device's Face ID feature. Details on the issue were first reported by tech site iFixIt, which reported a small chip paired to the iPhone 13's screen renders Face ID inoperable when the screen is repaired. The site said the change would have significant impacts on users or repair shops aiming to replace screens on the iPhone 13. "One of the most common phone repairs that could once be done with hand tools now requires a microscope," said iFixIt. "This means you won't be able to fix your iPhone screen yourself without sacrificing major functionality." In a statement emailed to USA TODAY, Apple spokesperson Nick Leahy said "a solution will be available in an upcoming software update."

The statute prohibits the circumvention of software copy protection and has been the target of right to repair advocates for years. As one example, it adopts a recommendation from Public Knowledge and iFixit that involves video game consoles. It says "the repair of software-enabled consumer devices is likely to be fair use, the Register finds that certain video game console repair is also likely fair use." It notes consumers can access the firmware on their systems as long as it's with the intention of fixing the device's optical drive and they restore any protective measures afterward. The rulemaking stops short of protecting non-consumer devices.

With the addition of features like a 120Hz display on some models, Apple's iPhone 13 lineup is many ways a step above the phones the company shipped last year. But when it comes to the question of repairability, the story is more complicated. Conducting a teardown of the device, iFixit found it couldn't get the iPhone 13's Face ID feature to work if replaced the phone's display. No matter what workaround it tried, iFixit could not get Face ID to work again. By its estimation, the display on the iPhone 13 lineup is serial-locked to the device.

Given that the revamped Apple TV 4K looks identical to the last model, we figured that it would be similarly easy to repair. The site was able to tear right through the set-top box's case, thanks to a bit of prying and standard screws. In a unique twist, Apple also used metal contact pins to connect the ATV's large fan to its logic board. That makes it easy to remove without worrying about breaking any cables. Beyond that, the Apple TV 4K is basically a sandwich of easy to remove components.