San Francisco, Mar 30 (IANS): Apple Stores and Apple Authorised Service Providers will now decline customers any repairs on iPhones that have been reported as stolen or missing.

Any device that has been reported as missing and placed on the GSMA Device Registry will no longer be eligible for service.

If an Apple technician sees a message in their internal MobileGenius or GSX systems indicating that the device has been reported as missing, they are instructed to decline the repair, reports MacRumors.

The GSMA Device Registry is an international database of sorts where smartphone owners can report and register instances where their phones might have been lost or stolen.

The new policy is expected to reduce the number of stolen iPhones brought to Apple for repair.

Apple had previously rejected iPhones that were lost or stolen but only if it had the Find My feature enabled.

Earlier, Apple announced the 'Self Service Repair' programme, allowing users to complete their own repairs via a new online store dedicated to parts and tools.

Available first for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, and soon to be followed by Mac computers featuring M1 chips.

Customers join more than 5,000 Apple Authorised Service Providers (AASPs) and 2,800 Independent Repair Providers who have access to these parts, tools, and manuals.