Apple will reportedly start offering in-store display repairs for the iPhone 5S soon, reducing the need to send the devices to off-site repair centers.

The company's replace and repair program within its retail stores are part of an effort to lower repair costs. While repairing the screen of an iPhone 5S in-store will still not be very cheap, it's preferable and more affordable than replacing it off-site or buying a new smartphone altogether.

According to a new report from 9to5Mac, Apple Stores are currently receiving large deliveries of iPhone 5S screens for this replace and repair program. In-store repairs for the iPhone 5S are reportedly set to start on Monday, Aug. 4.

Repairing displays in-store rather than shipping the affected units to an off-site location should help Apple lower repair costs significantly, and it's also more convenient for customers. As a reminder, Apple first started offering in-store phone repairs back in June 2013, when it covered the iPhone 5. It later expanded to deal with iPhone 5C repairs as well back in January of this year, and it was only a matter of time until the flagship iPhone 5S was also included in the program.

Customers who have cracked or damaged the display of their iPhone 5S but do not have AppleCare+ will be able to pay a $149 fee to have their screen repaired directly at an Apple retail location. Until Apple introduced this in-store repair center, the only option users had was to pay $229 for a replacement screen, as Apple had to send all damaged devices off-site.

Having iPhone screens repaired in-store not only helps reduce costs, but it significantly reduces wait times as well. As for the costs, the savings are quite impressive. Back in June 2013, Apple noted during an employee meeting that these in-store repair program could save the company as much as $1 billion per year.

Apple has yet to confirm the addition of the iPhone 5S to this in-store repair program, but if it indeed plans to start offering this option on Monday, Aug. 4, it should become official soon enough. We'll keep you up to date as soon as more details become available, so stay tuned.