Apple this morning surprised the world with an unexpected "Self Service Repair" program, which is designed to allow customers access to genuine Apple parts, tools, and manuals for making their own device repairs.
Giving customers this kind of unprecedented access to repair guidelines and hardware is a major win for Right to Repair advocates, and we're starting to hear from repair outlets pleased with Apple's decision.
Well-known device repair and teardown site iFixit says that its team is "excited" about the news, and hopeful that Apple will be providing customers with the same information that it gives to Apple Authorized Service Providers.
iFixit points out that Apple's decision invalidates many of the arguments that it has been making against the Right to Repair movement for years because Apple is acknowledging that repairs can be done without harm to consumers or their devices. Apple has previously argued that customers could injure themselves by accidentally puncturing a battery during a device repair, which is apparently no longer a concern. "We're thrilled to see Apple admit what we've always known: Everyone's enough of a genius to fix an iPhone," reads iFixit's coverage of Apple's announcement.
Kyle Wiens, iFixit founder and CEO, said on Twitter that Apple's decision marks a "total shift in perspective" and that there's hope that this is a step toward making devices last longer.
Apple’s announcement may seem like a small thing: they’re going to publish free manuals and sell parts to their customers. But it’s a total shift in perspective. It’s an agreement that this is a partnership. We’re on Starship Earth together cruising through the universe together. — Kyle Wiens (@kwiens) November 17, 2021
While this is a major step forward, iFixit points out that there are a number of unknowns and caveats. It's unlikely that Apple is going to allow customers to use parts that are sourced from somewhere other than the online store Apple is building, and the ready availability of official parts could see Apple further lock down iPhone components through serialization, restricting the use of third-party parts or parts salvaged from other iPhones.
Other repair advocates agree that Apple's move is a win for Right to Repair, but there's more to be done. iFixit says it will keep fighting for laws that will "keep Apple and other manufacturers honest," while the Right to Repair Coalition, which represents several repair shops and trade groups, said this is "far off" from the requirements of Right to Repair, but shows legislators are on the right track if Apple has been spooked into allowing for customer repairs.
Big cave by Apple, but the devil is in the details. This is far off the requirements of #righttorepair but proves that legislators are on the right track making similar requirements more broadly. https://t.co/Ms99LIgwcc — Right to Repair (@RepairCoalition) November 17, 2021
Nathan Proctor, who heads up the Right to Repair campaign with the United States Public Interest Research Group, called Apple's move a "huge milestone" for Right to Repair, while repair advocate Kevin O'Reilly called it a "huge win," but said concrete reforms are still needed.
"This is a huge milestone for the Right to Repair. One of the most visible opponents to repair access is reversing course, and Apple’s move shows that what repair advocates have been asking for was always possible." https://t.co/JGGexMt2qD — U.S. PIRG (@uspirg) November 17, 2021
Indie shops do not have full access to repair materials. Parts are still going to be serialized to individual devices. And there’s other OEMs making devices (*cough* John Deere *cough*) that we cannot fix. 5/ — Kevin O'Reilly (@kevin_oreilly7) November 17, 2021
Apple's Self Service Repair program will launch in early 2022 in the United States, and it will start with Apple making repair components available to iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 owners. Apple plans to expand to additional countries throughout 2022, and will also work to support more repairs and more devices over time.
Top Rated Comments
If you're not comfortable with nylon probe tools (spudger or what Apple calls a "black stick"), ZIF connectors, pentalobe screws and really small, fragile ribbon cables... have someone else fix your expensive Apple product for the same money. Much less headache.
Good, but kind of hypocritical, In the end many will forget that it was due to the Louis Rossmann’s of the world that things changed, many forum members will claim here and now that Apple is brilliant and only applaud Apple and think their wisdom got us this, the same people that argued that some will never sell parts because it’s economically stupid. I don’t care about these type of disciples.
Most importantly: if it happens it will be a good thing. Pricing will be super interesting and potentially a rip-off, we’ll see!
Oh and by the way, this doesn’t mean that their products become more repair friendly, they might just claim people lack the skill if they complain about unnecessary degree of fiddling. But maybe it’ll create more pressure for actually good repassier friendly design too ?
It’s a start and I like the direction this is going. I hope sustainability and longevity of products might also lead to upgradable designs again, I have hope and i wish Apple had more courage in this regard. I’m confident the company’s reputation would go through the roof if they’d ACTUALLY acted boldly on sustainability, I’m willing to bet they’d make even more money than they do now if they didn’t glue but screw and made SSDs upgradable etc.
Often the reason for going to 3rd party repair is the outrageous costs of Apple service and genuine parts.
Our reputation, ratings, and licensing status is based on the quality of our work. Your post insulting the quality of work our team does here is based on nothing.
If it's made available to me, it should be made available to you. Fair is fair. In each bill I testify in favor of, or lobby on behalf of, I ask they make available to consumers the same that is made available to me. I do not advocate for a world where I am able to buy a manual/schematic/part/tool/chip as a repair shop that you cannot buy as an end user of that device.
For my own business, I do the same. The parts I use I make available ('https://store.rossmanngroup.com/x5-isl9239.html'), and the knowledge I have I make available, via repair.wiki ('https://repair.wiki/w/A1706_2016-2017_13%E2%80%9D_Touchbar_MacBook_Pro'), 600+ educational videos ('//www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkVbIsAWN2lsHdY7ldAAgtJug50pRNQv0'), or our 150+ page instructional guide on board repair ('http://bit.ly/2k6uz84').