The Self Service Repair program will give customers who are comfortable with the idea of completing their own repairs access to Apple genuine parts, tools, and manuals, starting with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups. The scheme will be introduced in phases, adding more repairs and supported devices over time.
This is a major win for right-to-repair, and I’m very happy Aplpe caved to regulatory, shareholder, and public pressure. Momentum behind right-to-repair has been growing for years now, and it’s satisfying to see it bear fruit. Of course, we’ll have to wait and see if there’s any catch – insane NDAs, crazy high prices, little to no stock – but if not, this could be a model for other companies to follow.
I don’t feel we should give much credit to Apple. We should credit the people that changed the world for the better. They made the difference.
Does this mean apple will be backing off their policy of adding tripwires to the OS to deter independent repairs despite the use of genuine parts?
https://www.ifixit.com/News/52924/the-parts-you-can-and-cant-swap-between-iphone-13-models
https://www.ifixit.com/News/32343/apple-is-locking-batteries-to-iphones-now
https://www.ifixit.com/News/33147/apple-is-discouraging-screen-repair-with-an-iphone-11-genuine-warning
Apple was doing that to force consumers to get their hardware serviced by apple and then coercing them to buy new devices instead of fixing them. This news sounds like a genuine improvement over that, but it isn’t clear to me that they’re truly done with their old tricks.
For example: if one’s device breaks and an owner find an authentic donor board to repair it with, will apple allow that repair or will they keep forcing the owner to buy new repair parts from apple?
Maybe apple really is turning a corner and if so I am glad, but it’s hard to trust a corporation’s true intentions. They may end up trying to maximize the PR value of such a move while taking steps to minimize the efficacy in practice. Hopefully that won’t be the case since it would go against the principals of right to repair.
No; it just means that Apple are forcing independent repairers out of business (by encouraging end consumers to do “self repair” and not pay an independent repairer); and then Apple will return to “no repair” after the independent repairers no longer exist; so that it looks like a win for the principals of right to repair while actually being a long-term disaster – essentially, a “lose a battle to win the war” strategy.
Note: In theory it’s possible that I’m just cynical/pessimistic, and Apple (and Microsoft and Google and…) aren’t just trying to maximize the number of people they screw in their quest for profits.
Brendan,
I don’t think the independent repair shops need to be that worried about DIY repairs for the same reason that car mechanics aren’t that worried about DIY repairs: most owners don’t have the time, skill, expertise, or equipment to do it themselves and many will still want to take it to an expert. But I concede I was assuming that repair shops would be allowed to exercise apple’s self repair service on behalf of the owners needing a repair. If it turns out that apple somehow stipulates that owners are not allowed to exercise their repair rights by taking their phone to another pro, then that also goes against right to repair..
I know what you mean, it’s hard not to assume the worst of a company that has committed itself to fighting owner rights for so long.
This will likely be an extension of Apple’s other PR counter to right to repair, their certified independent repair program, or whatever it’s called. You know, the one that won’t let independent repair shops actually make repairs. The program really only let’s repair shops replace a small set of very expensive pre-assembled “parts” like an entire top case, and the like. These programs are not the win the PR would suggest, but the PR seems to be working…
That’s what Louis said in his youtube. I knew Apple was bad but if you wanted a keyboard replacement they pushed an entire top assembly?? What???
Then there was the con of a discount being applied for giving Apple your old parts instead of being recycled like via Ebay or a repair shop. Your old stuff just went off to the scrapper so Apple could restrict supply and maintain margins. How very progressive and green.
As for all that glue and other design aspects which make laptop repair or upgrade impossible not to mention phones…
You’d think journalists would see through Apple’s PR but it seems they have a dose of rah rah fanboism like Microsoft Insiders. All Apple has to do is fart and they are so dopamine addicted they give Apple gazillions in free advertising then moan about not having enough advertising revenue to fund investigative journalism and editorial independence. Suckers!
“Self service” sounds like it’s still a way to lock out 3rd party repair shops. I wouldn’t praise them yet, especially as Apple knows most people don’t have the time or resources to practice doing these repairs in the first place. The people that actually get good at it for a living are probably still going to be locked out, while Apple takes examples of customers who screwed up their first repair attempt to use to justify locking out repair shops.
My gut feeling is that Apple will force consumers to order the parts themselves and therefore make customers run back-and-forth to the third-party repair shop, back home, back to the repair shop. First an analysis of what is broken, then customer orders the parts, then back to the shop to perform the work.
Maybe Apple will force this path by mandating that customers have to use their personal Apple ID or something for the parts orders to prevent the repair shops from offering the regular all-inclusive service.
You don’t need much friction for people to take the easy option and cave in. Some people will persist but much like badly run local government holding out most will get worn down even if they don’t like it and Apple will be relying on that. Apple are a rich company and lash out on the very best marketers and lawyers. (And this latest dodge reeks of having gone through the marketers and lawyers.) There is no way on this earth Apple management right up to Tim Cook can claim they didn’t know. They did. They do. That decision is on them and with all the grief and reputational damage they are due.
Would a local garage get away with this level of friction making good on a bad repair job? No. A builder? No. So what makes deliberate friction off Apple forgivable? It’s not as if it’s not the first time either.
The first thought in my mind was this was Apple trying to own the whole process while causing repair shops to go bankrupt and head off the global right to repair movement. All the while Apple would be claiming they support right to repair and Apple are the good guys. Ka-ching.
This is why states sign up to international human rights obligations and have laws, regulatory bodies, and access to law and prosecuting authorities.
When it comes to repair or any other form of DIY I wouldn’t underestimate peoples abilities. It is often the case that an amateur can be as good or better than a professional for no other reason than they have the motivation and time on their hands. At the same time many can and do make a mess of things but also remember not all professionals are created equal. Another thing to remember is that all work and no play is very dull. People may want to DIY simply as a hobby or to learn something new. It’s also a way for parents to teach their children self sufficiency or building a relationship with their children or friends through shared activities. Taking the right to DIY away from people makes society more dumb and brittle and stifles innovation and education.
I fear you’re right. It will be interesting to hear Louis Rossman’s take on this.
Apple deserves no credit. They were forced into taking this position and as other have pointed out, they may have a plan in play that still lines their pockets at customers expense. Like many other companies, Apple doesn’t do anything for the benefit of the customer – they’re purely profit motivated, law & courts involved or not.
lol congratulations? this is just lipservice designed to sidestep regulation.
https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/17/22787336/apple-right-to-repair-self-service-diy-reason-microsoft
Heroes like “Lois Rossman” in the right to repaired should not be ignored. He personally got the issue onto major state election ballots and he is now on the list of the John Dere most hated list.
He is not a millionaire, just runs a macbook repair shop on NYC, and he burns like noone else for this particular topic. If you use youtube you can watch him doing free repair shops for macbooks that apple wont repair. (Like pp bus errors, water damage or backligt problems) This dude is giving away his livelyhood to proove a point. People does not send less macbooks to him, but MORE because of the videos. He shows without condescending where others do a crap job.
He is also the person that is the main driver of Right to Repair ballots in the US. And he lacks funds. Donate a quid/eur/sek/usd or whatever you have on hand to get our issue on more US ballots, since that is how you win in the US. More ratified states means the president, congress and senate can do nothing to block it.
(law of the land clause of the constitution and also the supremacy clause as well as the entirety of bills of liberty)
Looks like Apple has another revenue stream. Lol.
If I were Apple, I’d be drooling right now. Not only will they get to make a profit on parts from customers, and not only will they still be in total control of which devices are repairable and which parts can be repaired (by being the supplier), but they get to do it all while pretending to be virtuous. Just like most other forms of corporate virtue signaling these days, it’s just another way to pretend to go along with the current trend while making money. There’s nothing wrong with making money; I just wish they’d be honest about it. At this point, how many people do these companies think they are fooling?
I’ve watched Louis’s response to this and given the issues most people have already spotted and he’s been burned by Apple before of an earlier similar scheme his view is skeptical to say the last.
One thing I will disagree with and it’s a label Louis used is “virtue signalling”. No. There is a different between calculated attempts to thwart best practice and leading statements to indicate future policy direction and support on social issues. The label “virtue signalling” is a label created by the self-styled “radical right” (also known as the alt-right and far right). They also created the label “political correctness” as well as attempting to turn “woke” into a catch all slur. The use of the label “virtue signalling” is lazy thinking when the focus is cynical and manipulative management and lawyers and marketing and accountants playing people. Likewise, if you think the right wing with their dumbed down slogans and dog whistles care about you you’re dreaming. And if you think executives and other staff working at Apple can’t be right wing you’re still dreaming.
I don’t personally think making money is the be all and end all. Sometimes you have to walk away from it. This idea that making money is the number one thing is very corrosive like power for the sake of power.
meth is one hell of a drug
This is a PR stunt that won’t amount to a real change. But you called it a “major win” for the right to repair movement, so I guess the PR worked. :-/
The announcement is clearly trying to make people afraid to repair. Very 1984.
How would you like it if you knew that after you spent 10s or 100s of millions of dollars designing and building one of the world’s best cell phones, that companies will be able to make parts that have 1/1,000th the quality of what you made will be used to replace the great parts that you spent all the time and energy creating.
Now instead of the great product that you built, someone will have dropped their phone or damaged it in some way, and those cheap *****s will take it to a repair place and replace it with crap parts and ruin the experience of the product and then they will try to blame Apple because it doesn’t work as advertised. Think it won’t happen? Just keep this post and refer back to it when 3rd party repairs with crap parts start happening.
Is Apple perfect? No. But I would much prefer Apple parts vs some cheap (as in bad quality) parts being put into my cell phone. If I wanted a piece of **** for a phone, I wouldn’t have bought an iPhone.
And for all you iPhone haters out there, why are you so passionate about hating Apple? For sure they aren’t staying awake at night hating you for not buying an iPhone.
Sabon,
What are you talking about? Your complaints aren’t making much sense… You don’t lose your right to go to apple, it merely entitles you to have the freedom of choice to go somewhere else. That’s what right to repair is all about.
This is big news for 0.0001% of Apple’s customers. The vast majority don’t want to self repair their devices.
Strossen,
It depends if apple is going to allow owners to have their devices repaired by 3rd party professionals. There’s no shortage of demand for repair shops like Louis Rossman’s and one of his gripes is that apple has historically made it all but impossible to get authentic components for repairs. We’ll have to see if apple finally takes right to repair seriously, but if this is not a sham it really could help break apple’s self-created stranglehold on 3rd party repairs. Hopefully apple isn’t going to try to prevent repair shops from obtaining parts on behalf of the owners who need them.