How Apples new DIY fixing service will change your experience
Apple has announced that it will now be selling repair parts directly to the public, with available repair guides. According to a Vice article this will first be available to the iPhone 12 & 13 and soon Mac computers with M1 chips, if all goes to plan Self Service Repair will be available next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022, says apple in its latest press release. The most interesting part about all of this is that you can send your broken pieces back to Apple once you have repaired them, a huge change for apple who has long maintained a repair monopoly on its products and done whatever it could to prevent people from fixing their own devices. They did this by disabling Face ID on iPhone 13s with independently repaired screens and has promised a software fix for the issue. One of many incidents that include going to court with those “unauthorized” to fix apple products and testifying before governing bodies that they simply could never allow users to fix their own products because it is too dangerous for the everyday person. This all may be in response to the Right to Repair movement taking place and consumer rights activists, as well as pressure from the EU’s new law pushing for transparency for customers. However, the fight is not over Repair.org an advocacy group that fights for this exact point we’re initially overjoyed at the news but stated “Holes remain. We don’t know if independent repair providers will be able to buy parts and service information. We don’t know If the pricing to consumers will make sense, nor if consumers will be able to use competitively prices parts from 3rd parties.”
And to follow up,
“Our inner cynic believes that Apple is making these concessions in a clear attempt to forestall legislation. The moment our pressure is off—they have no incentive to remain helpful. Further, legislation isn’t only about Apple—it applies to competitors as well—and into industries outside of consumer electronics. Victory feels great—but reminds us that this is one of the thousands of OEMs that abuse their customers with anti-competitive policies.”