‘A turning point for consumer rights’: Apple takes major step to make iPhone repairs cheaper
Apple has long been criticized for its closed-door approach to product repairs, but the company’s latest political move could soon make it much easier (and cheaper) to repair broken iPhones or MacBooks outside official Apple stores.
In the US, the Right to Repair law was created with the intention of forcing technology companies to provide consumers with the tools needed to easily repair expensive technology products. The state of California β where Apple is based β passed this bill in 2018, but Apple and other manufacturers have resisted its progress for years.
But now β in a surprising U-turn β Apple has decided to support California’s Right to Repair bill, which could soon open up a much more competitive Apple repair market and ultimately make iPhone and MacBook repairs cheaper. consumers.
According to i fix it CEO Kyle Wiens, Apple’s change of mind represents “a turning point for consumer rights,” with other tech companies expected to follow the iPhone maker’s lead in due course.
βIt feels like the Berlin Wall of tech repair monopolies is starting to crumble, brick by brick,β Wiens said in a statement.
Once the bill is passed β at least in California β the Right to Repair Act will require manufacturers of products costing more than $99.99 to make parts, tools, and repair diagnostics readily available seven years after the point of manufacture.
In other words: the bill will ensure that consumers are not left with peace of mind when an expensive technical product reaches the end of the warranty period.
In fairness to Apple, the company already offers much better long-term support for its products than many other tech companies. iPhones, for example, are typically supported by Apple for up to five years after being officially discontinued, and the company has launched its own iPhone. Self-service repair program in 2021.
However, the right to repair bill is designed to give consumers even more freedom to perform potentially expensive tech repairs themselves, or to take their broken products to third-party repair companies like iFixit. The logic is simple: if Apple parts are more readily available in stores other than Apple’s, the price of those parts will fall.
We’re not yet sure how Apple’s latest political turnaround will affect customers in regions like the UK or Australia, but with the EU is taking similar steps in Europeit’s only a matter of time before iPhone repairs get cheaper all over the world.