Right to Repair advocates aren't sold on Apple's Self Service Repair program
Right to repair advocates and organizations say that the launch of Apple's new Self Service Repair program is a great step, but added that there are still "too many hoops to jump through."
Apple Repair Program
Nathan Proctor, the right to repair campaign director of the U.S. Public Research Interest Research Group, said that the organization is "really pleased to see" the new program. The U.S. PIRG previously gave Apple an "F" score for its difficult product repairs.
The U.S. PIRG director added that Apple's program is a sign that Right to Repair its "breaking through." However, he said that the iPhone maker is still exerting too much control over the process.
"While this is a start, there are still too many hoops to jump through to fix phones. As it's becoming clear that Apple and other manufacturers can give us the Right to Repair, we should require them to," Proctor said. "And we should have more options. Not just one set of parts. Not just a few manufacturers. No product should be tossed in the scrap heap, wasting money and adding to our toxic electronic waste problem, because the manufacturer doesn't properly support repair."
Similarly on Wednesday, the repair experts at iFixit praised Apple's program as a good first step, stating that "anything that enables more people to do repairs is great news." However, iFixit noted that the company is still "doubling down on their parts pairing strategy, enabling only very limited, serial number-authorized repairs."
"While it's a great step for repair, and a change of course for the mighty Apple, the program doesn't do what Right to Repair legislation around the world aims to do," iFixit's Elizabeth Chamberlain said. "A true right to repair will give independent repair shops a chance to compete in the repair marketplace, bringing down the cost of repairs for everyone."
Apple launched the Self Service Repair program for iPhones earlier on Wednesday, creating a dedicated storefront for ordering iPhone parts and making available a number of repair documents. Similar repair resource access is also coming to the Mac down the road.
Read on AppleInsider
Apple Repair Program
Nathan Proctor, the right to repair campaign director of the U.S. Public Research Interest Research Group, said that the organization is "really pleased to see" the new program. The U.S. PIRG previously gave Apple an "F" score for its difficult product repairs.
The U.S. PIRG director added that Apple's program is a sign that Right to Repair its "breaking through." However, he said that the iPhone maker is still exerting too much control over the process.
"While this is a start, there are still too many hoops to jump through to fix phones. As it's becoming clear that Apple and other manufacturers can give us the Right to Repair, we should require them to," Proctor said. "And we should have more options. Not just one set of parts. Not just a few manufacturers. No product should be tossed in the scrap heap, wasting money and adding to our toxic electronic waste problem, because the manufacturer doesn't properly support repair."
Similarly on Wednesday, the repair experts at iFixit praised Apple's program as a good first step, stating that "anything that enables more people to do repairs is great news." However, iFixit noted that the company is still "doubling down on their parts pairing strategy, enabling only very limited, serial number-authorized repairs."
"While it's a great step for repair, and a change of course for the mighty Apple, the program doesn't do what Right to Repair legislation around the world aims to do," iFixit's Elizabeth Chamberlain said. "A true right to repair will give independent repair shops a chance to compete in the repair marketplace, bringing down the cost of repairs for everyone."
Apple launched the Self Service Repair program for iPhones earlier on Wednesday, creating a dedicated storefront for ordering iPhone parts and making available a number of repair documents. Similar repair resource access is also coming to the Mac down the road.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
And nobody wants to pay their mechanic, plumber, doctor, attorney, or any professional that will fix their problems...
Boo Hoo.
https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/04/27/apple-launches-self-service-repair-service-for-iphones
Following core part return, that makes the battery repair $46.84 for the iPhone 12. The after-return prices for battery repair part swaps for other iPhone models range from $26.11 for the 2022 iPhone SE, to $46.85 for the iPhone 13 Pro Max bundle.
That $46.84 battery replacement cost is cheaper than Apple's own in-store repair charge of $69.
According to AI’s article on repairs vs Genius Bar, it costs $279 for an out of warranty screen repair by a genius, or - wait for it - $285 to do it yourself. That’s clearly nuts. https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/04/27/apples-self-repair-program-vs-genius-bar-what-it-costs-to-fix-an-iphone-13
Admittedly you could potentially take $50 off that if you don’t rent Apple’s toolkit, but you’d still only be saving $45 total for doing all the work and taking all the risk yourself. Which means - looking at it the other way - that we’re supposed to believe that Apple, when they do the repair, are only charging $45 for their time, labour, and guarantee on the work, and the rest is all parts cost… really? Seems like they probably inflated the parts cost to me.
e.g. https://m.aliexpress.com/item/1005003372095236.html