Apple on Wednesday followed plans to begin publicly releasing repair manuals for some of its products, in addition to selling parts and tools online. The goal, according to the company, is to allow iPhone owners an alternative way to repair their devices.
The new program of the technology giant, called Self Service Repair, begins for customers in the United States with the line of smartphones Apple Apple 13, iPhone 12 and the new iPhone SE. Apple said it designed the program to offer adventurous and capable people access to the same parts, tools and instructions it gives to its own certified technicians and partner services, hoping to make it easier for people to repair devices instead of resorting to buying a new one. .
“We believe we have a responsibility to provide customers and the environment with convenient access to safe, reliable and secure repairs to help customers get the most out of their devices,” the company said in a statement released Wednesday, outlining its plans.
Apple’s do-it-yourself program comes at a time when it and the larger technology industry are under pressure to allow people to choose to repair their devices at home at a lower cost, an idea often called the Right to Repair.
The larger movement for the right to amendment has been gaining momentum in the last few years. This has become a popular topic on social media sites, including through videos of technologically influential people teaching people how to fix various devices. U.S. lawmakers and voters are increasingly considering and passing laws that are forcing companies to change their approach as well, particularly by publishing repair manuals and giving customers access to diagnostic tools for the products they buy.
In 2020, voters in Massachusetts passed a law forcing carmakers to allow third parties access to previously locked vehicle data. Less than a year later, in 2021, President Joe Biden signaled support for the right to amend when he signed an executive order asking the Federal Trade Commission to consider rules that would make it difficult for companies to restrict how people can repair their devices.
Meanwhile, some of the biggest players in the technology industry have spent the last year offering their own repair programs. Companies including Google, Samsung, HTC and Microsoft have announced partnerships with the popular online repair site iFixit to sell parts or tools for some of their devices.
Apple, for its part, will not offer all the spare parts for its devices, focusing instead on common problems such as cracked screens and faulty batteries or cameras. It also incorporates diagnostic tools into its purchasing program to help calibrate and verify new parts if needed. These diagnostic tools will not be provided unless people purchase Apple parts, the company said.
Apple’s program will begin with parts for the iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and iPhone SE. The company plans to expand its program in Europe and offer M1-based Mac parts for repair by the end of the year. Apple has no plans to offer DIY repairs for products made before the iPhone 12, which launched for the first time in 2020.
It’s not fun when the phone screen cracks. It’s not cheap either.
CNET
Repair your device
Since announcing its home repair program, Apple has stressed that most people are likely to be better served by an experienced technician. But for those who believe they can do it themselves, Apple’s self-service repair site will have a copy of the repair manual that the company asks you to read before ordering parts or tools.
To ensure that people have read the correct manual, Apple will include code in the reading that people must enter in their parts order before it can be confirmed. This, Apple said, is one way to ensure that people not only read the manual, but also the correct one, corresponding to the device for which they order parts.
People will be able to buy “genuine Apple parts” that the company says are sold to customers at the same prices as service technicians, which can be more expensive than repairing a cracked phone repair shop in a mall. . Apple said its parts were “designed to meet the same high standards of safety and quality as the parts used in the new products.”
The iPhone 12’s display and screw replacement package, for example, reached $ 269.95, which included the display, screws and replacement adhesives.
Apple will also sell the same tools designed for high-volume repair shops that heat the displays to soften the glue and separate the phones or press the new displays together. However, some of the tools cost hundreds of dollars, so Apple said it will also offer rental. For the iPhone 12, the set of rental tools will cost $ 49, including shipping.
Customers will get credit back on the final price if they return the broken parts to Apple, the company added. Apple will then either repair or recycle this part, in a continuous effort to create a closed production process.
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