Apple will give independent repair shops the tools to repair iPhones

It will soon be much easier to repair your iPhone. Apple announced Thursday that it was expanding its product repair program. The company plans to provide more independent repair companies with the same tools and manuals as those provided to "Apple Authorized Service Providers."

This is a move that advocates the "right to fix" consumers – who often blame tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft for tightly controlling access to the tools and methods needed to repair or upgrading their electronic components – is a major step forward in the movement.

The extension of Apple's program is limited to repairing businesses in the United States, and some qualifiers are offered. For example, some type of certification is still required before Apple provides the required tools and the company requires that all broken parts collected by independent repair shops be returned to Apple. Even then, many see it as a victory for technology repair companies, as well as for consumers. Kyle Wiens, founder and CEO of iFixit (who also occasionally writes for the Opinion section of WIRED), said that Apple "was finally reacting to the reality that their customers have been facing for years: Apple does not have the ability to handle the volume of repairs generated by their success in the market. "

In a press release, Jeff Williams, chief operating officer of Apple, said Apple was giving these resources to independent repair shops to "better meet the needs of customers."

"When a repair is needed, the customer must have assurance that the repair is done properly. We believe that the safest and most reliable repairs are done by a qualified technician using original parts, "parts tested to Apple's standards, Williams said.

Apple has also officially announced that it will begin to provide some independent repair shops with the same "parts, tools, training, repair manuals and diagnostics" that repair technicians get in approved workshops. These authorized stores include locations such as Apple's own outlets and, more recently, Best Buy. Now, in theory, all A repair shop that goes through the same free 40-hour online certification program will be allowed to perform the same types of repairs.

The new repair certification program will not only provide the hardware components and tools needed to repair iPhones, but also software and diagnostic tools. The latter has become a problem recently, when repair advocates have noticed that replacing the battery of an iPhone XS, XS Max or XR – even with another original Apple battery – had triggered a alert notification in the phone settings. the person performing the repair would have access to certain parts of the software. The right to repair the developers viewed this as hostile to independent repairers and customers.

Show me your guarantee

The new Apple Repair Program has other reservations. According to Apple, it only offers "options for the most common iPhone repairs out of warranty." The "Out of Warranty" clause is worth mentioning because if a person decides to go to one of these independent repair shops, for example, if they do not have an Apple Store or Best Buy nearby With an iPhone under warranty, an independent repair shop can determine its own price, but it may not match the prices normally charged by Apple. Certified independent repair companies are also not required to use genuine Apple parts, although Apple requires them to disclose to the customer whether it is a part supplied by Apple or a part other than Apple.

Independent repair shops that become certified must also return broken or unusable parts to Apple. Nathan Proctor, who heads US PIRG's Right to Repair campaign, says Nathan Proctor, but for other repair shops, "Refurbished parts are a worthwhile activity and can reduce costs. low-cost repair options in other parts of the world, among others. "