Apple Announces Self Service Repair Program, Starting With iPhone 12 and 13

[Sammy in SoCal]

Well congratulations everybody you now have the right to repair. Good luck repairing it on your own. When this rolls out and the pricing for the parts and tools become known then it will be mathematics that will tell us if repairing on our own is more cost-effective or not.

 

[Jambalaya]

Words that spring to mind .... finally, eventually, incredibly !!

 

[Sammy in SoCal]

Who do you turn to when you screw up the repair?

Your mammy

 

[phroggie]

I guess putting all those "I Fixed It" & "Right to Repair" stickers on my tool box finally influenced Apple to change their policy. Yay me!

 

[mnsportsgeek]

How much for a battery replacement kit? If it's $80 at the genius bar, I'll guess $50 for the kit. Great for people who don't have an Apple store nearby and want genuine parts. For me, I doubt the parts only cost will be enticing enough for me to choose that over having Apple do it.

 

[orbital~debris]

Maybe Apple will offer a way for users to send them the old parts so that they can be recycled.

1) Apple: "Following the repair, customers who return their used part for recycling will receive credit toward their purchase."

 

[LeeW]

The clue to this is in the fact they are offering this to consumers. So that $10 part you need will be $149. It's about appearing to be in favour of RTR but profit first. Whatever it costs for the parts that allow you to repair a device will be the same as Apple doing it.

 

[mrochester]

Broken phone, throw it away.

v.s.

Broken phone, fix it and keep it out of a landfill (minus the part you replaced).

Why would you throw away a broken phone now vs getting it fixed?

 

[jonblatho]

I wonder how the folks at iFixit are taking this news.

Probably wonderfully, because they’ve been calling for this for years, even if it’s at their own expense. They may also still be able to provide parts, tools, and guides for more involved/less common repairs that Apple may choose not to include as part of this program.

 

[mrat93]

Would be cool if they gave free/discounted parts to people with AppleCare+. Surely it’s cheaper for Apple to send a free screen with zero labor costs rather than fixing a screen in store for $29.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

Apple likely has data showing there is a net positive revenue $tream.

1. Quash independent repair shops
2. Quash counterfeit parts
3. Reduce trade in fraud of devices repaired with counterfeit parts
4. Increase OEM volume to increase device margins
5. Make regulators go away!

Sounds like a win all around!

 

[Roller]

Providing resources to let people repair their iPhones is different than designing them to be repairable, though there's only so much Apple can do packing so many components in a small space. I did an iPhone repair a few years ago, and dealing with fragile ribbon cables, tiny connectors, and minute screws wasn't easy. But I think this will have a positive impact in companies and other organizations that can assign employees who will be able to get sufficient experience.

 

[mrochester]

Would be cool if they gave free/discounted parts to people with AppleCare+. Surely it’s cheaper for Apple to send a free screen with zero labor costs rather than fixing a screen in store for $29.

Individually, possibly. But Apple need to balance this at a much larger scale. The at home cost may end up being greater if it results in more people needing Apple service after messing up a self-repair.

Apple likely has data showing there is a net positive revenue $tream.

1. Squash independent repair shops
2. Squash counterfeit parts
3. Reduce trade in fraud of devices repaired with counterfeit parts
4. Increase OEM volume to increase device margins
5. Make regulators go away!

Sounds like a win all around!

Don’t you mean quash?

 

[JCCL]

Well congratulations everybody you now have the right to repair. Good luck repairing it on your own. When this rolls out and the pricing for the parts and tools become known then it will be mathematics that will tell us if repairing on our own is more cost-effective or not.

There are many people that are proficient and can easily do the repairs themselves. I'm not one of them, and my preference will be to go to an authorized service provider if needed. But just because I can't do it, it shouldn't mean that others that can should be restricted from doing so.

 

[mrochester]

There are many people that are proficient and can easily do the repairs themselves. I'm not one of them, and my preference will be to go to an authorized service provider if needed. But just because I can't do it, it shouldn't mean that others that can should be restricted from doing so.

No one has ever been restricted from attempting their own repair. This news is just apple making it easier for those people.

 

[tgwaste]

So this shuts up all the right to repair people.. right?

 

[dukebound85]

Hope apple repair prices don’t increase

 

[1madman1]

I'm skeptical. Will belive it when I see it.

Any improvement to repairability is appreciated, but I don't personally care about my iPhone. - Since my first mobile in 1999 I've never had anything other than the battery wear out on a phone.

In any event, should add their actual computing devices - the Macs. They DO fail, frequently. Storage, keyboards and previously GPUs.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

Will belive it when I see it.

You think they have a press release on Apple's own website for a fake service?

 

[Risco]

This could have the opposite effect as there will be more broken phone’s for failed repairs.

 

[James Godfrey]

Consumers: Let us replace our screens without disabling Face ID…

Tim Apple: Hold my beer

 

[Iconoclysm]

im so confused by what Apple 'stands for' and doesnt 'stand for', these days.

It's a flip flop if ever I've seen one

You know, it's been pretty easy to pick up by their own direct messaging that they were looking for a way to make sure genuine parts were available for this sort of thing. Apple has not been anti-repair, but all the FUD around them makes it easy to forget that their own words on this were never anti-repair.

 

[vertsix]

Had to log in and make my first post in a long time for this.

This is huge! I actually thought I was dreaming at first. Hopefully everyone else follows suit, since Apple is in the eyes of the entire technology industry.

 

[Will do good]

Can't wait to see what part prices would be from Apple.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Wait for the price….

Be careful what you wish for. I see this as a positive, but I do know there will be people that will do this avenue to 'save money', and will trash the iPhone. I expect Apple will end up making more money off of botched self-repairs than they would have off of people just taking them in for repair. But if it helps keep stuff out of the bin, I'm good with it.

I had a friend, in university, who moved and wanted to change his locks. I do that every time I move, makes sense. He was asking questions that gave me the feeling he had no idea what he was about to do. We all suggested he hire it done, but no, he had to do it (testosterone poisoning?) and botched it. He ended up locking his wife out of their house because he didn't put the lock together properly, and she, of course, really 'had to go', and ended up having to pee in the garage floor drain. She was understandably furious, and called a locksmith to fix the mess. He also had a lot of questions about replacing a bathroom faucet. He ended up hiring it done. Some people are so smart at some things, and horrifically inept at others. She ended up divorcing him, running away with the tennis instructor at the fitness center they paid for, and he never went to. *shrug*