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With an iFixit repairability score or 1-2 out of 10 this will hardly make a difference.
Now if Apple products were designed-for-service instead of designed-for-thinness, then apple would do two great things:
  1. Give consumers choice
  2. Be more environmentally sensitive
Way to go

Every iPhone since the 3G scored either a 6 or a 7 for repairability.
The original iPhone from 2007 is the sole outlier with a score of 2.

iPhones in general are pretty much the most repairable smartphones, except for some niche products.
 
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You’d think Apple would have stronger convictions about their original decisions and statements.

Like other have said, it really doesn't change that much. They're still controlling methods and access which was always the point.
 
Because it doesn't.

The idea of a controversy over "right to repair" is ridiculous.

Of course you have a right to repair your phone, but only at select places and with select people.

I drive a late model Jaguar. Think I can just go into any repair shop and have it fixed?

Nope. I have to take it to a Jaguar dealer or an authorized service provider, because Jaguar limits who has access to equipment, parts and diagnostics.

Apple does the same thing. Why? Because when something is not fixed correctly or there are problems, people inevitably blame Apple in addition to the service provider.

It's a bad experience for everyone, so Apple limits who can tinker with their products so they can control for a positive experience.

It's vetting. That's all it is.

They're rightly suspicious of "Bob's Repair Shop" at a kiosk in the mall, but hey, if Bob wants to service Apple phones, guess what? He is free to do so if he proves he's not going to muck up your $1,000.00 phone.

If Bob is not interested in the vetting process, oh well.

This is such a non-story and a hoax of a controversy, pushed by people like Rossman, OWC and iFixit, because they are prevented from catering to a lucrative segment of the market.

That's all this is about.

Finally, if your argument is "Apple is greedy because they want the repair money themselves!", just stop.

The money they make from repairs is a blip on the radar, a rounding error. It's less than peanuts.

This is all about Apple zealously guarding their brand.

They have a right to do it. Don't like it? Go buy an Android device or a gazillion Windows machines.
 
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I wonder if its a statutory requirement to have greasy hair and to not have had a shave? They have rolled this same photo out to all the IT sites covering this issue, which leads me to presume so.
 
I can see a big problem already.

  • Company gets approved and gets access to Apple components and documents.
  • They get to tell customers (advertise) they are Apple Certified and use genuine parts from Apple and follow Apple repair procedures.
  • Their business goes up because customers see value in someone being officially certified.
  • They start installing third party components because they’re cheaper than Apple components, but they’ll happily use Apple tools to perform the repair.
  • Customers think they have official Apple parts inside without realizing they’ve been defrauded.
  • Since the device is out of warranty, if it fails they’ll likely ever know they were ripped off since it’s unlikely they go back to an Apple Store after going to an independent shop.
I can see rampant fraud with this. I wonder how Apple will deal with it (perhaps mystery shoppers getting devices “repaired” to spot check shops)?
Simple - don’t put all these restrictions in place. Let anyone buy parts. Then you could go buy a new screen or battery and take it to a repair shop if you don’t feel comfortable doing it yourself.
 
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The certification is free.

Apple will freely certify any tech that wants it, without any Apple training? Not according to their website:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205332
https://www.apple.com/support/professional/help-desks/

The exam and the training have fees. They may have changed that, or it may be the certification for the company is free but not the techs.

Once you have a certified tech there are no additional charges to join the program; although I would guess the tools will not be free.
 
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I can remember when people complained about having nowhere to go to get their Apple products serviced. Apple enters the retail business (and is ridiculed by all the "experts" that say it will fail miserably like every other computer vendor's attempts.) Now, Apple, is being chastised for a program they're setting up to allow 3rd parties to repair things.

Most Apple Products would be classified as premium products in their market space. This demands premium service to maintain the position/price level I can't imagine Apple profits from service repair. It's a cost of doing business. Can others do it cheaper? Yes. Can they provide the overall support of Apple's infrastructure? No. Every Apple product repair reflects on Apple whether or not they do it. You're in charge of Apple. Would you build an infrastructure for others to repair your Products? What's the margin on the new business? What's the risk of losing a customer because a repair is not done to spec (that's not to imply people other than Apple can't repair things perfectly. You just need controls in place to protect your brand.)

No one knows how this will work out. I think giving them a chance to succeed or fail is only fair. At the end of the day, you are a consumer. There's nothing requiring you to be loyal to Apple products. There are great offerings from many vendors that may better optimise your needs.
 
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10/10 louis rossmann won't be accepted LOL, too much beef between him and apple
I'm not sure he'd even apply.

Genuine Apple parts, presumably at genuine Apple prices.

Still, a significant step in the right direction.
Of course. They won't give them away for free.

I linked to an official Apple page saying there is a charge for the exam. You linked to an appleinsider.com article with an unsupported claim that it's free. The cost of a worker's time is just a bonus.
The certification as a repair shop is free, as long as you meet the requirements and Apple has no objections whatsoever. One of the requirements is to have a certified technician - and this certification requires you to pass an exam, which is not free. So basically the certification as repair shop is free, getting the prerequisites right isn't. After all, your shop's location doesn't come for free, either.

Your XR could still be out of warranty if Apple has declared it void e.g. because of "water damage" from being used in an environment with high enough humidity to activate their stickers.
If it's out of warranty, certified third parties may repair it.
 
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This is the work of the devil! Only Apple employees should be allowed to repair Apple devices, even if it costs ten times more! They shouldn’t be giving their secret documents to random hobos in the street!
[doublepost=1567100499][/doublepost]
10/10 louis rossmann won't be accepted LOL, too much beef between him and apple
But the hobo who lives on the sidewalk in front of his shop will be.
 
Wrong. The program started in March 2018 and has just been expanded. What “strong legal action” was Apple facing?

You’re going to have to look harder for something to complain about.

PS and maybe read the article before rushing to comment—the certification is free.

Well this story and Apples own press release:

http://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019/08/apple-offers-customers-even-more-options-for-safe-reliable-repairs/

Do not mention anything about an existing programme being expanded, to infer such a thing would mean this programme already exists for independent repair shops right? And again I draw your attention to no mention of this.
So please can you provide some evidence to back your claim up.
[doublepost=1567102377][/doublepost]
Hard to say. I would venture a guess they will require regular training to stay certified.



Perhaps, but shops can also hire techs away from Apple and avoid much of the costs. The challenge for the shop is to offer benefits similar to Apple. No matter how they get certified techs they'll wind up charging more for certified part repairs due to part costs and costs of labor to use them.



Yes, but my guess is only a larger repair shop will be able to afford it. I would also guess Apple will keep a tight eye on parts orders to avoid them leaving out of the back door into the grey market repair business.

Yes that’s true, so the issue is if you go to a third party how much will you be saving. How big of a company would you need to be to get accepted? Guess we won’t know that.
[doublepost=1567102506][/doublepost]
Apple will freely certify any tech that wants it, without any Apple training? Not according to their website:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205332
https://www.apple.com/support/professional/help-desks/

The exam and the training have fees. They may have changed that, or it may be the certification for the company is free but not the techs.

Once you have a certified tech there are no additional charges to join the program; although I would guess the tools will not be free.

Thank you, I really cannot see Apple offering training and materials for free! Plus I am not sure any I.T. Professional exam is free is it? Let alone an Apple one, but who know if someone here can link to the proof it is I’ll be surprised :)
 
Apple certifications are now free of charge to all AASPs worldwide.

That is a copy/paste, but I can't tell you from where.
 
Sounds no different than going to a regular authorised repair location, Louis for example won't be able to replace caps and what not on a board, they will still want one to replace the entire mainboard. It might sound like a good thing, that it allows more access to more folks, but it doesn't seem any different. Guess gotta wait to see how it pans out.

Yep. This isn’t “right to repair.” This is basically a PR stunt that allows their lawyers to say that Apple already sells parts to 3rd parties so nothing needs to change.
 
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Every single lawsuit brought against Apple has been dismissed, and every proposed law has gone nowhere.
The Right to Repair movement has been going on for many years, encompasses more than just phones, and has had wins. And that’s not even taking into account the international actions.
 
Like I said, certification is free.

Don’t try to move the goalposts after you demand a source to back up my post, and I provide it.
https://support.apple.com/irp-program
There is zero mention on “certification is free” on this page, hence I don’t know where those bloggers get their information from. I do see the exam and courses are required for Applicant to be eligible, which comes with a fee. The fee is waived for approved applicant.

So, the conclusion is the certification is NOT FREE.

Update: oh, I saw another post from you. I will do a bit of research to provide more update.

Update 2: Looks like this one is more genuine than a random post by Appleinsider.
https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2019...-even-more-options-for-safe-reliable-repairs/

It does mention certification itself is free, but the aforementioned page mentions required exam and such, which comes with a fee.

Final conclusion: joining this program is not free. Only successful applicant (approved) can have their exam fee waived.
 
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I can see a big problem already.

  • Company gets approved and gets access to Apple components and documents.
  • They get to tell customers (advertise) they are Apple Certified and use genuine parts from Apple and follow Apple repair procedures.
  • Their business goes up because customers see value in someone being officially certified.
  • They start installing third party components because they’re cheaper than Apple components, but they’ll happily use Apple tools to perform the repair.
  • Customers think they have official Apple parts inside without realizing they’ve been defrauded.
  • Since the device is out of warranty, if it fails they’ll likely ever know they were ripped off since it’s unlikely they go back to an Apple Store after going to an independent shop.
I can see rampant fraud with this. I wonder how Apple will deal with it (perhaps mystery shoppers getting devices “repaired” to spot check shops)?

Nowadays, people complain about anything, online; and it goes viral. If it goes viral, Apple investigates. They trace it back to a specific repair shop. Apple takes away that shop's certification. Any reputable repair shop won't take that chance. The sleazy ones will get weeded out.
 
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Source?

"When you register for the certification exams, you can pay with Visa, MasterCard, or American Express."

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205332

wrong. its not free and no where does it say its free. if you check along the links you'll find where to pay.maybe read the article before rushing to comment.:D

But there is a fee to take the exam. You are being taken in by the usual Apple double speak. You are not considered officially certified without passing the exam.

Certification is free if you already have an Apple-certified tech, if not, then it's going to cost you to get that in order

According to this, Apple tech certification exams are done through Pearson VUE. I've taken a few Apple server software certifications, and they've cost money.

Apple will freely certify any tech that wants it, without any Apple training? Not according to their website:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205332
https://www.apple.com/support/professional/help-desks/

The exam and the training have fees. They may have changed that, or it may be the certification for the company is free but not the techs.

Once you have a certified tech there are no additional charges to join the program; although I would guess the tools will not be free.
Thank you, I really cannot see Apple offering training and materials for free! Plus I am not sure any I.T. Professional exam is free is it? Let alone an Apple one, but who know if someone here can link to the proof it is I’ll be surprised :)


Hopefully Apple’s own document will finally clear up any confusion, once and for all.

Certification exams are free:

“Becoming certified to repair Apple products requires passing exams through an online Authorized Testing Center. Certifications are updated on a per product basis annually. The certification exam fees are waived for businesses that have been approved to be an Independent Repair Provider.”

https://support.apple.com/irp-program
 
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Nowadays, people complain about anything, online; and it goes viral. If it goes viral, Apple investigates. They trace it back to a specific repair shop. Apple takes away that shop's certification. Any reputable repair shop won't take that chance. The sleazy ones will get weeded out.

Are they (shady repair shops) getting weeded out now?

When we hear of an iPhone catching fire, what are some of the first comments? “Don’t use third party chargers”, “probably had a battery replaced at an independent shop” or similar.

The problem with repair fraud is the customer will probably never know. And if something does happen it’s not likely they’re going to be able to tell if it was just an accident or the shop scammed them.
 
sounds like repair shops are getting the short end of the stick on this one..

Nowadays, people complain about anything, online; and it goes viral. If it goes viral, Apple investigates. They trace it back to a specific repair shop. Apple takes away that shop's certification. Any reputable repair shop won't take that chance. The sleazy ones will get weeded out.

Everyone has to trust someone. Since Apple makes the phone, and not the repair job, i'd rather trust Apple.

what some get by with "some trust" could just be "slipping through the cracks" just to get it cheaper.

Even in some way "Imports" could be a form of this to, because they bypass the retailer and get it wholesale. I got my imported iPhone 6s Plus right here
 
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