Apple's Independent iPhone Repair Program Adds More U.S. Locations and Expands to Canada and Europe

[MacRumors]

Apple today announced that over 140 more repair businesses are now participating in its Independent Repair Provider Program in the United States. The program, launched in August 2019, is also being expanded to Canada and Europe.

The program allows independent repair shops like uBreakiFix to offer certified out-of-warranty service for iPhones, such as display and battery replacements. Participating businesses receive access to the same Apple genuine parts, tools, training, repair manuals, and diagnostics as Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers.

Independent repair shops need to have an Apple-certified technician who can perform the repairs to qualify for the program. Apply here.

"When a customer needs a repair, we want them to have a range of options that not only suits their needs but also guarantees safety and quality so their iPhone can be used for as long as possible," said Apple COO Jeff Williams.

To verify that a company participates in the program, visit this page.

Article Link: Apple's Independent iPhone Repair Program Adds More U.S. Locations and Expands to Canada and Europe

 

[chrixxa]

any independent repair shop would be screwing themselves to take part in this. A sticker on the wall that says you are part of this program doesn't mean as much as Apple hopes it would after you factor in the cost of Apple parts and the immense restrictions and invasion of privacy you must agree to, even AFTER you leave the program. Take away the crazy agreements you must comply with and you might just have something, assuming the parts are also made more competitive than they currently are via this program. For instance if the screen was only SLIGHTLY more than a third party, it would make sense. In its current form this program is not as desirable as it would seem on the surface.

 

[JohnnieBBadde]

Do these "independent but authorized" repair shops still have to collect the customers' details and send 'em to Apple?

 

[needsomecoffee]

Please actively support all Right to Repair efforts. Contact your representatives on this one. Sorry Apple, your opposition to RtR is wrong.

 

[boswald]

Do these "independent but authorized" repair shops still have to collect the customers' details and send 'em to Apple?

I’m an Apple guy through-and-through, and even I think Louis is a hero.

 

[XXPP]

Do these "independent but authorized" repair shops still have to collect the customers' details and send 'em to Apple?

Rossman is greatest Apple hater on the world.
[automerge]1594217830[/automerge]

I’m an Apple guy through-and-through, and even I think Louis is a hero.

Hero? He is just a hater.

 

[nvmls]

Do these "independent but authorized" repair shops still have to collect the customers' details and send 'em to Apple?

Haha this video is epic.
[automerge]1594218301[/automerge]

Hero? He is just a hater.

You are too smart clearly. God blessed you.

 

[nikusak]

Please actively support all Right to Repair efforts. Contact your representatives on this one. Sorry Apple, your opposition to RtR is wrong.

Apart from a tiny but vocal bubble in the internet, practically nobody has any capability or desire to repair anything by themselves.

(Yet again a perfect example of something that people on reddit, MR etc. are unable to understand.)

If you buy an iPhone, you need to replace the battery probably once or in worst case twice during its lifetime of 5-6 years.

Just take it authorised service.

Also, is someone stopping you from repairing your phone yourself now?

Batteries and displays are available, as are tools. But I don’t understand why anyone would want to do it by themselves.

 

[rezenclowd3]

any independent repair shop would be screwing themselves to take part in this. A sticker on the wall that says you are part of this program doesn't mean as much as Apple hopes it would after you factor in the cost of Apple parts and the immense restrictions and invasion of privacy you must agree to, even AFTER you leave the program. Take away the crazy agreements you must comply with and you might just have something, assuming the parts are also made more competitive than they currently are via this program. For instance if the screen was only SLIGHTLY more than a third party, it would make sense. In its current form this program is not as desirable as it would seem on the surface.

Agreed. As a previous service manager to a PSP (Premium Service Provider) via Apple, the majority of my time was wasted figuring out how to get paid via Apple for Warranty repairs. Out of warranty made money, but any upgrades were out of the question, and we could not set our rates. Though we did it anyway, our Apple rep told us to hide the RAM and SSDs when he came in for inspection. For the warranty, it was 1.1 parts per repair, which is a good stat to maintain, however depending on location in the us, going above that for a problem computer could devastate your income from Apple. They would pay 175% of their rate if your metrics were in that range. However it went down drastically from there, so a couple jobs could screw your warranty payout. On top of that, working around it wasn't hard, just enough time to be wasted. Then you had to get so many "reviews" submitted to Apple without asking for them. If you got your metrics right, but enough people didn't submit reviews via the random selection Apple sent out to your customers, you may lose your PSP status. Sorry Alaska mac repair store, you can't be a PSP because you don't have enough customers......

Anyway, the 175% payout was still ~60% lower than we had to charge to stay in business. You can't make $20 on a repair when the company needs $140/hr/tech

 

[nikusak]

Please actively support all Right to Repair efforts. Contact your representatives on this one. Sorry Apple, your opposition to RtR is wrong.

It’s practically impossible to make devices like AirPods or Apple Watch repairable by even the most expert “consumer”. There is so much stuff packed into tiny space.

It is possible if you are willing to accept an Apple Watch the size of a pack of cigarettes, or insanely large AirPods. No thanks.

The same applies largely to the iPhone too. Crazy amount of tech in tiny space, combined with waterproofing etc. It will never be repairable by “consumers”, without compromises (bulk, smaller batteries etc.) which annoy 99% of consumers.

(Funnily, according to iFixit iPhones get pretty much the best repairability scores, although it’s always Apple who gets the bad rap. Total silence regarding Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus etc. Nobody cares.)

 

[chrixxa]

It’s practically impossible to make devices like AirPods or Apple Watch repairable by even the most expert “consumer”. There is so much stuff packed into tiny space.

It is possible if you are willing to accept an Apple Watch the size of a pack of cigarettes, or insanely large AirPods. No thanks.

The same applies largely to the iPhone too. Crazy amount of tech in tiny space, combined with waterproofing etc. It will never be repairable by “consumers”, without compromises (bulk, smaller batteries etc.) which annoy 99% of consumers.

(Funnily, according to iFixit iPhones get pretty much the best repairability scores, although it’s always Apple who gets the bad rap. Total silence regarding Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus etc. Nobody cares.)

I'm assuming this means you do not do repairs. Because iPhones probably are the easiest out there to work on. The apple watch is fairly repairable, and there can be certain repairs done to airpods, depending on the type of damage.

Most repairs do not require a microscope or the tiny tools you may imagine, but Micro-soldering is a thing. And I'm certified to do it.

I have personally repaired somewhere in the neighborhood of 20,000 apple devices myself, but i work for an extremely busy independent repair depot.

There is a HUGE aftermarket repair community out there, and i'm concerned that you don't know about it.

 

[ocnitsa]

Apart from a tiny but vocal bubble in the internet, practically nobody has any capability or desire to repair anything by themselves.

(Yet again a perfect example of something that people on reddit, MR etc. are unable to understand.)

If you buy an iPhone, you need to replace the battery probably once or in worst case twice during its lifetime of 5-6 years.

Just take it authorised service.

Also, is someone stopping you from repairing your phone yourself now?

Batteries and displays are available, as are tools. But I don’t understand why anyone would want to do it by themselves.

My iphone 6S has needed 4 battery replacements. I have repaired the screen once myself. I would prefer to avoid the time and money of taking it to an authorized service, such as Best Buy, for which I had to replace the battery again within a year. I apologize for being tiny and vocal.

 

[jonblatho]

Apart from a tiny but vocal bubble in the internet, practically nobody has any capability or desire to repair anything by themselves.

And it should be their right to do so with a product they bought, whether that’s to prolong its lifespan — which is objectively better for the environment than even the most environmentally friendly manufacturing processes that Apple loves to brag about — or as a hobby.

 

[nylonsteel]

picture reminds me of my grade school days building model kits - minus the mask and gloves
actually i should have wore mask and gloves with all the paints and solvents i handled

 

[needsomecoffee]

You either work for Apple PR, or have an extraordinarily ignorant understanding of the limitations imposed by denying people who buy and use hardware to make a living the Right to Repair their hardware. Hopefully you will at some point end up having your livelihood dependent on getting 1000 acres of wheat harvested with a John Deere tractor that fails with a known, user repairable issue at the beginning of the day when the local Deere technician is not available to do the work/provide the part for you. Good luck. Deying people options is never good. You can always go to Apple for repairs. Farmers often cannot wait for JD.

Apart from a tiny but vocal bubble in the internet, practically nobody has any capability or desire to repair anything by themselves.

(Yet again a perfect example of something that people on reddit, MR etc. are unable to understand.)

If you buy an iPhone, you need to replace the battery probably once or in worst case twice during its lifetime of 5-6 years.

Just take it authorised service.

Also, is someone stopping you from repairing your phone yourself now?

Batteries and displays are available, as are tools. But I don’t understand why anyone would want to do it by themselves.

 

[madrigal77]

This is a great program.... if you no longer want to own your business, and lose most of your profits.

 

[Johnny907]

Rossman is greatest Apple hater on the world.
[automerge]1594217830[/automerge]

Hero? He is just a hater.

Except he backs up his “hate” with accurate facts. Sorry they don’t put Apple in the best light but facts are facts.

 

[Johnny907]

Apart from a tiny but vocal bubble in the internet, practically nobody has any capability or desire to repair anything by themselves.

(Yet again a perfect example of something that people on reddit, MR etc. are unable to understand.)

If you buy an iPhone, you need to replace the battery probably once or in worst case twice during its lifetime of 5-6 years.

Just take it authorised service.

Also, is someone stopping you from repairing your phone yourself now?

Batteries and displays are available, as are tools. But I don’t understand why anyone would want to do it by themselves.

I’ve been a tinkerer since I was little, but I didn’t get into repairing iPhones until I broke the screen of my iPhone 4 and about **** myself when I got the repair quote from Apple. I complained about it online in one of the sci-fi forums I was a member of back then and someone asked why I didn’t just repair it myself. I hadn’t even considered it to be honest, but after doing some research I found parts to be readily available in options even Apple didn’t offer. By the time I was finished not only was the broken screen replace, but my phone became this sick dark metallic blue conversation starter. Since then I’ve been repairing phones for friends and family members. Generally I source used official Apple parts because brand new parts are hard to come by and more often than not tend to be knockoffs regardless of claims. The only part I always buy brand new are batteries, which I’ve been able to source from an OEM and is the one part I never take any chances on given the potential drawbacks otherwise. The most recent repair was for my wife’s XS, the camera of which had started to show these strange burn-in looking spots which apparently are common for that specific part batch and are a symptom of the sensor failing internally. Apple’s quote started at 200 bucks despite the fact this was clearly a part failure and not user caused damage. I was able to find a high quality used sensor for 60 bucks, and with a ten dollar replacement screen gasket finished the repair in about an hour for a little over a third as much money as Apple wanted. This is why Right to Repair matters. Fixing your phone should no more complicated than fixing your own car, but can you imagine how the world would react if tomorrow Honda said you could only replace your tires with Honda sourced parts at Honda quoted prices, and doing otherwise would immediately disable your entire car? That is the nonsense Apple has been pulling to worse and worse degrees over the years, and though it is complete BS there is always someone like you more than ready to make excuses for them. I have to wonder if you are indeed on someone’s payroll as was mentioned above, as why else would you take such a user-unfriendly stance?

 

[cbusbuck]

Do these "independent but authorized" repair shops still have to collect the customers' details and send 'em to Apple?

I wonder... Maybe Apple is stealing all of your data and sending it to the national security establishment when your computer goes in for repair. Maybe that was the under-the-table arrangement with the FBI and NSA. Or am I too jaded?

 

[MacSERV]

I’ve been a tinkerer since I was little, but I didn’t get into repairing iPhones until I broke the screen of my iPhone 4 and about **** myself when I got the repair quote from Apple. I complained about it online in one of the sci-fi forums I was a member of back then and someone asked why I didn’t just repair it myself. I hadn’t even considered it to be honest, but after doing some research I found parts to be readily available in options even Apple didn’t offer. By the time I was finished not only was the broken screen replace, but my phone became this sick dark metallic blue conversation starter. Since then I’ve been repairing phones for friends and family members. Generally I source used official Apple parts because brand new parts are hard to come by and more often than not tend to be knockoffs regardless of claims. The only part I always buy brand new are batteries, which I’ve been able to source from an OEM and is the one part I never take any chances on given the potential drawbacks otherwise. The most recent repair was for my wife’s XS, the camera of which had started to show these strange burn-in looking spots which apparently are common for that specific part batch and are a symptom of the sensor failing internally. Apple’s quote started at 200 bucks despite the fact this was clearly a part failure and not user caused damage. I was able to find a high quality used sensor for 60 bucks, and with a ten dollar replacement screen gasket finished the repair in about an hour for a little over a third as much money as Apple wanted. This is why Right to Repair matters. Fixing your phone should no more complicated than fixing your own car, but can you imagine how the world would react if tomorrow Honda said you could only replace your tires with Honda sourced parts at Honda quoted prices, and doing otherwise would immediately disable your entire car? That is the nonsense Apple has been pulling to worse and worse degrees over the years, and though it is complete BS there is always someone like you more than ready to make excuses for them. I have to wonder if you are indeed on someone’s payroll as was mentioned above, as why else would you take such a user-unfriendly stance?

Great story, isn't it awesome being self-reliant? Let's take your automotive analogy even further. Imagine if you had your car towed to the dealer because it "wouldn't start". The service technician tests the battery, determines that's not the problem, and then proceeds to tell you that your only option is to have the entire engine replaced...for like $8k (for a 3 or 4 year old car). And when you ask about getting it fixed by a third party, they tell you that no one else out there can fix it.

This is EXACTLY what happens when you bring a MacBook Pro to the Genius Bar. If it's not the battery, it's almost always the logic board. Say goodbye to $1400 for a logic board swap because they don't have the ability (or desire) to troubleshoot and replace that 10 cent capacitor that shorted and took out your system. The added bonus using this "swap out" method? Your data is GONE. Same with iPhone repairs, and any other device with soldered-on flash storage. And to then lie to your customers by saying there is no way to retrieve your data...now that's just evil.

 

[Wanted797]

Apart from a tiny but vocal bubble in the internet, practically nobody has any capability or desire to repair anything by themselves.

(Yet again a perfect example of something that people on reddit, MR etc. are unable to understand.)

If you buy an iPhone, you need to replace the battery probably once or in worst case twice during its lifetime of 5-6 years.

Just take it authorised service.

Also, is someone stopping you from repairing your phone yourself now?

Batteries and displays are available, as are tools. But I don’t understand why anyone would want to do it by themselves.

Imagine you own a car that needs a new battery. You go to the auto shop buy one and put it in yourself. Or you pay roadside or any mechanic to do it.

Now imagine if Ford said you have to come to them directly and pay them to do it and they’re going to charge you a higher price...

 

[rezenclowd3]

Imagine you own a car that needs a new battery. You go to the auto shop buy one and put it in yourself. Or you pay roadside or any mechanic to do it.

Now imagine if Ford said you have to come to them directly and pay them to do it and they’re going to charge you a higher price...

To be fair, Apple charges way less labor per job than any shop able to survive and provide A+ service. However if you are a shop that only swaps whole parts like logic boards, Apple still has the upper hand like for like usually, unless you provide used parts....

 

[Wanted797]

To be fair, Apple charges way less labor per job than any shop able to survive and provide A+ service. However if you are a shop that only swaps whole parts like logic boards, Apple still has the upper hand like for like usually, unless you provide used parts....

Apple has the upper hand on parts and service because they refuse to provide schematics and parts to 3rd parties.