European Parliament Votes to Support Right to Repair

[MacRumors]

The European Parliament has this week voted to support the recommendations of the EU Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection on the "Right to Repair," including a system of mandatory labelling on consumer electronics to provide explicit information on the repairability and lifespan of products (via iFixit).

The motion will compel the EU Commission to "develop and introduce mandatory labeling, to provide clear, immediately visible and easy-to-understand information to consumers on the estimated lifetime and reparability of a product at the time of purchase." This includes a repair score, akin to the repairability scores assigned by iFixit, being clearly shown on goods at the point of purchase. France is already planning to roll out repairability ratings for smartphones, laptops, and other products from January 2021.

"By adopting this report, the European Parliament sent a clear message: harmonized mandatory labeling indicating durability and tackling premature obsolescence at EU level is the way forward," said French MEP David Cormand.

According to a recent EU survey of public opinion, 77 percent of EU citizens would rather repair their devices than replace them and 79 percent think that manufacturers should be legally obliged to facilitate the repair of digital devices or the replacement of their individual parts.

"We hope this will translate into swift action to bring a mandatory repairability score index for all electricals and electronic products sold across the EU, to help consumers to shop with confidence," said Ugo Vallauri, Co-Founder of the Restart Project and the European Right to Repair Campaign

Apple has repeatedly been criticized for disproportionate repair prices, such as the $79 fee to service the $99 HomePod mini, and arbitrary limits on repairs, such as barring repair of the iPhone 12's camera without access to Apple's proprietary cloud-linked System Configuration app.

Yesterday, the UK Parliament's Environmental Audit Committee published a report chastising Apple for contributing to a "throwaway culture" of "short-lived products."

The EU motion is likely to encourage a range of repair-friendly policies and product disclosures, but this will be contingent on the European Commission legislating to bring them into effect.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: European Parliament Votes to Support Right to Repair

 

[Jbusick7944]

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.

 

[justperry]

Apple should stand behind its products with a minimum 3 year warranty, i
I find it absurd that a giant company like Apple has only a 1 year warranty.

I applaud the EU for this, lots of things are glued in now, nearly impossible to repair, and then there are absurd RAM prices, RAM should be removable and replaceable by the user.

 

[chabig]

"According to a recent EU survey of public opinion, 77 percent of EU citizens would rather repair their devices than replace them"

According to my own survey of EU public opinion, 77 percent are clueless about modern electronics. Apparently they'd rather go back to the days of cell phones the size of shoe boxes.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

They would be better putting this effort into educating people about not throwing perfectly usable or repairable technology in a drawer, or in a skip.

Most consumers won't pay attention to how repairable something is - I'm a technical person and I wouldn't give two hoots about the score, I'll pay someone else to fix it for me either through warranty or service provider. Apple makes both of those easy.

 

[NightFox]

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.

But don't you think there's benefits to having a system whereby consumers would be able to know in advance how repairable products will be to allow them to make informed choices, as is being suggested here?

This isn't just targetted at Apple or phones - if I buy a new washing machine, I know that there's certain components that will probably wear out after a few years. Having this sort of information would mean I could choose a washing machine that I knew I could easily replace those parts on rather than end up with one with a sealed unit that cost more to replace than a new machine.

 

[djphat2000]

I'm pretty sure you can't tell a company how to manufacture a product they produce. You can't force them to design something that is easier to repair by "law". Your free to make whatever you want so long as it complies with safey and it's not toxic or something like that. You can't make Apple or anyone make a product that is repairable.

 

[TheIguana]

Apple should stand behind its products with a minimum 3 year warranty, i
I find it absurd that a giant company like Apple has only a 1 year warranty.

I think we have lost our way in the design ethos of late that priorities ease of use and durability, while necessitating products that are ultimately disposable and difficult to repair.

We can and should demand better! Extending the warranty on something that ultimately can't easily be repaired because design decisions dictated it that way doesn't make the product any better.

 

[Manzanito]

"According to a recent EU survey of public opinion, 77 percent of EU citizens would rather repair their devices than replace them"

According to my own survey of EU public opinion, 77 percent are clueless about modern electronics. Apparently they'd rather go back to the days of cell phones the size of shoe boxes.

You are aware this is not about phones only, right?

 

[DanielDD]

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.

Not stupid. Read the bill. It does not require any manufacturer to sell repairable products or the toolkits to repair them. It does require labelling products according to repairability score. This is good. Access to consistent and transparent information is good for the consumer.
This labelling thing is not new. We also have it, for instance, for energy efficiency, or for nutritional information. What is wrong with this? You can choose to ignore them. You can choose to make more informed decisions.

 

[bruinsrme]

I still wish I worked at an apple store. Nothing made my day more than people trying to save money and having a kiosk or DIY repair only to come into the store with a non-functioning phone and blaming apple or looking for a free repair.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Sad that Apple's M1 based macs are a shot across the bow of 'self repair', and upgrade.

You either buy big, or you suffer. Like the MacBook Pro I have that is suffering running video intensive programs, and I can't upgrade the memory because Apple decided it was going to sell it as a closed box, no upgrades. So it's a dead end. It'll be still viable if I could upgrade it. With the M1 having the RAM literally on the chip, it gets even worse, right? I don't think there is an excuse for doing this to customers...

Right to repair, and Right to upgrade!

EDIT: How much does someone want to bet there is a 'secret serial number' in the M1, and if you dare to infringe on Apple's profit margin by swapping the SOC to get more memory, you get hammered. I'll bet there is, and if not, there will be.

Watching that video on the iPhone 12's makes Apple look like THE most anti consumer corporation on the planet.

To swap mother boards, and have each phone declare their new habitat UNVERIFIABLE is OBNOXIOUS!!!

To defend such heinousness is tragic. So, are the M1's soldered in? Has anyone bought two different memory capacities, swapped the SOC's, and suffered the Wrath Of Apple Profit.

 

[gaximus]

This seems like a win for Apple, if all they have to do is label how hard it is to repair. All they have to do is just label everything as impossible to repair, so they can justify their repair prices.

 

[chabig]

You are aware this is not about phones only, right?

Phones are just an example. It says in the article, "...a system of mandatory labelling on consumer electronics..."

 

[DeanL]

"According to a recent EU survey of public opinion, 77 percent of EU citizens would rather repair their devices than replace them"

According to my own survey of EU public opinion, 77 percent are clueless about modern electronics. Apparently they'd rather go back to the days of cell phones the size of shoe boxes.

You're the perfect example of why this law needs to exist.
The fact that you cannot imagine phones that are not the size of shoe boxes but still highly repairable shows that Apple's brainwashing has been successful.
What you probably do not understand is that repairability is not in the economic interests of companies like Apple, so of course they'll make you believe that modern phones and repairability are mutually exclusive when they aren't...

 

[NBAasDOGG]

Apple should stand behind its products with a minimum 3 year warranty, i
I find it absurd that a giant company like Apple has only a 1 year warranty.

I applaud the EU for this, lots of things are glued in now, nearly impossible to repair, and then there are absurd RAM prices, RAM should be removable and replaceable by the user.

It is and always was 2 YEARS of warranty in EU!

 

[fabian9]

I'm pretty sure you can't tell a company how to manufacture a product they produce. You can't force them to design something that is easier to repair by "law". Your free to make whatever you want so long as it complies with safey and it's not toxic or something like that. You can't make Apple or anyone make a product that is repairable.

The intention is to mark products with a repairability score and expected lifetime. None of those two things “telling a company how to manufacture a product they produce”.

It’s an effort to give the consumer a better idea of how long they may be able to use their shiny new toy and if they may be able to repair it in the future or are more likely to have to replace it.

 

[Appleman3546]

Glad that consumers will be given more information before they choose. Maybe now design will drift back to repairability slightly to boost the score

 

[chabig]

You're the perfect example of why this law needs to exist.
The fact that you cannot imagine phones that are not the size of shoe boxes but still highly repairable shows that Apple's brainwashing has been successful.
What you probably do not understand is that repairability is not in the economic interests of companies like Apple, so of course they'll make you believe that modern phones and repairability are mutually exclusive when they aren't...

There are more than 10 billion transistors in the CPU. Which ones do you think you can replace? On modern iPhones, the batteries and screens are already replaceable. Certainly you aren't going to replace individual components on the circuit boards.

This feels a lot like California's Proposition 65

1986 California Proposition 65 - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[GeoStructural]

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.

The first word of your post applies perfectly to your line of thought.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

But don't you think there's benefits to having a system whereby consumers would be able to know in advance how repairable products will be to allow them to make informed choices, as is being suggested here?

This isn't just targetted at Apple or phones - if I buy a new washing machine, I know that there's certain components that will probably wear out after a few years. Having this sort of information would mean I could choose a washing machine that I knew I could easily replace those parts on rather than end up with one with a sealed unit that cost more to replace than a new machine.

I've got an ancient Maytag stackable, and the water valve misbehaved. (I opened the door and was greated by a full drum tsunami of water, and just missed it all emptying on the floor by a millisecond) Parts are readily available for them, so that is great, but the danged thing is not made to be repaired easily. Plus it's a Made in America POS!

The first failure was the main system board. Apparently it had some water drip on it, as it was originally assembled without a water shield. Only a lazy company would put a bare board in the bottom of a washing machine without a damn water cover! Odd that the replacement came with a cover, it's basically a Tupperware box! And the water valve? It's over a foot long, and there are two ways to fix it, dig everything out through the front, or try to pass that thing out of the 5"x5" square hole in the back (or remove the dryer from the top which is so much worse on so many levels). It took me over an hour to get to the point where I was supposed to be able to fix it through the front, and it wasn't going to happen without crawling inside it, so I tried the back method. It was a pain, but I got it done, with only half a dozen cuts from the sharp metal case. Right to repair has to include provisions for 'designed to repair'. Having to go through all that to swap out a water valve was horrific and abusive! I'm just glad it worked.

I don't have a problem taking things apart to fix them. I have a problem with a company that designs things so that repairing them draws blood, and requires 'special service tools' I will never ever use again in my life. (I still have a couple Toyota SST's from years ago, never to be used again. And the bicycle business is full of SST's)

 

[Art Mark]

Apple should stand behind its products with a minimum 3 year warranty, i
I find it absurd that a giant company like Apple has only a 1 year warranty.

I applaud the EU for this, lots of things are glued in now, nearly impossible to repair, and then there are absurd RAM prices, RAM should be removable and replaceable by the user.

Ahhhh, all companies should not have devices that anyone can 'work on'? Is that your POV? Or is it just Apple that should? And NO, they shouldn't be forced to do design to the lowest common denominator. This isn't the 1800's. The idea that modern devices should all have replaceable elements and allow your geeky cousin who lives in the basement to add his own chips is not going to happen. Or it will create a class of products that suck, and no one will choose. Please, this is outside of hobby land at this point. You aren't gonna fix the local nuclear reactor. And what about washer's and dryers and water heaters? This 'fix it yourself' notion is rather absurd.

 

[Art Mark]

You're the perfect example of why this law needs to exist.
The fact that you cannot imagine phones that are not the size of shoe boxes but still highly repairable shows that Apple's brainwashing has been successful.
What you probably do not understand is that repairability is not in the economic interests of companies like Apple, so of course they'll make you believe that modern phones and repairability are mutually exclusive when they aren't...

BS. What about water heaters, washers, dryers, cars, ETC and ETC. Why are you suddenly so concerned about phones? Why not demand this of washers and dryers which are mostly unfixable or the cost to fix any one element within it is double the cost of new. That's what you want? Do people buy less washers and dryers and water heaters and stoves and blenders? I call BS on this whole Let Geeky Cousin Dan fix it in his basement. Either you want to make money doing repairs, which means it's just a excuse to create a job for yourself or you are not cognizant of the demands of modern designs.

 

[Loa]

Finally, the ball has started to roll... It's shameful that companies like apple (and others in all sorts of technological domains) willfully makes things so hard/impossible to make repairs. Shameful.

 

[ericwn]

Stupid. If you want to repair stuff, get a Sony PC tower. That ship has sailed. If you want the best tech, you have to concede your “right” to take it apart and screw it up. If you want the latest tech and the right to take it apart and fix it, build a time machine and go back to 1990.

I’m not convinced that things that cannot be repaired should be the norm. Maybe the thinnest devices will have to be re-thought but certainly good if consumers have options.