Right to repair

Apple Diagnostics for Self Service Repair is now available in 32 European countries, the company announced today.

It follows the US launch back in December of last year, as the iPhone maker continues its U-turn on DIY repairs …

The controversial practice of parts pairing has been banned in right to repair legislation in Colorado, following a similar ban in Oregon back in March.

Apple has come under fire on a number of fronts for the practice, which can make it difficult or even impossible to carry out repairs using parts cannibalised from scrapped devices …

The practice of parts pairing – which can prevent third-party repair shops from cannibalising broken devices for parts – has been outlawed by Oregon, taking effect for any product made after January 1, 2025.

The legislature just passed the toughest right to repair law seen to date, and it now requires only the governor’s signature to pass into law. Update: Governor Tina Kotek has now signed, and the bill is now law.

Apple last year launched its hardware diagnostic tool for anyone interested in DIY repairs as part of its Self Service Repair program. Before that, the software was limited to Apple Retail Stores and Authorized Service Providers (AASP). iFixit has now shared an in-depth analysis of Apple’s diagnostic tool and how helpful it is.

For the first time ever, customers wanting to carry out DIY repairs on their devices will be given access to Apple diagnostics software. This software was previously limited to Apple Stores and authorized service providers.

Apple announced the news today, noting that its Self Service Repair program has also been extended to the iPhone 15 line-up, and M2 Macs – as well as rolling out to new countries …

Apple may have made a U-turn on the right to repair, but the battle is far from over. The growing practice of parts pairing – something which has been increasingly adopted by the iPhone maker – is coming under increasing fire.

Requiring components to be individually linked to the serial numbers of specific devices is proving a major barrier to affordable third-party and DIY repair. The EU is already considering a ban on parts pairing, and right-to-repair campaigners are pushing for this in the US too …

In a switch-up on its previous position of opposition, Apple supported California’s Right to Repair Act back in August. Now the White House has pre-announced that Apple is ready to unveil it’s going to “make parts, tools, and documentation” available for both independent repair businesses and consumers nationwide. Here’s what we know so far.

A powerful new California privacy law has now taken effect, designed to make it far easier for consumers to request that data brokers delete their data instead of selling it. The state’s right to repair legislation is also now active.

It’s hoped that both laws will serve as models for other US states, with a more ambitious goal of seeing their provisions enacted in federal law …

The iPhone 14 iFixit repairability rating has been dramatically reduced, after the company listened to feedback from consumers and independent repair shops, and admitted that it didn’t take into account the huge barrier imposed by Apple’s parts pairing process.

The phone’s repairability rating has now been reduced from 7/10 to 4/10, which moves the product from “recommended” to “not recommended” …

A few years ago, the idea of Apple backing right to repair legislation would have been almost unimaginable – even if the company’s co-founder did urge it to do so.

The company has spent literally years fighting it, spending money to lobby against it at both state and federal level, either trying to block it altogether or – if it couldn’t manage that – to weaken the legislation as much as possible …

Back in 2018, the State of California joined the Right to Repair Act bill, which aims to create laws that force tech companies to provide tools for both customers and independent stores to repair their products. Although Apple was initially against this bill, the company surprisingly decided to support the bill in California for the first time.

iPad owners who had the screen replaced by a third-party service center are reporting that an Apple Pencil problem occurs afterward – and it appears to be a deliberate move on Apple’s part.

To be clear, the issue isn’t limited to aftermarket displays: It happens when a genuine Apple screen is pulled from one iPad and fitted to an identical model …

A lobbyist working for Apple, Google, Samsung, and other tech companies succeeded in diluting the impact of a Right to Repair law. Tech trade group TechNet gave suggested wording to NY Governor Kathy Hochul, who reportedly inserted that language verbatim.

The new wording places limits on the spare parts that tech giants have to make available to customers and independent repair shops …

The iFixit HomePod 2 teardown isn’t the first one we’ve seen since the launch of the new model, as Brandon Geekabit got there first. But the company does echo the comments on repairability of this model compared to the original, together with a cool video clip of the woofer in action (below).

Back in 2018, iFixit said that the innards of the original model were a nightmare to access, the firm literally having to cut the device open …

The Apple Self Service Repair program has now launched in eight more countries, following the initial US-only debut back in April.

The program lets customers access repair manuals, purchase genuine Apple parts, and rent the tools needed to carry out DIY repairs …

A proposed new EU smartphone repair law has been opposed by a trade association representing Apple, Samsung, and other smartphone makers. The law is intended to reduce electrical waste as part of an environmental protection program.

The law would require companies to ensure that they continue to make at least 15 key spare parts available for five years from the launch of a phone. It would also necessitate a minor improvement to Apple’s requirements for free battery replacement…

At the beginning of the week, Apple expanded its Self Service Repair program to M1 MacBook models. The program offers “repair manuals and genuine Apple parts and tools” with “more than a dozen different repair types for each model, including the display, top case with battery, and trackpad, with more to come,” but although it seems like a step to the right direction, iFixit thinks Apple is making the M1 MacBook Air and M1 MacBook Pro, actually, less repairable.

There was good news and bad news yesterday. The Apple Self Service Repair program was extended to the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models – but if you were hoping that would enable DIY MacBook upgrades, you’re out of luck.

Apple very deliberately and specifically prevents this, and that seems to me to be the wrong decision for customers and the MacBook maker alike …

Apple just expanded its self-service repair program to include M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pros. You can get replacement screens, batteries, and even logic boards, but don’t expect to be able to upgrade your laptop, as you can only purchase the exact same main board that originally came with your device.

Apple announced yesterday that it would add replacement parts for its M1 MacBook Air and Pro laptops. Now, the store is back online after a brief period of maintenance, and now it offers replacement trackpads, displays, batteries, and more parts to fix your own computer.

The Apple Self Service Repair program first launched for iPhone in November of last year is tomorrow being extended to M1 MacBook models – both MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

The company says that the program will also be expanding into other countries, beginning in Europe, later this year …