iPhone: Users to finally be able to repair their own devices
Apple announced on Wednesday (17) the Self Service Repair program. In a curious twist, the Cupertino company — for years contrary to repairs made outside your Apple Authorized Service Providers — has sent a message that should be welcomed by "right to repair" activists, with screens, batteries and cameras available starting in 2022.
TL;DR
- Apple Self Service Repair will make parts and tools available to consumers for independent repairs.
- Service will be available in the U.S. in 2022, with other countries expected to follow.
- Company promises more than 200 individual parts and tools for the most common repairs.
The program is aimed at the most advanced audience, with enough experience to perform repairs in electronics on their own, dispensing a visit to a an authorised repair store when repairing an iPhone 12 or 13.
According to the company, the customer will be provided with a repair manual, which generally includes detailed instructions for identifying problems and the important step-by-step instructions for disassembling and reassembling the devices. The program will also offer an online store for ordering the necessary parts and tools.
Self Service Repair will launch in early 2022 in the United States, and Apple announced that it will be expanded to other countries - undisclosed - later next year. The company also promised that the store will offer the components for the most common repairs, such as screen, battery and camera, but disclosed that other parts will be available throughout the year.
The website iFixIt, which specializes in independent repair guides for electronic devices, celebrated the news, highlighting the importance of the measure for the Right to repair movement, which defends the right of consumers to fix their own devices.
Nevertheless, the site pointed out that although positive, the measure does not meet all the demands of the movement, for example, restricting repair to parts bought directly from Apple - limiting the freedom to take parts from one device to fix another.
The site also pointed out that the prices charged on parts for workshops participating in the Independent Repair Provider program are not much different from the values charged in repairs performed in official assistances, in addition to requiring the identification of the parts and devices used.
Still, the program marks another Apple turnaround in favor of consumers, a few days after reversing the deactivation of the FaceID feature after screen changes on iPhone made outside the network of official assistance.
Source: Apple
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