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Promised by Apple in November, the brand’s self-service repair program is initially available in the United States. If there are good ideas to remember, there is nevertheless a big black spot.
In November 2021, the Apple brand announced that it would allow iPhone owners to repair their phone themselves, if they felt able. A fashionable approach since Valve, Samsung and Google have joined forces with iFixit to offer similar services.
Available in the United States at the moment, this program allows iPhone 12, 13 and SE 3 owners to have access to many parts such as the screen, the battery, the lower speaker, the camera or again the SIM tray. A catalog which should gradually extend to other countries, but also to MacBook M1.
Good ideas and a fair price
iFixit analyzed Apple’s offer and noted many positive points. Apple promises seven years of parts availability, the retail sale of tools previously reserved for professional technicians and, above all, completely free step-by-step repair manuals.
It will now be easier for an individual to buy an iPhone 12 screen and install it on their device without fear of damaging the speaker assembly, Face ID sensor, which they had to until today. move meticulously from the damaged screen to the new one.
The prices offered are consistent with the prices offered to independent repairers (slightly higher to preserve a little margin for companies), so an official battery will cost 6% of the price of a new phone and the screen about a third, while offering the possibility to the customer to return his damaged part. Another good news, it is possible to rent the set of repair tools for 49 dollars (for one week).
So an iPhone 12 screen costs $269.95 minus $33.60 if you return your broken screen. Adding tool rentals, repairing an iPhone 12 screen will cost $285.35 compared to $365 at an Apple Store. We welcome Apple’s initiative to recover defective parts that can be handled correctly by the manufacturer.
All is not rosy in the program
The story could have ended there and Apple’s repair program could have been praiseworthy. But there is a significant shadow on the board. To buy these parts, the Apple site asks for the serial number (or IMEI) of the device and requires you to pair the new part using software made available under penalty of seeing an “impossible to check “.
Concretely, it will not be possible for repairers to build up a stock or for users to go through a channel other than the official site without running the risk of losing functionality. A repairer will also not be able to use the screen of a phone whose card would be irreparable on another device. Worse still, the day Apple decides to no longer supply the part, it will no longer be possible to repair the device.
A constraint that makes iFixit cringe, which imposed on its partners (Google, HTC Vive, Motorola, Samsung and Valve) a procedure requiring neither equipment nor serial number.
A half-hearted initiative therefore, which makes it possible to be seen well by the legislator who will be all the less in a hurry to put in place measures making the right to compensation compulsory for companies.