Should you be able to repair something that you paid good money for?
Seems like a no-brainer that the answer should be yes
But Apple has long been notorious for making their devices very unfriendly to DIYers who just want to replace the battery or
Fix a cracked screen. Not only has self-repair on an Apple device avoided your warranty in the past, but
Apple intentionally designs its products to make them hard to fix at home. I mean, they've even used
Proprietary screws, but Apple has done a face turn worthy of pro wrestling and announced their self-service repair program, which
Ideally will allow users to fix their iDevices at home without voiding their warranties and Apple will even help customers do it
Oh, sign me up, but How exactly is it going to work?
The idea is that if you need a repair you can have a look at an Apple official repair manual and then order the parts
you need from the Apple online store. The program, which will debut in the US and roll out to other countries throughout 2022, is
Initially going to support the iPhone 12 and 13, with support for M1 based Macs coming sometime later that year. The online store is going to have
200 plus parts and tools available for repairs on the two supported iPhone lineups, so
Expect things like spudgers and suction cups to appear alongside actual replacement parts
But what parts can you actually get and fix yourself?
There wasn't an exhaustive list at the time we published this video
But we can tell you that Apple will offer batteries
Displays and cameras, so basically the parts of the phone that are most likely to get damaged or worn out during regular use
With the exception of the lightning ports, which makes sense
Especially as there has been a whole cottage industry around replacing broken and worn out iPhone screens and batteries for quite some time
Apple will also give you a credit towards the repair kits if you return your old part for recycling
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me, but what are the caveats and
Why did Apple decide to change their mind on self-repair after all these years?
The really big elephant in the room is exactly how much all of this will cost
Apple is notorious for charging handsome sums to both buy their products and repair them later and
They're still encouraging most consumers to have their repairs handled by a professional anyway
So don't discount the possibility that Apple's pricing might push customers towards having Apple do the job anyway
Especially once you factor in the time effort and risk involved in attempting a DIY fix
And although Apple relented recently on allowing third-party repair shops to obtain official Apple tools and parts
Something it did not permit for a long time. I must add
It hasn't always been clear which of these shops was
Authorized as Apple doesn't provide a list and some independent shops have even refused to join Apple's official authorization scheme as they believe the terms of Apple's contract
Were unreasonable Combined that with Apple's history of crippling phone features if a user performs self-repair and it's pretty clear that Apple hasn't exactly had the best track record of
Making things easy for folks who don't want to go through Apple itself for repair job
But the hope is that this time things will be different
Apple clearly isn't doing this out of the good things of their own hearts though as the company is feeling mounting pressure from several governments to give electronics consumers
a right to repair the gadgets they already own
Starting this program might help Apple get ahead of the ire of regulators if right to repair laws do get passed
But it remains to be seen just how accessible it will be to the average iPhone user and if the company will end up supporting older products
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go try to pry the back off of my iPod classic that battery
Ain't what it used to be. Thanks for watching guys like dislike check out some of our other videos
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