If it's self-service repair; then Apple's name is not on the quality of the repair, that's 100% clear. Apple's name is, however, on the quality and availability of the parts, instructions, and repairability.
Repairability is orthogonal to reliability and I've only brought up complaints about the former. This dichotomy you're trying to establish doesn't have any grounding in reality.
All that repair shops can do is provide commentary and inform consumers about whether the OEM is serious about repair or whether they're just greenwashing their image and by all accounts, Apple's self-service repair program is about as anemic as their Apple authorized service provider program.
Sure, that part is straightforward. But it's also tied to the mechanism by which a repair shop would get parts... which gets us back to the business decisions at the heart of the conflict between AASP and Right to Repair.
Therefore bringing up Apple attaching their name to the repair as a justification when someone is criticizing the AASP's design is a deflection.
Apple doesn't actually repair anything. Apple outsources this to shops with wildly varying qualifications. Often incurring unnecessary cost. And no, they wouldn't repair them for free.
It could be, but it also seems to be a satisfactory compromise from all sides. Customers get independent repair services with genuine parts, repair services don't need to jump through as many hoops to be considered first-class, and Apple avoids getting attacked as much over right-to-repair laws.
This actually really upset me when Apple first released their Self Service Repair program.
Apple said it was the exact same tools their repair technicians use, and offered all the tools for a $49 rental (which, honestly, probably doesn't even cover shipping for 77 lbs. of equipment). The Verge, iFixit, Ars Technica, and others claimed Apple deliberately designed and priced their repair program to make self-service repair not worth it, even if there wasn't the part serialization.
Which... what malarkey. Of course repairs are cheaper when you don't need to rent the toolkit every time and can reuse tools. According to Apple, the parts are the same cost the Apple Stores and their repair partners get, and according to congressional testimony this is not a profitable program, so what do you expect? Apple to sell parts publicly for cheaper than they get themselves? Do you want Apple to send you the repair tools for free and have cheaper parts? That's what they were saying - the parts should be cheaper and the tools should be less complicated even though that is what Apple literally uses. You think Apple repairs screens with guitar picks and are upset Apple doesn't ship those instead? It was really disappointing.
Imagine if Apple was a car company. They wanted the ability to repair their cars, so Apple agreed to loan them for $249 hundreds of pounds of equipment for repairing just about anything on their cars. Then imagine if people cried this made car repair too complicated by design. Right to Repair does not encompass right to simple, idiot-proof, no-tools repair.
OK, some people downvoted this, so let me explain:
Overcharging: Apple tends to replace whole assemblies rather than individual parts, and don't do board-level repairs or anything. Apple staff are generally just following a procedure and aren't allowed to/aren't trained to solve problems in the best way. Here's an example of them charging for a whole motherboard replacement when the issue was a bent pin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2_SZ4tfLns
Some people might be OK with this, but not everyone; competition is important!
About the self/independent repair program: The self repair program allows you to order one part at a time and you have to have the device to do it. Realistically, almost no one will do it themselves, and will use a repair shop. The program is impractical for repair shops, because they can't stock parts in advance. The other option is the independent repair program, which effectively turns you into a shipping centre for Apple; it bars you from doing anything but the most basic repairs without sending it to sending things off to Apple and they will do random inspections on your store and fine you if you're actually offering good service like board level repair or using cheaper aftermarket parts. So it's likely that both are mostly just PR stunts to get ahead of regulation while also not making a significant change to their business
Only some of Apple is quality, the rest is quality with quotes. The Apple's extended warranty program is worth billions, so is the repair industry fixing all the broken apple products. Heck they have yet to design a charging cable that doesn't fray. How is that quality?
This is, I suspect, a byproduct of the fact that they handle (the vast majority of) their own frontline customer support and repairs. The most commonly-repaired parts are designed to make the process as efficient as possible for the Apple Store techs.
Ok, first I am always in awe of people who have the skill to disassemble, fix at the component level, and reassemble modern electronics. I am also not surprised that both the independent repair folks get told they aren't as good as Apple, and that Apple isn't doing anything more or less magical in their repairs.
I do however take a bit of issue with generalizing from one or two instances. Just as there are "bad" independent repair techs, there are no doubt "bad" Apple repair techs. And bad techs make sloppy repairs, period. The reality is that the "best" your electronic device will be, is likely just after it comes off the assembly line and passes QA, that entire assembly process and the components used are tightly controlled so you get the best possible outcome. Rework inevitably it hard on components, traces, and often has to use materials that differ from the ones usable in the original manufacture.
Apple is selling you exactly what they use to repair their machines. If Apple shares all of the tools/parts/manuals they use to do component level repairs, the result is NULL.
This isn't anything limited to Apple, or even computers. For just about any OEM repair process for nearly any product, there's someone who will do a repair with a higher labor cost and lower parts cost. That doesn't mean it's a reasonable process for a business at scale.
This is the 15th time this has been talked about, but the reason they starve independent repair is because they can only guarantee a quality repair and/or replace a bad repair when they perform it (or when someone that has gone through their training and certifications has done it). If a customer goes to a repair shop that uses off-brand parts and is sloppy with their repair to the point that the issue re-surfaces in a few months, the customer is likely to blame Apple again instead of whoever did the repair.
The component level repair issue I get from both sides. Rossmann obviously wants to continue to be able to provide that service, in part because it’s arguably his specialization.
Apple obviously doesn’t want it because even under the best of circumstances it’s difficult to ensure consistency from repair to repair, much less between different technicians or locations.
And explaining a customer that while, yes, they did go to an authorized repair shop, but no, that specific repair doesn’t fall under Apple’s warranty or seal of approval, is also a nightmare.
Similarly, for keeping parts on stock I can see both sides of the debate.
Shops would like to have stuff in stock to provide the best and fastest service available, Apple on the other hand wants to prevent parts from falling in the wrong hands given the already prolific grey market for their parts.
I know they’ve already loosened up a bit with some shops that have high volume and good track record, letting them have some common stuff on hand (e.g. batteries, screens, etc.), but there’s also the option to let the customer get the part via the self-repair program and bring it to the store to have it placed.
There are two competing interests at play but I think with a bit of compromise in either end a workable solution is possible.
As for shops getting pissed when asked if they’re part of the program, I think your explanation is rather poor.
It’s equally, if not more of, a bad look to get pissed everything they’re asked that question.
If anything it makes them look sketchy when that doesn’t need to be the outcome.
People are generally just interested in the quality of the components used and want to know if official components are used to gauge that, as well as know if they can go to Apple should problems arise (i.e. if it’ll be covered by Apple’s repair warranty).
I am taking a look at the comments on this thread and im astonished. HN is full of intelligent, self-reliant people and yet, all throughout this thread I see so many users trashing people for complaints about price and service quality from Apple.
So many users here have had obviously bad experiences with Apple Care and Apple Repair Services, why is it so hard to believe them? Also, why is it so hard to imagine that Apple is making some mistakes in their repair model?
Commenters defending Apple here - they dont care about you at all, they dont need the assistance from you in defending them, and you dont get a discount for doing so, so what is your motivation for doing it? It is clear this 'Self Service Repair' model is designed to prevent independent repair shops from making money, therefore eliminating them. In what way is this good for the consumer?
Customers will prefer Apple-branded parts even if the third party parts are equally high quality. That's the ordinary value of branding -- the well known brand can command a premium for the same quality merchandise.
The issue here is that they aren't just charging the normal brand premium for the part, they're also tacking on the same premium again to account for the value of the repair service itself (even though the third party is providing that), and then a little more so that a third party repair service that wants to use Apple-branded parts would have to charge higher prices than Apple's own repair service in order to turn a profit.
The intent of the pricing isn't to maximize profits from sales to third party repair shops, it's to make them uncompetitive and push those customers to Apple's own repair services instead. It's basically a way of claiming they're making parts officially available while in practice not doing so, because they're only available at uncompetitive prices.
If it's self-service repair; then Apple's name is not on the quality of the repair, that's 100% clear. Apple's name is, however, on the quality and availability of the parts, instructions, and repairability.
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