This "service" is how Apple is trying to fight right to repair.

Apple's efforts with DRM and using IP law to restrict parts supply seem to clearly indicaye a desire and intent to limit the ability to self-repair. While there are legitimate trade-offs to make, it seems obvious to that Apple has made choices that unnecessarily reduced repairability.

Well, that's part of the problem. Right-to-repair bills that don't address serialized components or hardware DRM won't make it better. Apple is backing this bill because it aligns with their definition of "repair" and further reinforces the idea that the first party is the only one allowed to authorize maintenance.

This is less about letting perfect be the enemy of good, and more about struggling to identify the core problem in the first place. If Apple is a required party for me to replace my screen or reinstall a USB connector, then you aren't advocating for a "right" to repair at all. In fact, you're actually coming back around to the 'Repairs-as-a-Service' model that third-parties protested against in the first place.

Apple is on record saying they lose money on repair services. Or do you think they're just lying about that too?

No-one is going to buy a car or tractor that can't be repaired at all. And it'll hit pretty hard if people realise even apple can't replace their screen and they'll need to buy a new thousand-dollar device every time the screen breaks. Apple and John Deere have a huge incentive to make devices repairable, they just want to monopolize that repair business. That's the problem here.

In fairness to Apple, that’s not fair at all.

I hope right to repair keeps gaining traction. If I need to buy a laptop any time soon it’s going to be a Framework. I replaced a DIMM in my current laptop (ThinkPad) and would have been pretty upset if I had to throw it away because of soldered RAM.

My fear with authorized repair programs as the only option is the risk of changing what’s considered fact. After a (people) generation where all training and education says “this is impossible,” people will believe it. The manufacturers get to dictate the new reality with no pushback from knowledgeable opponents because those opponents won’t exist anymore.

I’ve personally fixed many vehicle problems, a hot tub, a stove, a dishwasher, a fridge, a furnace, etc.. I’m 100% positive the manufacturers are lying about the complexity of everything and confident in saying that a lot of the complexity is intentionally engineered to be complex.

People want to fix their own stuff and they’ll try no matter what. The manufacturers like to tout the risks of DIY repair, but the biggest risk, by far IMO, is a lack of official schematics and docs. The manufacturers are literally creating the risk by withholding repair resources and forcing everyone to trust random internet strangers.

Learn how to discharge capacitors if you’re going to DIY fix anything :-)

it's not like we did not have those already :D

bendgate! antennagate! (you're holding it wrong!) and so on.

it seems what repairability is about is using standard parts (screws, batteries), allowing people to buy parts, and allowing people to use the thing in a less than perfect way (eg. with an aftermarket standard part)

of course it's not just Apple that doesn't want this. nobody who is in the business of selling their own hardware wants this, because it would decrease their sales.

and as other comments pointed out right to repair is not repairability.

Just because they don't prioritize their designs for at home repair, doesn't mean they're anti-repair. Clearly they're not anti-repair if they're voluntarily making their tooling available for repairs.

I can't really blame them for prioritizing design over repairability. At least for now, repairability doesn't sell a lot of phones -- the number of people who want to repair their own phone is so small, and I say that as someone who has repaired a couple iPhones in the past.

Some will, some won't. They don't need you or some other individual or company or institution to decide for them they are too ignorant to decide for themselves where to go for replacement parts. If you're so worried over these problems just take the thing to Apple to have it repaired but leave open the option for others to get their own parts and repair it themselves or have someone repair it for them. The same goes for anyone else, it is not as if the option to use 'authorised' repair services will disappear.

You just presented a technical restriction, didn't you?

> but having an official location with official parts is actually more useful than being able to do it yourself but not being able to get parts.

I disagree. This is not so much about DIY-repairs, but about a free market for third-party repairs, without which Apple can force people to pay as much as they want.

Heh. Apple's stance on control and repair starts to make a lot of sense when you think of it as apple's transitioning phase to a device-renting business model. They want to make truly owning and repairing your device as inconvenient (and illegal) as possible so that people are more inclined to pay monthly for access to a device.

I just hope other OEMs aren't capable of following in their footsteps.

No they haven't. They just had no reason to prioritize or put effort into making sure that third-party repair shops had an easy time to do this. Not putting effort into something isn't the same as actively putting effort into making things more difficult.

Cars are extremely hard to repair for an increasing number of tasks.

And now you know why Apple dropped those features.

This. I will be happy even if Apple ( and specifically Apple ) will do this themselves instead of charging parts that earn their exact same margin as if you were buying a new computer. Everything is wrong with the logic board, which cost you $400+. Apple speakers are ( comparatively speaking ) easily blown. FlexGate, StainGate... the list goes on and on. What could have been an easy fix which turns out to cost few hundred bucks.

The Right to Repair is MUCH more than your right to fix your broken electronic as a hobbyist. It is largely about large companies participating in anti-competitiveness. The frequent example given is with John Deer tractors. Lots of John Deer equipment has lock downs and require authorization to do anything but the most basic repairs. This is a big change for your average farmer who is frequently repairing their own equipment (it is essentially a requirement to be a mechanic to be a farmer). They frankly don't even have access to authorized repair shops within hundreds of miles. This is why Apple sends lawyers out to fight court cases in small towns in Nebraska and Arkansas. But this kind of behavior is not limited to Apple and John Deer, it is highly prolific and affects things that are in the background.

You should care about the right to repair not because you want to fix your own stuff. You should care because it is about large companies abusing their power and acting in anti-competitive ways. This is about anti-trust.

> They may make a few things easier than Microsoft or Google

Enough few things that make them worthwhile purchasing.

> All their hardware is harder to repair than what is available from competition.

Possibly true, but at least my Apple hardware is built well and lasts. The awful MS ”flagship” I had the misfortune of being forced to buy flexes when I type on it. The Android phones I’ve had have been of such poor build and material quality I’m not surprised people need stuff repaired all the time. Not saying repair isn’t important, but in the last 5 years of Apple devices the one repair I’ve needed was a screen replacement which was done in 10 mins, for free.