At Apple, you can now officially repair more products yourself. In addition to the iPhone 12 and 13, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro equipped with an M1 chip are eligible for the “self repair” program which will soon be launched in Europe.
At the end of 2021, under pressure from right to repair activists in the United States – but also from some of its shareholders – Apple announced the opening of a program aimed at letting individuals who feel capable of repair an iPhone 12 or 13 themselves. A program called “self service repair” finally launched in April 2022 and which is still not offered in France, but allows North Americans to obtain the tools directly from Apple , manuals and necessary spare parts. They are even offered to send the changed parts to Apple for reconditioning or recycling.
A repair kit also available for hire
We learned today (August 23, 2022) that this program will be extended to a new category of Apple devices: MacBooks. Again, not all models will be eligible, far from it, since only MacBooks equipped with an Apple M1 processor will be able to access it (Air or Pro). As with the iPhone, tools, manuals and official parts can be purchased directly from Apple, which is also announcing the rental of a “repair kit” containing the necessary tools at a price of $49. It sounds expensive, but from an ecological point of view, offering the rental of specific tools that you may only need once remains relevant. The shipping costs of this kit will be offered and the customer can keep it for a week.
“Customers who are used to repairing complex electronic devices will be able to perform repairs on these Mac laptops, with access to the same parts and tools used in Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers”, indicates the company which speaks of a dozen types of possible repairs on the screen, the battery or the trackpad. It also adds that it has greatly developed its network of approved repairers over the past three years, so that 8 out of 10 Americans live less than 20 minutes from a repairer. A way of reminding that customers who do not have experience in the repair of electronic devices can obviously use the services of a certified technician.
As with any repair operation, Apple offers an online diagnosis for eligible iPhones and MacBooks, which allows users to validate the intervention to be performed. At the end of this questionnaire, an estimate is proposed, including all the necessary equipment.
In Europe before the end of the year
Unfortunately, Apple does not communicate on the number of times individuals have used this independent repair mode since its launch. The announcement had raised some fears among authorized repairers who anticipated a potential decline in their activity. But Apple has decided to go step by step by authorizing only a small number of products (recent ones at that) and a limited list of fairly accessible procedures, so as to test the system before deploying it more widely, which which might indeed have an impact on the order book of repairers in the long term. Provided, of course, that Cupertino plays the game to the end and is not satisfied with a very limited “self repair” program, simply for the sake of image and to avoid possible reprimands from regulators.
Last interesting point, Apple takes advantage of this announcement to specify the launch of this repair program in Europe, concerning the iPhone but also the MacBook. We should be able to access it in France before the end of the year. The occasion, no doubt, for Digital to try the process.