Apple has begun rolling out its Self Service Repair program in the United States. This allows customers to perform repairs on their Apple products themselves. Previously, they had to go to an officially certified store to do so.
When you buy an expensive iPhone, who does it belong to? You are tempted to say: yours! And if it's yours then you can do whatever you want with it, right? Apple thinks differently. You may not open it to repair it. If you do, it will void the warranty. You will have to take it to an officially certified store for repairs, no matter how simple. Apple's Self Service Repair program is a first step to change that.
US Apple customers can now buy 200 different parts and tools to repair a iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and iPhone SE themselves. Think about batteries, screens and cameras. Apple has also published manuals. Previously, you had to turn to services such as iFixit we doing this yourself but again, that would void your warranty.
Low repairability scores
Apple is known for making repairing your iPhone extra difficult. For example, it uses pentalobe screws to make opening harder, glues batteries without pull-tabs and screens are laminated to the glass. During the design phase, Apple also doesn't take later repairs into account, which is why it consistently has low repair scores on iFixit. Apple would rather you buy a new iPhone than repair your old one.
Hidden costs
Apple's new Self Service Repair program is a good first step to address this issue but there are also criticisms. For example, only Apple-made parts may be used and so Apple maintains control over the price of those parts. There are also concerns that Apple sells parts in conjunction with the necessary tools, regardless of whether you already own them. Whether that actually happens is unclear, Apple has been vague about it so far. The cost of a one-time repair would then not be cost-effective to do it yourself.
Another criticism is that this program is only for US customers for now. Apple says it will expand to other countries later this year but it is still unclear when and which countries. Apple does say that these will be European countries first, but which ones exactly we don't know yet.
