Apple made headlines when it first announced its Self Service Repair Program – a new initiative that would let people repair Apple devices in their own homes. This was a move that was unprecedented from the trillion-dollar company.
Apple had long fought against people repairing its devices from anywhere other than an Apple-certified facility. Countless times it went against petitions and bills that encouraged phone repairs, trying to lobby them all away into nothingness. Why then would it all of a sudden do a 180 and embrace individual repair? That’s what we’re all curious about.
What is the Apple Self Service Repair Program?
To understand what Apple stands to gain from this new approach, we must first understand what the program they’re promoting actually is.
The Apple Self Service Repair program is being marketed as a way for individuals to repair their iPhones and keep them in service for longer. The program is currently set to serve repairs for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineup, and will primarily be focused on camera, battery, and display repairs.
Under the program, the requisite tools, parts, and service manuals will be made available to anyone who wants to repair their iPhones. Once repaired, you can send back your iPhone parts to Apple to receive credit towards your purchases. The program will also expand to other hardware, such as the M1 line of computers and iPads, and will include repairs of other components over time.
The program seems to offer an olive branch to those that purchase iPhones and feel like they’ve gotten the short end of the stick in terms of repairs. Since it’s common knowledge that Apple devices are notoriously difficult to repair (not to mention expensive), this will provide a bit of respite to those that purchase an iPhone in the future.
What are the caveats?
To the average consumer, the Self Service Repair program seems like a really good idea. Apple is providing you with schematics, tools, and parts for your repairs. That means that you could easily repair your device in the comfort of your own home. However, there are a couple of points of concern that have sprung up within the repair community.
For one thing, there’s no word on the pricing of the program. Tools and parts made by Apple will no doubt cost a pretty penny. The company has historically been very aggressive with its pricing on items. So it’s safe to assume that these items won’t come in cheap.
There’s also the concern over the devices and types of repairs supported. Currently, the plan offers repairs for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineup, while leaving all its predecessors out in the cold. Users who own any model from the iPhone 7, iPhone 8, iPhone X, iPhone 11, and even the iPhone SE lineup won’t be able to take advantage of this program. Furthermore, repairs for components like charging ports, microphones, speakers, and physical buttons are also conveniently left out. This spells problems for what’s to come down the line as well since there’s no knowing when Apple will drop official support for the current lines once newer generations of iPhones come out.
And finally, Apple’s new program might not be as consumer-friendly as we all think it to be. This speculation comes from another program that Apple had launched before – the Independent Repair Provider program. This program was supposedly launched to help independent repair shops work on Apple repairs more smoothly but ended up being a very restrictive and hollow program in essence. Technicians weren’t allowed to order parts and catalog them in their Cell phone repair shop software beforehand – they had to special order parts from Apple following diagnostics, and only when the part was delivered within a few days would the repair be complete. This didn’t bode well for business, as repairs that customers expected to happen within minutes would take days. Ultimately, while Apple still maintains the success of the program, it didn’t do much in the way of actually helping out independent cell phone repair shops.
Why is Apple introducing this new plan anyway?
With Apple’s well-documented push against the right to repair and pleading its case for security and safety concerns, one has to wonder why they are doing the opposite now. What was it that made Apple change its stance on repairs and install this new Self Service Repair program?
One of the more obvious reasons would be publicity. Since Apple is a company that is very conscious about its brand, it makes sense that it would want to appeal to as many people as possible. The best way to strike a positive chord with customers is to convince them that Apple has its best interests at heart. This, in turn, leads to more people buying into the Apple ecosystem and becoming loyalists, since no other company offers them the services that Apple does. One thing you do have to hand to Apple is its excellent supply chain and customer service standards.
Another reason could be to diversify their earnings and provide more services in exchange for money. If individuals are able to repair their phones, then they would certainly put down the money for it. And if Apple cuts out the middleman and targets individuals directly, then they can take full advantage of this revenue stream. By appealing to more customers and providing them the option to repair their devices themselves, Apple can certainly stand to profit more than if it came in through a third or even second party.
Finally, there’s also the speculation that Apple is introducing this program as a means to dodge scrutinization by governments. Both the United States and the European Union are concerned over Apple’s allegedly anti-trust behavior. If these governments feel that Apple is not acting in the best interest of consumers, the company could not only be slapped with heavy fines but even the sale of its products in certain regions. This would severely limit Apple’s future plans for the cell phone industry, and so in a bid to show governments and policymakers that they are playing nicely, Apple may have launched the Self Service Repair program. Ultimately, this would mean that the program is just a red herring for policymakers and that Apple plans to give it less of its attention as time goes on. We can only speculate at this point, though.
Conclusion
Apple is a company that has long battled the growing call for the right to repair across the globe. So it seems odd that they would introduce a program that allows people to fix the devices that they have. However, the program has yet to begin, and we can only see what it will eventually turn out to be.
Ultimately, whether this is a genuine effort by Apple to help consumers or just a temporary stopgap in its ambitions for market dominance, the Apple Self Service Repair program is an event that will remain an important part of history in the repair industry.
