More Apple Repair Providers and Lobbying
Apple (MacRumors, Hacker News):
Apple’s Independent Repair Provider program will soon be available in more than 200 countries, nearly every country where Apple products are sold. Launched originally in 2019 and expanded to Europe and Canada last year, the program enables repair providers of all sizes access to genuine Apple parts, tools, repair manuals, and diagnostics to offer safe and reliable repairs for Apple products. There are now more than 1,500 Independent Repair Provider locations serving customers across the US, Canada, and Europe.
Sami Fathi (tweet):
Apple, HP, and Honeywell are lobbying against a bill in the Nevada statehouse that would require electronic hardware manufacturers to provide device schematics, device parts, and instructions to third-party repair shops for device repairs, according to the Associated Press.
[…]
The bill aims to remove the requirement for customers to go to authorized dealers for repairs by allowing them to use smaller independent repair shops as well. Apple has long faced pressure to expand accessibility to device parts and schematics, and it’s previously put up battles to maintain its tight control over device repairs.
Cameron Demetre, the regional executive director of TechNet, a trading group representing Apple, HP, and Honeywell in committee hearings on the bill, says that his clients are concerned about the potential exposure that third-party repair shops will have to personal users’ data when repairing devices.
I get that Apple repeats the word “privacy” a lot, but is there actually any reason to believe that its repair subcontrators are more likely to treat users’ data well? And we already know that it requires its IRPs to report customers’ personal data back to the mothership.
Previously:
- Apple’s Independent Repair Program Contract
- Where to Get Apple Products Repaired
- Are Apple Repairs Profitable?
- Apple Will Sell iPhone Parts to Repair Shops
- Apple Is Locking Batteries to Specific iPhones
- Best Buy to Offer Apple-Certified Repairs
- Lobbying Against Right to Repair
- Apple Discouraging Photo Recovery From Damaged Devices
- Inside the iPhone Repair Ecosystem
- Apple Sued an Independent iPhone Repair Shop Owner and Lost
- Apple Fighting New “Right to Repair” Legislation
- Error 53
