Apple’s self service program will let you repair iPhones and Macs yourself

Apple just became much friendlier to do-it-yourself repairs. The company is launching a Self Service Repair program that will let you repair products yourself using official Apple parts and tools. The option will be available in the US in early 2022 (later that year for other countries) and will initially give the resources to fix an iPhone 12 or iPhone 13 (you’re looking at iFixit’s iPhone 13 Pro teardown above), with M1-based Macs eligible soon afterward.

The first “phase” of Self Service Repair will focus on core components like the battery, camera and display, with other parts eligible later. Apple will ask customers to review a repair manual and then order relevant parts through a Self Service Repair Online Store. The company didn’t say how much parts would cost, but did offer credit to customers who return used parts for recycling.

Not surprisingly, Apple stressed that the program was meant for people with experience repairing electronics. The “vast majority” of people were still better off getting service from professionals, whether at Apple stores or authorized providers. 

The company didn’t say what prompted the openness to self servicing. However, it may be a matter of government pressure. The White House, the Federal Trade Commission and multiple states have backed right-to-repair measures that could force Apple and others to allow customer maintenance. This theoretically heads off some of the major complaints by letting any skilled person fix a device themselves without resorting to unofficial parts.

There are lingering questions. Will the part pricing be competitive enough to make Self Service Repair a viable alternative to professional help? And will Apple tweak its product designs to make these repairs more practical? While there are signs of these tweaks between a relaxed policy on iPhone 13 display repairs and easy-to-remove MacBook Pro batteries, we wouldn’t expect simple fixes in the near future.

Developing…