Right to repair advocates have described Apple’s recent claim to lose money on repairs as ‘absurd’ and ‘misleading.’
Apple made the claim to a Congressional judiciary committee investigating, among other things, whether Apple’s locked-down approach to device repairs is anti-competitive…
Apple has always insisted that its control of the repair process is for reasons of safety and reliability. Others have, however, argued that Apple is deliberately preventing customers from obtaining lower-cost repairs from independent shops in order to force them to use Apple Stores.
Apple presented the usual arguments in testimony to the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law of the Committee on the Judiciary.
Asked specifically how much money made from repairs, the company claimed to make a loss on them.
Genuine Apple parts are designed, tested and manufactured for Apple quality and performance standards. If a customer needs an Apple device repaired, it’s important that the repair be conducted by a certified technician who has completed Apple service training and who uses genuine Apple parts and tools. Repairs performed by untrained technicians might not follow proper safety and repair procedures and could result in improper function, product quality issues or safety events.
Additionally, repairs that do not properly replace screws or cowlings might leave behind loose parts that could damage a component such as the battery, causing overheating or resulting in injury. For these reasons, we believe it is important for repair shops to receive proper training when obtaining access to spare parts and repair manuals. We continue to expand the number of locations where consumers can get repairs, while maintaining a priority on safety and reliability.
My immediate comment on this was that Apple had to be including warranty repairs for this to be true; it will be making money on most chargeable repairs and, especially, AppleCare policies. This view was echoed by Motherboard’s Matthew Gault.
Gay Gordon-Byrne, executive director of trade organization Repair.org, agreed.
Right to repair campaigner Nathan Proctor also didn’t mince any words in rejecting Apple’s safety argument.
Gordon-Byrne agrees.
While Apple claims it does nothing to prevent consumers from seeking third-party repairs, Gault says this is ‘provably false.’
I outlined my own views last year: I support the right to repair, though I do recognize the trade-offs.
Photo: iFixit
