- Apple urges California lawmakers to pass a "right to repair" bill.
- A growing national initiative aims to minimize electronic waste.
- The right to repair can also reduce your expenses.
Tech giants are backing the idea of repairing their own devices.
Apple is encouraging California lawmakers to approve a "right to repair bill" that would require manufacturers to let users repair their faulty devices. It's part of a growing national movement to reduce e-waste and lower costs for consumers.
“People want and need to be able to repair machines when they break and tinker with them,” Elizabeth Rosenblatt, a law professor at Case Western Reserve University, told Lifewire in an email interview. “Until recently, that hasn’t been the case. Problem - You can tinker with what you own. With so many devices now using software and hardware, the right to repair has become critical, as getting into your device to fix or modify it may mean doing anything other than what you want to do. In addition to things, you also need to pass the encryption barrier.”
The new bill, called SB 244, seeks to impose an obligation on manufacturers to provide repair tools and components to repair shops and product owners under fair and reasonable conditions. The bill is currently being discussed in the California Assembly after being approved by the Senate in June. A vote by the Assembly Appropriations Committee is expected soon.
Apple said in a statement that SB 244 strikes the best balance between "consumer choice and trustworthy repair" while protecting privacy, data security and manufacturer intellectual property.
"Any final version of California's right-to-repair legislation should reconcile device integrity, functionality, and personal safety with consumers' preference for device repair rather than replacement," Apple said.
Right to repair allows users to extend the life of their gadgets, appliances and vehicles, saving money in the long run, SmartTech Research CEO Mark Vena said in an email.
"This right promotes sustainability by reducing e-waste, which is crucial for the environment," he added. “Users benefit from access to repair manuals, spare parts and tools, allowing them to repair items themselves or choose affordable third-party repair services.”
It feels like the Berlin Wall of tech repair monopolies is starting to come down brick by brick.
Repair company iFixit noted in a blog post that California's legislation goes beyond legislation passed by Minnesota and New York in setting availability periods for parts and updates. For products priced between $50 and $99.99, required components, tools and guides must be available in California within three years of the product's last production date. For products priced over $99.99, repair resources must be available within seven years. This provision ensures that manufacturers cannot discontinue repair support immediately after the product warranty expires.
“Apple’s endorsement of California’s Right to Repair Act is a watershed moment for consumer rights,” iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens said in the post. “It feels like the Berlin Wall of tech repair monopolies is starting to fall brick by brick. The ground collapsed."
Last year, three states enacted right-to-repair laws. New York focuses on consumer electronics, Colorado targets power wheelchairs and agricultural machinery, and Minnesota's legislation includes electronics and home appliances.
Right to repair can save you money. For example, when restoring a laptop, users can replace a faulty battery or upgrade RAM and storage without voiding the warranty, Vena said. These laws also facilitate the repair of smartphones, home appliances, and even cars, providing an alternative to expensive manufacturer repairs.
“Essentially, users regain the autonomy to maintain and customize their properties,” he added.
Engineer Nizel Adams said in an email that it's assumed that a capacitor on the laptop's motherboard went bad, preventing the machine from booting. Typically, what manufacturers will do is replace the entire motherboard.
“Since the motherboard connects every component, replacing the motherboard effectively replaces the entire machine, which means costly repairs,” he added. "That's why when you take something to an OEM store like Apple, you can end up paying thousands of dollars in repairs.
"Right-to-repair requires companies like Apple to provide usable documentation such as schematics as well as tools so that engineers or customers themselves can perform board-level repairs, such as replacing the capacitor itself, which can cost pennies at most," Adams said.
