iFixit Highlights Apple’s Uncertain Right To Repair The Posture Through Emails Shared With The Judiciary Committee

Apple CEO Tim Cook testified yesterday in front of the United States House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee where he was questioned about Apple’s App Store policies, but Congress also released a series of emails that Apple had submitted as part of the ongoing antitrust investigation.

Image via iFixit
Those emails revealed Apple’s thoughts on app store fees and provided information about its efforts to negotiate deals with Amazon, but there were also emails on other issues, including the ongoing battle for the right to repair that Apple has been fighting independent repair shops.

The iFixit repair site is part of the fight for the right to repair and today highlighted Apple’s internal discussions on the right to repair and the context surrounding those discussions, which is an interesting read for those who support the right-to-motion movement. repair.

For those unfamiliar with the Right to Repair, there is legislation that requires consumers to be able to repair their own devices, and that electronics companies like Apple must provide repair parts and repair manuals to all repair shops, instead of only Apple Authorized Service Providers.

Apple has lobbied heavily against the Right to Repair, but internally, the emails suggest Apple was unsure of its position and how it wants to handle repairs in the future. As an example, Apple was quick to decipher its narrative when The New York Times in April 2019 he wrote an opinion piece in favor of the movement.

“The biggest problem is that our strategy around all of this is unclear. Right now we are talking from both sides of our mouths and no one is clear where we are going,” the email says.

An internal Apple email about repair shared with the subcommittee
Later in 2019, iFixit discovered iMac repair manuals online and questioned Apple about it. iFixit received no response, but according to emails shared with Congress, it sparked an internal discussion. From an email between Apple’s public relations executives:

Right now, it is pretty clear that things are happening in a vacuum and there is no general strategy. Furthermore, with one hand we are making these changes and the other is actively fighting Right to Repair legislation that is moving in 20 states without real coordination on how updated policies could be used to take advantage of our position. “

As it turned out, Apple released the ‌iMac‌ manuals for the EPEAT green certification standard, and not all Apple teams knew that those manuals were being loaded nor were they all in favor. Apple did not eventually remove the manuals, but has not released any more online repair instructions.

Several states have introduced the right to repair legislation, but lobbying by Apple and other companies like John Deere has prevented its approval. Apple continually cites customer safety as the reason why repairs should be restricted.

In fact, to persuade California lawmakers not to pass the Right to Repair legislation, Apple lobbyists took apart an iPhone and explained how customers could be hurt if the lithium-ion battery is punctured. Apple has also said it wants to assure customers that its products will be “safely and correctly repaired,” such as the reasoning behind not opening repairs at all repair shops.

Despite fighting the Right to Repair legislation, Apple has been making some moves to try to appease those who push for greater access to redress. Apple introduced in August 2019 an Independent Repair Provider Program that provides independent repair companies with original parts, tools, training and repair manuals from Apple, but requires repair shops to sign onerous contracts to gain access.

iFixit, of course, strongly advocates Right-to-Repair policies, so the piece on Apple’s uncertainty about how to handle changing demand for access to repairs is somewhat biased, but the entire article is worth reading for those who are interested in better access to repairs.