Apple’s Self-Repair Program: What Is It?

One of the big problems with Apple products is their vertical integration. That is, the difficulty of getting genuine replacement parts if something goes wrong — and everyone knows that compatible parts are often a hit-or-miss affair: sometimes they go great, while in other cases, they are forgettable.

Someone in the company has noticed this problem and has decided to get a handle on it. It is only a start, as the Apple Self-Repair Program is limited to a few iPhone models – but perhaps it is an experiment that, if it bears good fruit, could be extended to other product categories, such as computers.

DIY, the final frontier

You logged on to casino NetBet for a little slot game. You have started playing Wolf Gold, and everything is going well in your game after you make your deposit, when suddenly your iPhone 13 starts acting up. You know that it can’t be down to the site, as the connection is stable, and the portal is known to have virtually 100% uptime. The problem lies with the smartphone!

Until today, the only chance was to rely on an Apple center for restoration or an independent repairer (and cross your fingers). Today, the problem can be addressed at home. If you are a DIY person, Apple has made available the parts to be replaced, the operating manuals, and, most importantly, the tools to do so, which is a very interesting concept. We are not talking about simple screwdrivers but more complex machinery such as presses and thermal systems for gluing and ungluing glass.

Out of Apple, out of warranty

Obviously (and it was undoubtedly to be expected), making a repair outside the Apple authorized circuit invalidates the warranty, if any. But in the case of older products, it is an excellent way to save some money, especially considering that during the repair, you install genuine Apple parts that would be impossible to find otherwise.

In summary, this is a good trade-off between savings and quality, which moreover is very much in line with the new repair and recycling/upcycling policies that are becoming mainstream on a planet increasingly awash in waste, especially electronic waste, which have led bodies such as the EU to introduce laws that oblige manufacturers to guarantee the repair of their products for 10 years, even outside official service networks. Within this framework, Apple offers a service of recovery and disposal of non-working parts.

Machinery and manuals, the real revolution

One of the most interesting aspects of the bitten apple program is the possibility of access to home-authorized tools (manufactured by third parties). And these specific tools and machines can be purchased at a rather demanding cost or rented for a particular intervention at a monthly fee of about $50. As we know, the price varies from country to country.

In addition, having access to technical manuals with the basic troubleshooting guides to see if self-repair is possible removes the halo of mystery that has always surrounded the repair of Apple’s products. So, apart from the technical complexities of such an operation, it is definitely a good thing, which will lead to a broader knowledge of Apple’s systems and how they work.