Cracked your iPhone screen but cannot find a repair shop or book a slot at the Apple store? Then try your kitchen table.
From next year phone owners can fix their handset at home after the tech company said it would make repair kits available to the public.
Starting in the US in early 2022 and then the UK and other countries, a new online repair store will offer more than 200 individual parts and tools for repairing the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 handsets. The service will start by offering parts for the screen, battery and camera, the bits of an iPhone most commonly brought in for fixes.
“Creating greater access to Apple genuine parts gives our customers even more choice if a repair is needed,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer.
Although the accompanying press release was illustrated with people fixing a phone at their kitchen table and work desk, Apple said the service would not be for have-a-go handset engineers but for “individual technicians with the knowledge and experience to repair electronic devices”.
First, customers should consult an official repair manual before ordering the necessary parts, Apple said. Customers who returned the broken parts for recycling would receive a credit towards their next purchase.
Apple added: “For the vast majority of customers, visiting a professional repair provider with certified technicians who use genuine Apple parts is the safest and most reliable way to get a repair.”
Apple said the service would also be made available for Mac computers that used M1 chips, which went on sale last year. The company said additional parts and repairs for the iPhone 12 and 13 would be issued later next year.
The move was welcomed by iFixit, a tech goods repair business, which tweeted: “We’re thrilled to see Apple admit what we’ve always known: everyone’s enough of a Genius to fix an iPhone.”
We never thought we’d see the day: Apple will offer parts, tools, and software to DIY fixers starting next year. There are some catches, but we’re thrilled to see Apple admit what we’ve always known: Everyone’s enough of a Genius to fix an iPhone: https://t.co/LmvIYVZWat pic.twitter.com/ewt4s40L6N
— iFixit (@iFixit) November 17, 2021
Apple has long been urged to open up phone repair to owners of its handsets. In July Apple’s co-founder, Steve Wozniak, backed the right-to-repair campaigners. “We wouldn’t have had an Apple had I not grown up in a very open technology world,” he said. “It’s time to recognise the right to repair more fully.”
