Apple Endorses California’s Right to Repair Bill: Details

Apple urged members of the California legislature to pass the "right to repair bill" or "Senate Bill 244" as currently drafted, in a letter on Tuesday, which requires manufacturers to allow customers to fix damaged devices.

The iPhone maker's move is a reversal from its years-long opposition towards access to repairs as the act would require electronic device makers to provide tools for repairing damaged appliances.

"We support "SB 244" because it includes requirements that protect individual users' safety and security as well as product manufacturers' intellectual property," Apple said in the letter.

Back in 2021, Apple had announced that it would start selling spare parts and tools to the general public to perform their own repairs on some iPhone handsets and Mac computers.

The Self Service Repair programme came after years of pressure from consumer groups resulted in Apple providing greater access to repair manuals and genuine parts.

In 2019, Apple started a programme where independent repair shops can buy its parts, tools, and manuals. Apple had said at the time that there were 2,800 independent shops in its programme in addition to its 5,000 directly authorised repair providers.

Earlier this month, Apple forecast that a sales slump would continue into the current quarter, sending shares down despite beating Wall Street sales and profit targets in the fiscal third quarter.

Apple shares dropped about 2 percent after the company predicted what could be the fourth quarter in a row of declining sales. For the just-ended period, strength in services drove the profit beat, but weaker-than-expected sales of Apple's most famous device, the iPhone, underwhelmed investors. Executives said iPhone sales would improve in the fourth quarter, but did not say how much.

© Thomson Reuters 2023