Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Sound & Video Contractor.
During the October 24th White House event discussing right-to-repair legislation, Apple announced that it would be stepping up its repairability efforts, including making all repair parts, tools, and documentation available to consumers. California’s recent passing of its Right to Repair Act requires these efforts be made by Apple in the state, but the company’s announcement means that it will be expanding these efforts nationwide.
The event was part of the Biden administration’s stated effort to fight back against what they call “anti-consumer practices” that artificially raise prices of products, including the “junk fees” that they consider hurdles for consumers to repair their devices. The White House foresees intrinsic economic value in reducing these practices across industries.
“The basic right to get a product repaired can also save farmers thousands of dollars when their tractor breaks down, and can create opportunities for small independent repair shops to thrive,” said Lael Brainard, director of the National Economic Counsel. “From smartphones to wheelchairs to cars to farm equipment, too often manufacturers make it difficult to access spare parts, manuals and tools necessary to make fixes.”
Apple Vice President Brian Naumann commented on the company’s commitment to expand repair support nationwide, saying, “We intend to honor California’s new repair provisions across the United States. Apple also believes that consumers and businesses would benefit from a national law that balances repairability with product integrity, usability and physical safety.”
Naumann continued, outlining Apple’s approach to supporting consumers while also complying with different state mandates on repair accessibility:
“We believe that a uniform federal repair law should do the following: Maintain privacy, data and device security features which help to thwart theft; Ensure transparency for consumers about the type of parts used in a repair; Apply prospectively, to allow manufacturers to focus on building new products that can comply with the proposals; And finally, create a strong national standard that benefits consumers across the US and reduces the confusion created by potentially conflicting state approaches.”
See also: Apple Switches Sides, Publicly Supports Right-To-Repair Bill
