Europe welcomes Apple's Self Service Repair Program

Users also have access to "more than 200 distinct parts and tools" in addition to manuals.

Apple's Self Service Repair program, which was first introduced in the US earlier this year, has now reached eight European nations. Many of the most popular fixes for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, as well as MacBooks with Apple silicon, can be done by customers there (not Intel models). According to a press release from Apple, "The Self Service Repair Store enables access to more than 200 different components and tools, as well as repair manuals."

In Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, Apple's Self Service repair shops provide replacement parts and equipment. According to Apple, they are the same and cost the same as those offered to Authorized repair companies. For £54.90 per week, you can rent a kit if you'd prefer not to buy a tool for a single repair. Customers have the option of returning replaced parts for recycling and refurbishment in exchange for a possible credit.

A battery module costs £70.78 (€77.04), a display module costs £282.28 (€327.11), and a camera module costs £168.55 (€192.76). These are just a few instances of part costs. The rental looks like a decent option because many different instruments, including a magnetizer, adhesive cutter, battery press, display press, and various torque drivers, are needed for an iPhone 13 repair. It also goes without saying that you should feel competent performing moderately difficult repairs.

It's a good choice for people who might live a long way from an official Apple repair facility. In addition, you might want to assess how much an expert repair from Apple or a third party would cost in relation to the cost of the parts, tool rental, and your own time.

According to Apple COO Jeff Williams, "We believe the best technology for our customers and the planet is technology that lasts, which is why we design our products to be robust and rarely need maintenance or repair." But if a repair is required, we want customers to have a wide range of options for secure, trustworthy, and safe repairs.

That's all well and good, but right-to-repair laws in both the US and Europe ultimately drove Apple into this situation. Additionally, the EU expects fixes to be possible going back more than two generations. It recently put up new regulations that would call for 15 parts (batteries, displays, chargers, etc.) to be readily available for at least five years following the release of a phone in the EU, or, in Apple's case, back to the iPhone X.

By the end of 2024, a legislation established by the EU requiring USB-C charging for mobile devices will also force Apple to stop using its Lightning connector on iPhones. Since possessing two Apple products (an iPad Pro and an iPhone) necessitates the use of two different cords, the regulation symbolizes an effort to remove wires as an electronic waste.