Apple Attacks Right to Repair Laws with Ridiculous Threats

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If your tractor breaks down, you should be able to fix it, right? Running low on coolant? Of course you should be able to add more and patch the leak or replace the radiator. If your smartphone breaks, you should have the same right. Screen broken? Buy a replacement online. Battery dead? Pop the old one out and throw in a new one.

To consumers, this just makes sense. It’s your product, of course you should be able to repair the things that you own, if you so choose to.

But Apple, with its extremely high repair costs and repair parts, disagrees. They want to be the sole place you can go to repair their often fragile and expensive products. That’s why they fight these right to repair laws whenever they come up. These laws state that people should have the right to repair their own products and buy individual parts separately at a reasonable price. Should you be able to build your own iPhone out of spare parts? Sure, but not for the same price as Apple can sell it. That’s fair parts pricing.

The laws should be a win for consumers, but Apple would lose. They currently bundle parts and repair labor together, selling repairs for an extremely high markup. This also allows them to sell their “AppleCare” protection plans to consumers, who feel as though they have to buy the insurance, lest they go bankrupt repairing their products later.

Apple’s fighting these laws, but consumers universally want them. Fortunately, it seems a few democratic politicians have taken up the case. Unfortunately, it seems some have caved to Apple’s ridiculous tactics.

What is the Right to Repair?

The idea of “Right to Repair” laws is to protect rights consumers assume they already have. You assume you can fix or repair anything you own, right? Well, companies can take measures to remove that ability. Gluing batteries into place, refusing to sell parts to third party repair shops or consumers, or forcing consumers to use their own repair services are all anti-consumer policies that block your ability to repair your own products.

Right to repair often comes up in discussions with Apple, but Apple’s not the only one fighting these laws. John Deere, the tractor maker, prevents farmers from repairing their own equipment. The end result are incredibly expensive pieces of equipment that farmers can’t repair, modify, or upgrade on their own. Instead, they have to rely on John Deere for expensive repairs and upgrades. This hurts farmers and the people who reply on the food farmers grow, However, it allows John Deere to profit off of their products breaking down. They make more money from products that break during their lifetime than products that last forever. That’s a poor business model. When companies have absolute monopolies, as both Apple and John Deere do, consumers are forced to put up with anti-consumer behavior.

This is where right to repair laws come in. They say that, while companies have the right to protect their proprietary hardware and software, there is compromise. Companies could sell sealed parts as bundles, they could sell less proprietary parts like batteries, and they can make instructions to repair these products easy to find. In doing so, they allow consumer to make their own repair decisions, open up the possibility for competitive repair markets, and allow the free market to work for all people. A little regulation protects consumers and businesses.

What’s Bad About Right to Repair?

Frankly? For you or me, nothing. Right to repair will bring down costs. These laws will also force Apple and other companies to make their products more environmentally friendly and more durable. We’ll have products that last and are easy to break down and recycle, both elements to helping consumers and the environment.

If companies can still protect parts like their processors, by only selling them bundled with the logic board and sealed to it, then they can still protect proprietary hardware while putting goods in the hands of consumers.

What about secure parts like Face ID or Touch ID? Perhaps Apple should only allow certified technicians to repair these parts, to protect consumers from hackers. We can make exceptions to these laws in the interest of consumer privacy and security. They are not absolute.

What about consumer injury? You can hurt yourself working on a car, tractor, or even an iPhone. What then? Consumers know they take that risk, and forfeit the ability to sue a manufacturer when they get under the hood.

Apple used to have certified third party repair shops. But as they made Apple Stores more common, they no longer saw the need to certify third party shops. However, consumers left driving for 30 miles or more in rural America may beg to differ. It’s clear these right to repair laws are necessary.

Why is Apple Fighting the Right to Repair?

I almost forgot to get AppleCare for my 2018 MacBook Pro, which, with it’s terrible keyboard, will almost certainly need repairs. Apple designed their keyboards, more than any other product in their inventory, to be obscenely easy to damage. The keys will break from simple dust exposure over time.

Replacing the keyboard currently involves replacing the entire top shell of the MacBook Pro, including some expensive electronics. What should be a simple keyboard swap instead costs hundreds of dollars. Without a nearly $400 AppleCare plan, those expenses could break the bank. Apple can sell expensive plans because they price their own repairs. They have a monopoly on both the MacBook Pro insurance and repair markets. They get to set their own prices, and they choose to set them as high as customers are willing to, begrudgingly, pay.

Frankly, Apple cares more about this added source of revenue than they do their proprietary hardware. Consumer security is one thing, but they have firmware measures in place that can prevent tampering. The only real reason Apple is fighting these laws is for that extra source of revenue.

How is Apple Fighting Right to Repair?

Apple has chosen an absolutely absurd way to fight right to repair laws, and, unfortunately, they’re working. Apple sent lobbyists to Canada and California, as well as agricultural states, places where politicians have been pushing for right to repair laws. They show them the dangers of lithium ion batteries. Lithium, if you didn’t know, is flammable. When it comes into contact with water, it ignites. That’s why puncturing a battery is extremely dangerous. Outside of a phone, Apple argues, people could damage these batteries and hurt themselves!

Of course, the argument is silly. Take apart any electronic device and you’ll find large capacitors, live wires, and a plethora of other dangerous items. Cars have had batteries in them for decades, and some do use lithium ion batteries. Consumers know repairing devices can be risky. With the right parts, well made products, and the tools they need to make those repairs, there’s virtually no risk. Apple is withholding those items, but third parties, like iFixit, sell the tools and give away instructions for repairs.

Apple’s argument is silly. But it was enough to slow politicians down. Right to repair laws have stalled everywhere Apple has sent representatives to threaten of dangerous products and hurt voters.

Is There Hope?

Some politicians are wise to Apple’s games. At least one of them is running for president. Bernie Sanders recently announced he wants to put right to repair laws on the books. He’s not alone. Before he caught on, Elizabeth Warren has been a fierce protector of consumer rights. Warren has written an article outlining her plan to protect farmers and consumers with right to repair legislation. She also wants to break up large tech monopolies to ensure companies cannot so easily attack their own consumers. This would foster competition, free up the market, and give consumers their rights back.

Neither politician’s beliefs are considered fringe in the Democratic party, at least when it comes to right to repair laws.

What Can We Do?

Vote for intelligent, tech-savvy politicians who would rather regulate large businesses to protect consumers rather than allowing them to run free. Vote for politicians who want to break up monopolies and enforce anti-trust laws that are already on the books. Basically, to protect consumers, vote for liberal politicians. Right-leaning politicians have no interest in consumers’ rights, and they’ll allow these businesses to do whatever they want. But not all liberals are alike. Make sure your elected officials and candidates know this is an important issue. Send them an email, tweet them on Twitter, or give them a call. You have to make your voice heard, even to sympathetic politicians. Nothing will change if you don’t demand it.

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Sources:

• Mitchel Broussard, MacRumors
• Luke Dormehl, Cult of Mac
• Catie Keck, Gizmodo
• Jason Koebler, Vice/Motherboard
• Elizabeth Warren, Medium
• Mike Wuerthele and Malcolm Owen, AppleInsider