Apple has unveiled ‘Self Service Repair’ (SSP) giving hope to individual consumers to complete their own repairs with genuine Apple parts and tools.

With the introduction of ‘Self Service Repair’, individual customers will now join 2,800 Independent Repair Providers (IRPs) and 5,000 Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) in receiving authorisation to fix their Apple devices using genuine parts, tools and documentation guides.

The move comes after growing pressure on tech providers to support a public ‘Right to Repair’ in the interests of environmental and consumer protection.

Over 200 Apple OEM parts and tools along with manual documentation will be made available for the iPhone battery, display and camera functions initially with additional repair opportunities being added during 2022. SSP will see first light in the United States with global expansion planned throughout 2022 facilitated via an online store for technical consumers with the knowledge and experience to fixing their own damaged devices.

Prices for these genuine parts are yet to be officially released, but the online store will be managed by an unnamed third party provider with repair manuals being made available through the Apple Support website.

This announcement now positions Apple as the central hub for consumers who desire to access genuine parts and how to manuals for out of warranty, damaged devices. However, the scheme is only aimed at new and future models of Apple products and will not help customers who own older generations of iPhones or Mac devices. SSP is initially being rolled out across the iPhone 12 and 13 line-ups with future plans to include Mac computers with M1 Chips.

Responsibility for fixing their own Apple devices has been shifted onto the consumer from IRPs permitting wide public access to the tightly guarded Apple ecosystem. Examples of the devolution of repairs to the masses include new software availability for ‘True Tone’ allowing for replacement display parts to be used on iPhone devices and customers who return their broken Apple ‘core’ device parts will receive credit towards their original purchase order.

The self-service repair program is just one pillar of a multi-pronged approach by Apple for increasing the longevity of their endpoints’ lifecycles including the introduction of a ceramic chassis shield and the replacement of plastic with steel on the iPhone 12 and 13 alongside crack resistant crystal for the Apple Watch 7’s display.

However, Apple and associated commentators warn of the dangers of consumer self service repair where DIY by Apple device owners can lead to further damage of the device through misrepair where tampering of the lithium-ion battery can cause serious bodily harm.

For the majority of Apple device owners, visiting a professional repair provider such as Lineal with our experienced technicians who use genuine Apple parts is the most reliable and safest way to ensure a successful repair:

For apple device expertise and IT support, please contact our team today.