Apple extends support to indie Mac repair shops

Most indie repair shops don’t look like this Mac Pro factory.

Apple has expanded its program that offers approved spare parts and training to independent repair concerns with the addition of support for Macs.

Your friendly Mac repair shop

In response to a growing market and demand for lower cost, more available repairs, Apple last year launched a scheme that enabled independent shops to legitimately fix iPhones without voiding user warranties.

Now it has extended to scheme to Macs as well, who have had to use Apple or authorized repair shops in order to maintain their Apple warranty.

This is a good starting point as the company faces criticism for the lack of user serviceable parts in its systems. Given the company’s product design model seems to be moving toward increasingly integrated devices it makes sense for it to work to bring down the cost of repairs.

The independent repair scheme began in the U.S. last year. It was expanded across 32 countries in Europe as well as Canada in 2020, when the company said 140 businesses with a total of 700 locations had joined.

What Apple says

In a statement, the company said:

“We’re excited to expand our independent repair provider program to the Mac, so that customers have an additional way to have their Mac serviced with Apple genuine parts,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer.

“When a device needs repairs, we want people to have access to a safe and reliable solution — this latest expansion joins the thousands of repair locations we’ve added over the past year. We’re looking forward to bringing that convenient and trustworthy repair experience to our Mac users.”

See it in context

The company has also been working quite hard to cut the energy consequences of its manufacturing process and to develop closed loop manufacturing systems in which valuable components are recycled and reused.

While this isn’t quite the right to repair some demand, it does at least suggest the company takes arguments around spare parts and precious raw materials quite seriously. The compromise being that as devices become more sophisticated, they become less user serviceable – clearly there’s a need for further change, however.

The new Mac program complements the company’s existing global network of over 5,000 Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) that provide repairs for any Apple device. Independent repair providers now have access to the same iPhone parts and tools as AASPs, and at the same cost.

What repair shops are saying

“The access to real iPhone original spare parts, manuals and testing tools has been really great for both us and our customers and we are excited about the news that Mac parts will soon be available for us,” said Patrik Sandgren, owner of Sandgren Electronics AB from Sweden.

“The flexibility in the IRP program gives us the opportunity to offer different quality alternatives for the customer which is highly appreciated. The same flexibility for Mac repairs is wonderful news for us and all our customers. We can’t wait to get started with the training.”

“Being a part of the IRP program has greatly increased our repair business at GreenMind. Having access to Apple’s parts, tools and internal training has absolutely been a game-changer for our organization, and we’re incredibly excited about also offering Mac repairs through the program,” said Jakob Højland, CEO GreenMind.

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