A new approach to fixing products will benefit consumers, designers and the environment
Years ago, long before the iPhone, nobody needed a professional technician to switch out a phone battery. You simply slid open the back, inserted a replacement and the job was done. The first iPhone changed everything. Now you might need a screwdriver, nylon pry tools, a dental pick, a tweezer, a soldering iron and maybe 40 minutes of spare time. Today, many iPhone owners view a dying battery as simply a prompt to upgrade.
Several factors changed this dynamic. First, thanks to globalised supply chains and manufacturing, the real cost of durable goods such as TVs has been dropping for decades. For many consumers, it’s now easier and cheaper to throw out a $200 flat screen and upgrade than it is to attempt a repair. As a result, manufacturers had few reasons to build out expensive spare-part supply chains.
Apple’s about-face this week was unexpected, but it had a clear logic. For more than a decade, “right to repair” activists have been lobbying state legislatures and federal officials to prohibit anti-repair practices. In March, those activists scored a major victory when President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling for an end to repair monopolies. For Apple, the writing was likely on the iPad: expand repair options voluntarily, or fight a losing battle to resist.
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