this post was submitted on 26 Oct 2023
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A couple years ago, Apple announced a program to let people buy replacement parts for their devices just as Congress was talking about right to repair. The program ended up having tons of limitations: very small part selection, and prices identical to Apple's own repair prices, etc. It was clear that this was an attempt to make it seem like they allowed end-user repair, while doing as much as possible to prevent it. Apple still uses software pairing so that you can't use working components from donor devices. You can't swap the camera module between two identical iPhones without getting errors, and this can only be fixed by getting Apple's help. They are going out of their way to stop independent repair, and have been for some time.
So what's the catch this time? I suspect it's probably more software restrictions. Currently, nobody can sell aftermarket parts for most phones, so any replacement parts need to come from Apple (and with Apple's restrictions). I'd want to see legislation to ban software locks and enable third parties to make replacement parts for phones.