Apple this week penned a letter to California state senator Eggman, voicing support for SB 244, a “right to repair” bill currently making its way through California’s State legislature.
While Apple has typically been against the repair of their products outside their own stores, they did introduce their “self repair” program last year.
SB 244 is a fairly expansive bill and it includes consumer electronics and appliances, with a few exceptions including game consoles and alarm systems.
In the letter, Apple expresses its support on the grounds of offering consumers the ability to repair their devices safely, without risking privacy or data issues.
Apple supports California’s Right to Repair Act so all Californians have even greater access to repairs while also protecting their safety, security, and privacy,” the company says in a statement provided to TechCrunch. “We create our products to last and, if they ever need to be repaired, Apple customers have a growing range of safe, high-quality repair options.
Coming from a manufacturer has been (to date) highly unusual. It is the only major manufacturer to express its support for the bill.
Apple’s support for California’s Right to Repair Act demonstrates the power of the movement that has been building for years and the ability for industries to partner with us to make good policy to benefit the people of California,” Sen. Eggman says in the release. I’m grateful for their engagement on this issue and for leading among their peers when it comes to supporting access to repair.
Right to Repair is gaining ground. 14 states have introduced similar bills and New York signed the Digital Fair Repair Act last year.
California’s new legislation would require manufacturers to
make available, on fair and reasonable terms, to product owners, service and repair facilities, and service dealers, the means, as described, to effect the diagnosis, maintenance, or repair of the product, as provided…
regardless of warranty.
It would also,
—“require a service and repair facility or service dealer that is not an authorized repair provider, as defined, of a manufacturer to provide a written notice of that fact to any customer seeking repair of an electronic or appliance product before the repair facility or service dealer repairs the product, and to disclose if it uses replacement parts that are used or from a supplier that is not the manufacturer.”
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