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Apple Says iPhones Are Becoming Too Complex For Third Party Repairs

Apple Says iPhones Are Becoming Too Complex For Third Party Repairs

The firm's environmental officer has spoken out.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Apple is a company that has long come under fire for its repairs policy and now its top environmental officer has spoken out, saying that the new iPhone is designed with 'durability' at the fore and that repairs are a last resort.

Now it looks as though iPhones are becoming even more difficult for third parties to repair, meaning that it probably won't be long before the company monopolises the repairs market.

In her extensive statement last week, Apple's vice president of policy and social initiatives, Lisa Jackson, stated that if a repair was necessary it should be accessible, but with the brand's harsh stance on third party repairs, many users say this is often not the case.

Credit: Newsflare

"I don't think you can say reparability equals longevity," Jackson said.

"I often say if you're in the repair business, repair seems like the answer. But actually you need to design for the life-cycle. And Apple has designed for some time around durability, around the idea we can release the latest and greatest product, your old product still works and has value.

"Our first thought is, 'You don't need to repair this'. When you do, we want the repair to be fairly priced and accessible to you," she added.

"To think about these very complex products and say the answer to all our problems is that you should have anybody to repair and have access to the parts is not looking at the whole problem."

This inability to take your Apple product to an independent repairer will seriously inconvenience some users, however.

Credit: ExtensivelyReviewed

A simple soldering job that could be carried out in a computer shop for a tenner could take days or even weeks to complete through an Apple Store or an authorised outlet, as the staff are not allowed to carry out this sort of hardware maintenance.

Instead they have to send the product off for an external repair that can take some time to complete, reports Motherboard.

"If the program worked well, I would have joined a long time ago," one independent repair shop owner told Motherboard when talking about the firm's 'authorised repair shop' scheme.

"The only thing they allow you to repair are screens and batteries. If there's a broken camera, you have to send it back. Broken charge port, send it back. If it's an iPad, you have to send it back. These are repairs that take minutes to do, and you have to send it out."

Source: Motherboard

Featured Image Credit: Extensively Reviewed

Topics: Apple, iPhone