Can You Fix It? Yes, You Can

Welcome back to our weekly blog, where today we’ll be talking in-depth about a recent announcement, by one of the biggest tech companies in the world, regarding third-party repairs. In case you haven’t heard the news, last week, Apple announced that it will start selling DIY repair kits for some of their devices. To be fair, Apple started to sell “genuine” parts to third-party repair shops last year, but with this decision, they’re taking a big step forward towards opening their proprietary parts and tools to users. Before we go any further, however, we think it’s important to give you some context about this news.For years now there has been a heated debate between repair service shops, users and phone manufacturers to allow the possibility of repairing owned devices through unofficial means, without any legal or technical restrictions. Tech companies pushed back on the idea by arguing that, technically, doing so would infringe on their patented and copyrighted products. If you haven’t heard about it, this debate came to be known as “The Right to Repair”. As the conversation grew, tech companies reinforced their positions by implementing certain features and processes to prevent, or make more difficult, any attempt to tamper with their devices. One such tactic glued components in place, or attached them in a way that makes it difficult to remove them without the risk of further damage. The other method tech companies use to prevent third-party tampering, is part pairing. What part pairing basically does, is that, if the phone detects the use of unofficial components, it causes malfunctions going from warning messages to removing security features such as Face ID if the display wasn’t swapped by a manufacturer-authorized facility. You can now see why Apple’s recent news is such a big deal for users and third-party repair shops.According to Apple, this program will start with the iPhone 12/iPhone 13 and that the next device to be added to its DIY repair list, are Macs powered by the M1 chips. This surprising decision represents a dramatic shift in their approach to device maintenance and repairs. Before the announcement, official repair options were only available at Apple Stores and officially licensed third-party repair stores. Choosing to do it yourself or getting repairs done at a non-authorized repair store would void your warranty, regardless of valid additional insurance such as Apple Care and Apple Care+. It is also worth noting that, along with official tools, the tech giant will also offer instructions regarding how to repair its devices. Adding to this, TechCrunch reported that Apple has also announced that attempting a DIY repair with Apple’s tools and official kits won’t void the device’s warranty. The new store will offer more than 200 individual parts and tools, enabling customers to complete the most common repairs on iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. Still, don’t get too excited just yet, because for the moment, owners will only be able to replace their iPhone’s display, battery and camera using parts directly from Apple.Despite the limited repairable issues, this sudden change of mind opens up new possibilities for users, as well as companies, to get the repairs they need without having to depend on Apple’s repair service, which means lower costs and faster repairs. We covered this specific topic about Apple’s extended warranties on a previous entry, where also argued that Apple Care+ was rarely worth the money. You can find it here. Now, going back to our point, this is where we come in. You see, many companies’ IT departments aren’t properly suited to repair Apple mobile devices, since they required handling proprietary tools that, until now, were relatively hard to get your hands on through official channels. Not for us, though.At Expertel we have valuable experience fixing and maintaining Apple phones! Our Help Desk has handled thousands of service requests by big and small businesses who need their repairs done as soon as possible, and every time, we’ve come through with positive results. Think about it. Why spend your budget, time and resources training your IT department employees to learn how to fix an iPhone, when you know such occasions are rare? You could skip all that process altogether and save a bigger chunk of your budget by having us take care of any repairs your devices need, as many times as you need it. This is especially true if you’re having to manage a fleet of 100+ phones. Of course, you could train one or two of your workers to do it, or even hire new ones to come on board for the long run, but have you thought about what their workload would be? The more phones you have, the more technicians you’ll need, and the more technicians you have, the higher your budget will be. How long will a recently-trained technician take to fix a single phone? How much will having an in-house expert cost you? What happens when all your phones are fixed? Why ask all these questions when you have us?All jokes aside, our team at Expertel is made up of experts in their respective fields, and the services we provide have been created to help businesses, of all sizes, save more on their mobile and wireless needs. Our technician teams know how to get the job done right, and fast, so that your workflow isn’t interrupted by long waiting cues to get your devices repaired, and our Help Desk can provide customized tech support for every issue or doubt that you, and your company, could have. That’s just what we do at Expertel.Whew! That’s a lot of information, so now we’re going to try to sum all of it up for you. In short, after years of fighting for “The Right to Repair”, Apple, one of the biggest tech manufacturers, has made a radical turn by opening up some of their proprietary tools and components to allow users to repair their devices without limitations. This change will definitely have a profound impact for third-party repair services and for tech-savvy users as well. Furthermore, it is also very likely that many companies (and users) relying on iPhones and other Apple gadgets will find better, cheaper alternatives to the usual Apple rates to fix their devices, such as Expertel. Finally, while the debate about The Right to Repair is still ongoing, it’s very likely that some of Apple’s competitors will begin to relax, or even shift, their current approach to self-service repairs in the future. Hopefully, this big announcement is just the beginning of a wider trend that will enable users to repair their devices at home or office at a lower cost. Of course, there’s still many announcements worth keeping an eye out for in the future, but for now, if you’re looking for a reliable way to repair your devices or want Expertel to help you find the best deals for them, feel free to get in touch with us by filling out the contact form that you’ll find by following this link to our contact page. We hope you found some of the stuff in this article useful and we’ll see you next week, on our next blog post!