Apple's At Home Repair Places Obstacles To Ensure Control: Right To Repair Activist

Right to repair advocate Nathan Proctor says Apple Inc.'s AAPL repair-at-home service is impractical, arguing that it requires interested users to jump through too many hoops.

The remarks follow recent reports that Apple's rental program of repair kits might be considered impractical self-service, with the equipment weighing nearly as much as a 12-year-old or more than two truck tires.

What Happened: Proctor — who leads Public Interest Research Group's right to repair campaign — said in a recent statement that Apple's initiative is encouraging but Apple is exerting too much control by locking parts to specific devices and requiring active verification of them during the repair.

Proctor said that he does not "see how locking parts to a specific device and requiring manufacturer approval to install it offers any benefit to the product owner, but it does allow Apple to maintain a lot of control over the repair process."

He said "if Apple can decide to stop supporting repairs" or that "a phone is too old, they can effectively put an expiration date on any product needing repair" by halting support for part verification.

'This Is A Start': Proctor said "this is a start," but highlighted that "there are still too many hoops to jump through to fix phones" and said companies should allow the use of parts from alternative manufacturers as well.

Similarly, repair news outlet and tool vendor iFixit wrote that the program is a "great step" forward, but too restrictive due to the part verification requirements imposed on consumers tying components to serial numbers.