The CBC's report 'Complete control': Apple accused of overpricing, restricting device repairs is a must read/watch although imperfect as it's a sample size of 1. There's a few reads from my estimation and none of them are particularly good:

  • Apple purposely recommends fixes that users do not need like a scandelous mechanic. I find this unlikely but it isn't implausible.
  • Apple's genius techs have degraded in quality due to shortcomings with Apple as an employer and. I find this compelling, I emailed this story to Nick Heer of Pxlnv and he replied with this, so credit to him.
  • Apple keeps a tight lease on it's repairs, and will only perform certain operations due to volume of repairs it makes and is uninterested in low hanging fixes. Apple has a paint-by-numbers repair shop that doesn't account for things like replacing a single cable, but rather an entire display as these are "known" fixes that reliably fix a host of problems, eliminating the guesswork and downplays the individual tech's required diagnosis. This acheives a few goals: problems are fixed with impunity. Techs are required to do little to no guesswork. Techs can be trained to do several big tasks instead of potentially hundreds of small tasks. Apple maintains a steap profit margin by selling the expensive-yet-effective service (or selling a new computer). This is personal theory (and probably corrolates with the above.).
  • Lastly, the CBC encountered an edge-case/outlier, and the tech who proposed the fix was in error or a sub-standard tech. That said, the CBC isn't the first person to make this argument, plenty of bloggers/youtubers and techs have accused Apple of proposing ludicrous fixes.

This all compounded by the fact Apple purposely makes its devices and computers non-userserviceable, going as far as to engineer non-standard screws, using glue to seat components, not provide 3rd parties with any manuals and the clamping down on authorized Apple service locations, and making user hostile designs. While the complexity of the ever increasing desire to shrink designs has stressed component placement, Apple takes extra steps to discourage users from exerting control on their own devices. This is where the CBC's report picks up. Instead of a simple hit piece on only Apple, as the world's most profitable company and arguably the most popular electronics maker, they are used as the canary in a coalmine and a segue to the right to repair.

If you haven't heard of right-to-repair, I suspect it's going to be a larger movement it extends far beyond just consumers and their gadgets, look no further than John Deere's war against farmers and in 2014, a minor victory occurred when pledged to honor right to repair, although Tesla seems less inclined to do so.

I feel my stake as someone who's written an 11,000+ word guide on upgrading/fixing/maintaining Mac Pros and have often lamented planned obsolescence and the death of modular computing.

If you have a minute, I suggest taking up the cause. It's easy, the following three organizations all have comprehensive ways to take political action and links to legislation.

Right to Repair Action