Apple Pledges Support for California's Right-to-Repair Act

pcmag.com:

Apple, a company with a long history of making its devices hard to repair, has decided to support California's Right to Repair Act (Senate Bill 244).

Confirmation of that support came in the form of a letter from Apple's director of State and Local Government Affairs, Mike Foulkes, to California State Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman. "Today, Apple writes in support of SB 244, and urges members of the California legislature to pass the bill as currently drafted," Foulkes says.

Nathan Proctor, senior director of the Campaign for the Right to Repair at the public interest group PIRG, views this as "an unexpected about-face" by Apple.

"For years, Apple has been one of the most visible opponents of repair access, lobbying against giving consumers and independent repair shops what they need to fix devices, including lobbying in California," Proctor says. "However, with the Right to Repair movement gaining recognition and support—and leading to laws in other states—Apple has reversed course and has endorsed SB 244."

Kyle Wiens, iFixit’s CEO, also commented, saying "Apple's endorsement of the Right to Repair Bill in California is a watershed moment for consumer rights. It feels like the Berlin Wall of tech repair monopolies is starting to crumble, brick by brick."

As Wiens notes, Sen. Eggman has been working on this bill since 2018. It passed the California State Senate 38-0 in May and will face a final hearing in the Assembly Appropriations committee next week. Once it passes the Assembly, it goes to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.

If the bill is approved, manufacturers would be required to provide tools, parts, and repair information to consumers and independent repair shops. For products costing between $50 and $99.99,