Apple Self Service repair is set to come to M1 MacBook Air and Pro. That being said, it will not be coming to older models, unfortunately.
Apple Self Service Repair Set To Come To M1 MacBook Air and Pro
The Self Service Repair Program from apple was launched back in April and it is now expanding beyond iPhones to now include M1-based apple MacBook air and MacBook pro laptop systems.
Beginning from Tuesday all users and a host of service centers, if you are not that comfortable will be able to find a repair manual, purchase selected components from apple, swap them out for replacements, and then return the old components back to apple in most cases for credit. The tech company also is planning to add more Macs to the roster in the later parts of this year.
Apple Will Allow You to Replace Close To 15 Separate Components
For all models that are supported by this initial rollout such as the 2020 M1 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro and also the 2021 14-inch MacBook Pro and 16-inch MacBook Pro, Apple will now allow you to replace close to 15 separate components and they include the audio subsystem, display, battery, case top and bottom, logic board, keycaps plus Touch ID circuit board, antennas and so many more.
This move is relatively unsurprising to many users as apple had said that it would be ramping up to many more products over the period of the year. It totally makes a lot of sense given the fact that right-to-repair laws which hold essentially that companies cannot stop you or an independent shop from repairing electronics by withholding or hiding information, voiding warranties, and so forth have been passing in the United States such as the recent digital fair repair act of New York.
You should however note that majority of the drawbacks to the repair program that iFixit called out for the iPhone directly applies to the MacBooks also, and most notably in the sense that it does not extend to older devices that you know and the ones that really need it. Apple has already said that it does not have any plans to expand to include Intel models. That being said, you should also know that newer M2 models will be added eventually as well as the M1 iMac desktop.
Apple Self Service Repair Program Is Really Great and Advantageous
It’s really great that apple has begun opening its products up to a vast number of consumer and service center repairs. But one that that would really be great and environmentally responsible is being able to replace or upgrade typical modular components such as storage and memory without having to swap the whole logic board, at the least in the higher-end MacBook Pros. This issue however is not specific to apple, although even improving the reparability would go a great way in helping.
