Apple supporting Right to Repair?

California’s Right to Repair Act, Senate Bill 244, has passed the state legislature. The bill passed with overwhelming approval, with a 65–0 vote in the Assembly, following a 38–0 vote in the Senate. The bill has to go back to the Senate for a minor procedural vote, and then it will await the governor’s signature.

California stands tall as the third state, after Minnesota and New York, to pass a Right to Repair law covering electronics. All three bills will collectively roll out in 2024 (January for New York and July for Minnesota and California), ensuring consumers in these states have more autonomy over their purchased devices. Together, these three states represent about 20% of the population of the United States.

This bill stands out from the laws that passed in Minnesota and New York by ensuring that repairs stay possible for longer. Manufacturers are mandated to keep repair materials, ranging from parts and tools to software and documentation, available for extended periods post-production: 3 years for products within the $50-$99.99 price bracket, and 7 years for those priced $100 or above. The bill applies to electronic and appliance products made and sold after July 1, 2021.

Some right to repair advocates are skeptical about the bill since Apple, a company that is known to be anti-repair, is in support of it. Apple is not usually a major direct lobbying force but has reportedly used its considerable heft to curb right-to-repair legislation in other states, including New York. In the New York bill, the governor added loopholes that would allow Apple to not supply any repair parts or schematics. 

The only way to truly know the outcome of this bill is in 2024, if independent repair shops can receive the parts and schematics required to do their work.