I would consider myself an old school Libertarian, in that we should be free to do as we please as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else. I also feel like the government should be involved in as little as possible.
One thing I am grateful for is the EU’s regulation of tech companies. We have them to thank for USB-C ports on iPhones, 5 years of security updates on all phones sold from 07/2025 onwards and the right to repair amongst other things.
The EU mandated that smartphone manufacturers have to supply spare parts to the end user within 5-10 working days for at least 7 years after the product is no longer sold in the EU. Apple now have this website: Self Service Repair Store.
Using this website seemed a little prohibitive, for instance I had to find a code hidden within a repair guide to be allowed to add the battery for my iPhone 12 Mini to the basket. However, I received the battery today, along with a new display adhesive.
The experience was I’d expect from a genuine product, the repair went very smoothly and my device is as new again. Now the repair is complete I can claim essentially a 50% credit on the money I spent after recycling the old battery. All in all the repair cost me £87.76 and the credit will return £40.80 to me. This means the total cost for repair was £46.96. Apple currently have the repair listed at £85, but that also doesn’t account for the inconvenience of either having to ship the phone off or having to travel to an Apple shop which in my case is over an hours drive away.
The repair itself was like any other glass sandwich smartphone. Use heat, suction tools, pry tools, isopropyl alcohol and prayers to remove the front screen, clean up the adhesive, remove a few screws to remove the display, have an absolute nightmare removing the battery adhesive, fit the new battery and reassemble. If you’re experienced in smartphone repair, an iPhone is nothing to worry about. 30 minutes and the job is done.
Hopefully we will keep benefiting from this EU regulation of tech companies from the UK even though we’re no longer a part of it. I would hate for us to go back to not having access to affordable spare parts for our devices. I have essentially been able to make a 5 year old smartphone work like new, without access to these spare parts it would be much closer to landfill than it is now.
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