The White House said Apple will expand support for hardware repairs, and an official announcement could come as early as later today. The news was revealed by National Economic Council Director Lael Brainard in remarks prepared for a White House event on Tuesday night.
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Citing previous legislation in California and other states, the executive said, "Whether you are in California, Maine, or Michigan, Apple will provide you with the parts, tools, and documentation needed to repair your Apple product at a reasonable price, as described in California law."
It's unclear what this all means, and Yahoo Finance, the source of the report, didn't provide any details. Apple's existing plans already do this for a large portion of its existing product line, and it's unclear how far the expansion will go.
Currently, in addition to Apple service centers, the plan also has two aspects, one for independent repair shops and the other for self-service repairs.
Apple surprised ordinary consumers, repair advocates and the broader tech industry when it first announced its self-repair program in November 2021. The program actually launches on April 27, 2022.
Through the repair portal, users can order parts for multiple iPhone models for standard repairs such as battery replacement, speaker replacement and display repair, and the portal also offers kits that can be purchased or rented for a specific time period.
In addition to tools and parts, Apple offers a large collection of different repair manuals and technical documentation for home use.
Apple expanded parts and manual access to third-party repair stores in 2019. However, there were and still are significant limitations to this expansion.
Home businesses will not be approved, Apple retains control of all trademarks, and applications may be rejected for any reason. Apple also requires business documents with the application and reserves the right to inspect those documents at any time.
Both plans are limited to complete component exchanges, such as an entire motherboard replacement versus component-level repairs. It's unclear how much Apple will charge for parts, or for larger, more expensive devices that Apple says are needed for repairs.
Apple may issue a press release on the matter soon.