Apple announced a new program that offered customers additional places to go for out-of-warranty iPhone repairs Thursday. It will provide independent firms with the same resources as Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs).
Genuine Parts For Independent Repair Firms
The program will see independent repair businesses receive the same genuine parts, tools, training, manuals and diagnostics as AASPS. The program is free for those firms join. They simply need an Apple certified technician to perform the work in order to qualify. The program is starting in the U.S. but Apple has plans to expand.
“To better meet our customers’ needs, we’re making it easier for independent providers across the US to tap into the same resources as our Apple Authorized Service Provider network,” said Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams. “When a repair is needed, a customer should have confidence the repair is done right. We believe the safest and most reliable repair is one handled by a trained technician using genuine parts that have been properly engineered and rigorously tested,” he added.
Apple piloted the program with 20 firms in North America, Europe and Asia who offered genuine parts. Furthermore, it recently expanded the number of AASP locations by having one in every U.S. Best Buy store.
Don’t think for one moment that Apple has experienced a change of heart that favors its customers. It will continue to vociferously fight DIY repairs across the globe; and build products with planned obsolescence that cannot be easily repaired, upgraded or expanded. This is the new Apple, the company that once lead the personal computer revolution, now just another conservative corporation that it once railed against in 1984.