Apple enthusiasts will have a little more freedom.

The Apple brand will indeed give its users the opportunity to repair their smartphones and certain computers themselves.

The move is an unexpected concession from the tech giant, known for its very closed ecosystem of devices and software.

The online store, called "Self Service Repair", will buy more than 200 spare parts and useful tools for the most common problems of the latest iPhone lines (12 and 13), such as defective batteries or screens, 'after a November 17 statement.

Excellent: Apple announces a self-repair program for individuals, access to the same parts, tools and manuals as authorized repairers:


- early 2022 in the US, other countries after


- screen, battery, camera first


- iPhone 12 and 13 (then Mac M1) https://t.co/zxHkAeAWA2

- Philippe Berry (@ptiberry) November 17, 2021

Apple has long restricted repairs to its technicians in its stores - at the counter known as the "genius bar" - and certain authorized traders, but wait times and prices are generally high.

This feature and accusations of planned obsolescence regularly earned him criticisms about the durability of his devices.

What Apple is offering "isn't perfect, but we're delighted they're finally admitting what we've always known: everyone is smart enough to fix an iPhone," so enthused on Twitter, with a irony tip, iFixit, a website that bills itself as a guide to repairing all kinds of items.

A control that is regularly criticized

The new service will be launched in the United States in early 2022, before being extended to other countries in the year, and will soon include, in addition to smartphones, computers equipped with the M1 chip, manufactured by Apple. "Customers thus join more than 5,000 authorized suppliers and 2,800 independent repairers who have access to spare parts, tools and manuals", specifies the Californian group. “Over the past three years, we've almost doubled the number of locations that have (this) access,” said Jeff Williams, COO.

This decision comes as Apple is regularly criticized by companies and authorities for controlling too closely its physical and intangible ecosystem.

Compatibility issues with devices from other brands, for example, strongly encourage consumers to stay in the apple world.

And on the iPhone, Apple's operating system closely supervises third-party mobile applications, which have to go through the App Store (the download platform).

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