Apple is once again accused of breaking the law to protect its precious iPhone.

The Stop Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association announced on Wednesday that it had filed a complaint against the American smartphone giant, which it accuses of limiting the possibilities of repairing its devices by non-approved repairers, according to a press release.

The association, which had already obtained in 2020 the condemnation of Apple to a fine of 25 million euros for lack of information in the so-called battery case, is this time targeting the so-called practice of “serialization”.

This method “consists of associating the serial numbers of the components and peripherals of a product with that of the iPhone via, in particular, microchips.

This practice has recently affected the parts most frequently subject to breakdowns (screens, battery, camera, etc.), explains the association.


📰 @Apple extended its self-repair program to *some* EU countries



😱 But it looks more like an attempt to scare people away from self-repair than a program to encourage them



👉 Read our reaction here https://t.co/ VSFrIBdvHT#Repair #RightToRepair #EU pic.twitter.com/ua5AKA0TJM

— Right to Repair Europe (@R2REurope) December 6, 2022

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Limit repairs to sell better

HOP reports that it documented in its "nearly sixty-page" complaint "numerous cases" in which malfunctions were found after the repair of an "even identical and original" but "not authorized by Apple software" part. .

These issues “can also be triggered during an update (as in the recent case of a repaired touchscreen on an iPhone XR rendered unusable after the iOS 16 update).

While a simple return to iOS15 can correct this failure, Apple does not authorize it, preferring to incriminate a “non-original Apple screen which causes a touch problem” ”, details the association.

“These malfunctions observed repeatedly, without information and without a solution provided to the consumer or the repairer, are not simple “bugs”.

They aim to disadvantage independent repair or reconditioning, in favor of the sale of new smartphones or captive repair, at prices that are often dissuasive for the consumer.

Apple advances at a forced march

This complaint is filed the day after the opening to French individuals of a first catalog of Apple spare parts intended for iPhones and Macbooks, nearly three years after the vote on the anti-waste law for a circular economy which made it compulsory to update disposal by the manufacturers of certain parts.



Contacted on Wednesday, Apple did not immediately respond to requests from AFP.

On December 21, 2017, the American group admitted that it was deliberately restricting the performance of the phone after a certain time in order to “extend the lifespan” of it.

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