Offbeat Apple make complaints about innovation. On November 18, according to Apple China's official website, the company will launch a self-service maintenance plan to allow customers to obtain Apple original parts and tools and repair their own equipment. The self-service maintenance program will be launched in the United States from the beginning of next year and extended to other countries in 2022 or later. The industry's analysis of Apple's move is different. Some analysts pointed out that it is to crack down on third-party maintenance channels. Some experts pointed out that it gives unofficial maintenance channels a development opportunity.

Launch self-service maintenance plan
The self-service maintenance plan launched by Apple will first be applied to iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 series products, and MAC computers equipped with M1 chip will also join soon.

The initial phase of the plan will focus on the components that most often require maintenance services, such as iPhone display, battery and camera. Self service repair of other parts will be opened later next year. Customers will obtain these parts, tools, and manuals in the same way as more than 5000 Apple authorized service providers (AASPS) and 2800 independent service providers.

Let consumers repair their own mobile phones. I have to say that apple is really "innovative" this time. It should be the first enterprise in the industry to dare to launch this service.

What does Apple think? The reporter of Beijing business daily interviewed Apple China on the reasons for launching this plan, and the other party said that the official news would prevail.

According to Jeff Williams, the company's chief operating officer on Apple's official website, further opening the scope of access to Apple's original parts can give customers more choices when they need to repair equipment, "In the past three years, Apple has nearly doubled the number of service outlets that can obtain Apple original parts, tools and training, and now we will provide new options for users who want to complete their own repairs.".

The reporter of Beijing business daily interviewed several consumers, but they all expressed their resistance to the plan. Ms. Zhang said frankly: "can I repair it myself? In case it breaks down, it's not something worth tens of dollars."

Mr. Wang believes that if there is no price discount, he will certainly not repair it by himself and bear certain risks. "Moreover, if he does not promise the minimum risk of damage, it will be relatively lost, and this only reduces the after-sales cost of apple. For ordinary people, unless they are interested, they are not willing to do this time-consuming, laborious and thankless thing".

For the concerns of consumers, apple specifically stated in the announcement that the self-service maintenance plan is applicable to technicians with electronic equipment maintenance knowledge and experience. For the vast majority of customers, the safest and reliable way to obtain maintenance services is to go to professional maintenance service providers and hand over the equipment to certified technicians using apple original parts for repair.

In order to ensure the safe completion of maintenance, customers must first consult the maintenance manual. After that, customers can order Apple original parts and maintenance tools in Apple self-service maintenance online store. After maintenance, if customers choose to return the replaced parts to apple for recycling, they can also enjoy a discount when purchasing apple products in the future.

Do users pay
"Constantly improving service quality is a must for all modern enterprises, and apple is no exception." Ma Jihua, a communication expert, said that with the increase of Apple's mobile phone ownership, the service cycle is lengthened and the user's maintenance demand is increased. Self-service maintenance can help solve the problem. At present, the shipment of Apple mobile phones is limited by production capacity, allowing users to solve some small problems by themselves, reducing maintenance costs and helping to retain users.

In this regard, ifixit, a well-known website that has been calling for the right to repair, believes that this is a victory for consumers, and said: "we are glad to see that Apple has acknowledged the fact that everyone has enough skills to repair the iPhone."

In fact, since 2016, business organizations represented by ifixit and the American public interest research alliance have been calling for the arrival of the fair Maintenance Act. However, these technology enterprises have been trying to prevent users from obtaining the ability to independently repair their own equipment, including but not limited to restricting users' access to original parts, maintenance manuals and diagnostic tools, announcing the policy of private disassembly and warranty refusal, lobbying against laws granting consumers the right to repair, and using integrated non removable rather than modular design in equipment manufacturing.

From banning the flow of parts to third-party maintenance providers, to launching the independent maintenance provider plan for third-party maintenance providers, and now individual users have the opportunity to repair their own equipment, Apple's previous policy has also undergone great changes in recent years. In this regard, Kyle Wiens, CEO of ifixit, believes that this is due to the increasing pressure on Apple's legislature, and said: "the threat they face is imminent."

Give birth to new industries?
Many users who have used Apple products should know that the cost of maintenance in Apple's official channel is generally thousands, and the price of official parts is much higher than that in the third-party maintenance channel. Therefore, although many users choose to buy Apple mobile phones, they will not carry out maintenance after apple.

A consumer told the Beijing Business Daily that Apple's products were affordable and could not be repaired. She spent nearly 10000 yuan to buy a MacBook before, but the problem of flower screen appeared after using it for more than a year. The official maintenance required 3000 yuan. However, at that time, she was replaced free of charge during the warranty period. Another year later, her computer failed again. This time, it was the problem of the main board. The whole circuit board needed to be replaced for maintenance. The price was nearly 5000 yuan. After the warranty period, Even if this is a failure of the computer itself, consumers still need to bear the cost. If the warranty factor is not included, the sum of the two maintenance prices is enough for her to buy another apple computer.

Apple's restrictions on third-party maintenance channels are not just beginning. The iPhone 12 disassembly report released by ifixit last year shows that if users want to replace the camera parts of iPhone 12, they must obtain the authorization of Apple's official software. This also means that the third-party maintenance platform cannot repair the iPhone 12 without authorization. If there is a problem with the consumer's iPhone 12, they must go to Apple after-sales for maintenance.

However, in Ma Jihua's view, in most cases, the users who can self-service maintenance are probably not ordinary users. Instead, Apple's move may open unofficial maintenance channels and even give birth to an industry.

If it is just an ordinary consumer, as Mr. Wang worried above, who will pay for the damage done by himself? "This shows that the independent maintenance plan still needs to standardize many details, and how to solve the problems that may occur in each link of maintenance. For mobile phones that have been used for a long time, changing the screen, memory and battery will be relatively simple and practical," Ma Jihua said.

As consumers, they may not only worry about their own maintenance level, but also the price of parts. After all, in Apple's industry, not only products are expensive. A polishing cloth costs 145 yuan, a leather key chain costs 279 yuan, a silicone protective case costs 399 yuan, and a woven watch strap costs 779 yuan. These accessories do not have much high-tech content, and some are consumables.