Apple was very clear about its intentions during the Wonderlust event. The company stated its aim to completely neutralize its carbon footprint by 2030. However, this commitment to caring for the planet doesn’t seem to address another major issue with Apple: the limited (and sometimes nonexistent) repairability of its products.
Planned obsolescence remains a significant obstacle on the path toward environmental care and the defense of consumer rights. It’s well known how companies manufacture products that become non-functional after a certain period, solely to keep the public consuming endlessly. Yet, the truth is, nowadays, there’s no need to create subpar products. Marketing and the need to have the latest technology, driven by the fear of missing out (FOMO), are more than enough to make you switch phones every two years, even if your current one works just as well as it did on day one.
For these reasons and more, the public has been advocating for their right to repair, something that has been a complete ordeal for those with Apple devices. The company has never made it easy for its users. You need only examine products like the 2018 iMac Pro and MacBook Pro, which are virtually inaccessible (unless you’re part of Apple or an authorized technician). It’s also known that since 2016, Apple has soldered the SSDs to the motherboard in most of its Macs.
Years later, in 2021, the company agreed to offer official replacement parts so consumers could repair devices like the iPhone by themselves. But that’s as far as the story goes. Today, anyone daring to tinker with an Apple product will encounter software barriers preventing repairs, even if the hardware is in perfect condition.
This has become even more evident with the launch of the iPhone 15. As iFixit discovered, the iPhone 15 is riddled with these locks, triggering messages warning of “loss of functionality” if non-official Apple parts are used.
The ability to freely repair our devices positively impacts both the planet and our wallets. Although Apple claims to believe in this, their actions say otherwise. The fight for universal access to repair is far from over, and the pressure exerted by consumers, activists, and regulators is crucial.
