This program offers free access to manuals and diagnostic software to solve the problems of iPad, iPhone and Mac. Customers can then buy the necessary parts and rent or buy the necessary tools for repairs.
Brian Naumann, Applecare vice-president, service and repair, at Apple, says that the program aims “improving the lifespan of devices, reduction of waste and the possibility for our customers and repair providers to have access to secure and quality repair options”.
Canada is the 34th country to access this program, which provides spare parts ranging from batteries to glass screen protections. The tools offered include dynamometric screwdrivers, cutting pliers and screwing tips.
However, Apple websites show that self-repair is often more expensive than the use of the company.
A battery kit and ip for iPhone 16 costs $ 135 Plus taxes, according to a website set up by Apple for the purchase of tools and spare parts. Another website offering quotes for repairs made by Apple staff indicates that customers pay around $ 99 to have their battery replaced by company staff in one of its stores.
A camera kit and screw for the same iPhone costs $ 219, more than the $ 169 that Apple estimates invoice for repairing a phone’s rear camera.
In most cases, customers can get a credit when they return their used or damaged parts to be refurbished or recycled in a responsible manner.
For example, if you return your old iPhone 16 battery, you get a credit of $ 64.80, bringing the cost of repair to $ 70.20. If you return the parts for repairing your camera, you get a credit of $ 52.56, a repair cost of $ 166.44.
Gaps
Anthony Rosborough, Professor of Law at Dalhousie University and co -founder of the Canadian Coalition for Repair, welcomes companies that facilitate repair by their customers, but qualifies the “unflactor” Apple program.
“Apple’s self-service repair program has several shortcomings, which explains why defenders of the right to repair are somewhat disappointed with the results,” he said.
For example, Mr. Rosborough specifies that the MacBook Air equipped with an M4 chip, released in March 2025, still has a glued battery, which makes it extremely difficult to repair.
“As promising as this program (self-deprecation) is, this does not change the fact that products of this type are always designed, manufactured and marketed,” he said.
In cases where repairs are possible or easier, he adds that customers often find that repairing themselves “hardly is worth it, if all the trouble”.
Replace a scanner – the part that converts your fingerprint on a screen into a digital format readable by your device – sometimes costs half the price of a new iPad, which often pushes customers to replace their device rather than repairing it, according to Mr. Rosborough.
Rather than relying on companies like Apple to launch their own self-repair programs, Mr. Rosborough believes that legislators should introduce policies specifying the efforts that manufacturers must deploy to help customers repair their products.
In addition to the launch of the self-repair program in Canada, Apple also began to offer repairers on Tuesday having a direct service relationship with Apple access to original Apple parts through wholesale distributors.
These parts include screens, batteries and charging ports for iPhone and iPad and are available at Mobilessrix, a retailer located in Concord, north of Toronto.