Apple expands DIY repair to MacBooks

August 22, 2022

I always fix my own stuff. Have done since I was a kid, from bikes onward. It gives me immense satisfaction to repair something myself. Plus, I'm cheap.

There are only a few things I won't touch: anything involving high-voltage electricity, big car repairs and my iPhone.

Even though I probably could fix my own car, it's much easier and cheaper to take it to a mechanic. They have the specialized tools and knowledge to do the repairs much more quickly and easily than I ever could.

I once changed a clutch in the street. It took days. It was a horrible ordeal. At the end, I had several large and important-looking bolts left over that I had no idea where they went. The repair was only partially successful. The car never drove the same again.

The same goes for my iPhone: I could probably fix it myself, but I've destroyed at least two iPhones attempting my own repairs. There's a cheap repair service down the road that can replace a screen or dodgy button much faster than I could by doing it myself -- and almost as cheaply.

Until now that is: Apple's DIY repair program includes the instructions you need and, crucially, the tools, which you rent from the company and send back at the end.

I haven't tried the service, but the tool rental alone could be a game changer.

After launching the service earlier this year for iPhones, it's now expanded to MacBooks.

I'm definitely going to give it a shot the next time I need to repair one of the devices I'm currently the unofficial guardian of (including dozens owned by immediate family, friends and neighbors).

-- Leander Kahney, EIC.

P.S. The one thing I don't expect to repair is my iPhone 13 Pro. It's got to be the toughest iPhone Apple has shipped yet. I've dropped it countless times -- including four or five drops without a case onto tile or concrete -- and it's only got a couple of small nicks. Here's to Apple's Ceramic Shield!

Apple’s Self Service Repair program is about to expand to recent MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models. This will give those who want to fix their macOS notebook access to repair manuals and genuine Apple parts and tools.

Apple may be making one of the most-requested iPad changes. In Apple’s upcoming budget tablet, the front-facing camera reportedly will move from a short edge of the display to a long edge, which would put it near the top of the tablet in landscape mode. Just about anyone who makes FaceTime calls on an iPad can see the advantage.

Apple pledges to donate $10 to the National Park Foundation for many Apple Pay purchases. Plus, you can enjoy special content and collections on Apple Maps, Apple Podcasts and more.

Being able to see your phone’s battery percentage right in the status bar is incredibly useful — but Apple killed it five years ago. iOS 16 brings it back.

Apple’s MagSafe Battery Pack will set you back $99. On the other hand, the Speedy Mag Wireless Charger helps keep your iPhone up and running for the low sale price of just $48.99. The affordable battery pack also comes in several colors, so you’re not relegated to the white zone.

Cupertino is looking to generate more revenue from its ad business in the coming years. The company currently displays ads inside the App Store and certain apps like Apple News and Stocks.

The Dell Pro Webcam shares some high-end features with last year's UltraSharp 4K webcam, but lets go of others to get the price down.

The sleek-yet-powerful laptop drops to just $1,099 on Amazon, the lowest since the M2 MacBook Air launch in July.

On August 22, 2001, Apple won an Emmy for its work developing FireWire, high-speed serial port technology that sparked a video revolution.

Sometimes you see one thing that seems quietly radical about a computer setup, only to find out it’s full of even weirder tweaks. Today’s featured setup is a good example. It hides a Mac mini behind a display. But in front of the display, a wildly split mechanical keyboard surrounds a Magic Trackpad turned backward — on purpose!

Tweet o' the day

One more thing ...

"Dr. Edwin Land was a troublemaker. He dropped out of Harvard and founded Polaroid. Not only was he one of the great inventors of our time but, more important, he saw the intersection of art and science and business and built an organization to reflect that. Polaroid did that for some years, but eventually Dr. Land, one of those brilliant troublemakers, was asked to leave his own company — which is one of the dumbest things I've ever heard of.... The man is a national treasure. I don't understand why people like that can't be held up as models: This is the most incredible thing to be — not an astronaut, not a football player — but this." -- Steve Jobs.

Reply

or to participate.