Apple's surprising about-face on 'right to repair'

The Kahney family practices trickle-down iPhone upgrades.

Each year, I typically buy a new iPhone — ostensibly to review it for the Cult of Mac website, but in reality because, well, I just can’t resist.

My old iPhone then gets passed to my wife, who doesn’t care one whit about having the latest and greatest but does like having a good camera. (Note: This arrangement is firmly her idea, not some sexist bullshit imposed by me.)

Then her old iPhone gets passed down to one of our four kids, who all use hand-me-downs.

It’s a great system. One of the kids is still using an old iPhone 6 Plus, which is still going strong after nine years. (Admittedly, that old donkey is a replacement for a more recent model that was smashed — a not-uncommon occurrence.)

It’s a testament to the longevity of Apple’s devices. Even though critics accuse the company of forced obsolescence — especially for using sealed-in batteries — our own experience is that these devices get many, many years of use.

And it’s going to get even better. After years of lobbying against Right to Repair legislation, Apple has surprisingly done an about-face and is now supporting a new bill in California.

Apple now says it supports California’s Right to Repair Act, SB 244, after lobbying against it and similar bills for many years.

It’s an important development. Right to Repair is a growing movement, a backlash against planned obsolescence and the mountains of e-waste.

Apple’s been doing a lot of late to cut waste (like ditching chargers in the box) and to expand repairs (including DIY options). Throwing its weight behind California’s bill is a watershed moment, and will likely help the Right to Repair movement get similar legislation passed in other states.

Also in today’s newsletter:

• The cable that comes with the upcoming iPhone 15 looks like it’ll be sluggishly slow, but that may not matter.

• Apple is inviting app developers to try out the Vision Pro headset; one of them made an “audible gasp“ when they tried it on for the first time.

• Elago makes a ton of fun Apple accessories, and we have 173 of them in the Cult of Mac Store.

• Today’s the day in Apple history that Steve Jobs resigned as CEO, passing the reigns to Tim Cook.

— Leander Kahney, EIC.

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Store}

^{A message from the Cult of Mac Store}

Tweetz o’ the day

One more thing ...

Today’s poll

Results from yesterday’s poll: Have you ever bought fake products?

Best reader comments

Subscribe to The Weekender — Get the week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.

compan