Right to Repair advocates continue to lobby the U.S. government, arguing that large tech companies like Apple are monopolizing repairs of consumer electronics in order to preserve profits, reports Axios.
In testimony before the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law last month, Nathan Proctor of the non-profit U.S. Public Interest Research Group claimed that "repair hurts sales," giving Apple "an incentive to restrict repair of their devices."
Similarly, in a letter submitted to the subcommittee last month, The Repair Association's executive director Gay Gordon-Byrne wrote that "manufacturers have no reasons for blocking repair other than money," referring to the "monopolization of repair" as a "huge profit opportunity."
In March, California became the 20th state to introduce Right to Repair legislation in the U.S., according to iFixit. Apple representatives have continually opposed these bills, which if passed would require companies to make repair parts, tools, and documentation available to the public.
In a statement, an Apple spokesperson told Axios that Apple's goal is to ensure its products are "repaired safely and correctly," while touting the company's growing network of Apple Authorized Service Providers:
We want to make sure our customers always have confidence their products will be repaired safely and correctly, and in a way that supports recycling. We are continually growing our network of certified technicians and most recently announced that any Best Buy store in the U.S. is now an authorized service provider.
Apple Authorized Service Providers have access to certified parts and service guidelines from Apple. There are over 1,800 of these authorized locations in the United States, which Apple said is "three times as many locations as three years ago." As of June, that includes every Best Buy store in the country.
Right to Repair legislation aims to make these parts and documentation available to independent shops and customers directly.
