Apple has added the repair and repairability of iPhone and MacBook to its online store in France to comply with a new French law that went into effect this year. MacGeneration reports that the rating takes into account features such as how easily a device can be disassembled and the availability of repair manuals and parts. Links to the final score of each product, with details for its calculation, are available on this support page.
The ratings for Apple’s products vary between products and generations. The iPhone 12 series, for example, all have six out of ten, while last year’s iPhone 11s rated between 4.5 and 4.6. According to the detailed assessment, the improvement is due to the fact that the newer iPhones can be dismantled more easily than the previous year’s models, and that parts are cheaper compared to the cost of the phone itself. There is less distribution between the various MacBook models of the company, the scores of which range from 5.6 to 7.
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The recoverability points are required by a new French law that came into force on January 1 with new legislation against waste. According to a website collected by various manufacturers, only 40 percent of France’s electrical appliances were repaired last year after they failed. The government aims to increase it to 60 percent within five years by using the scores to educate consumers and pressure manufacturers to make improvements.
This is not a perfect system. Radio France Internationale note that manufacturers calculate their own scores (albeit on the basis of strict guidelines), and that they can score easy points with simple metrics such as providing more information on software updates.
At least one manufacturer has already made a change in response to the law. A report of Le monde notes that Samsung has offered an online repair guide for its Galaxy S21 Plus in an apparent attempt to improve the recovery score compared to the previous year’s model. The EU has in the past used a similar initiative to encourage energy efficiency, where labels provided simple information on the energy consumption of household products.
France’s new law is still at an early stage, and only in 2022 will companies face fines for not complying with it. But there is already hope that the initiative – which currently covers smartphones, laptops, TVs, washing machines and lawn mowers – could possibly be extended to more product categories in the future. And while the European Parliament voted in favor of the right to restoration rules last year, there is hope that similar initiatives can be implemented across the continent.