Apple’s iPad repair costs are high, even if you try and fix it yourself

Apple has recently made it possible to buy replacement parts for iPads and rent the hardware needed to install them, but a recent report from 404 Media highlights that the prices of these parts are a little ludicrous. As of the time of writing, it seems like the Apple Self Serve Repair program isn’t live in Canada, but Apple said in May that it would be coming this summer.

For instance, Apple is selling a replacement charging port for the iPad 11 that costs US$250 (C$344) when repair shop owners claim that the part can be sourced for around US$20 (C$27). Many other parts are also marked up, which suggests that Apple doesn’t want people to repair their iPads.

The founder of the repair company XiRepair claims that over a third of the iPad repair parts that Apple sells are not “economically viable for independent repair shops.” He measures this by adding the cost of labour and the store’s cut to the cost of the part. If the repair costs more than half the cost of a new device, he says it’s not viable. Using this math, almost all the iPads that need two repairs at once aren’t technically feasible when using genuine parts from Apple.

At the end of the day, it seems like most repairs will still cost less than half of a new iPad, and I do think there is still something to be said for fixing a device that’s broken just for the simple fact that it won’t become E-waste.

However, the real spirit of the right-to-repair movement may be tainted if Apple intentionally marks up prices to encourage people to buy a new product. The company offering iPad replacement parts at all was such a huge step in the right direction, so it’s a little disheartening to see them potentially move against that by overcharging.

This would not be the first time that Apple has used its grip on its products’ repair pipeline to convince people to upgrade instead of fixing their device. In 2018, a CBC Marketplace report found that Apple was overcharging significantly for some in-store repairs.

Source: 404 Media, CBC Marketplace