Apple’s Self-Repair Program Has a Long Way to Go

The self-service repair program for MacBooks has been expanded. The Apple of old did not allow customers to buy parts or rent tools for M1 MacBook Airs and M1 MacBook Pros. After a few days of availability, the MacBook self-repair program shows welcome progress, but work is still needed before Apple is considered a true right to repair ally.

Several right-to-repair activists have critiqued Apple's MacBook self-repair program. iFixit wrote that the program manages to make MacBooks seem less repairable. The MacBook Air repair manual was found to be "in-depth, mostly logical, and well worth an additional repairability point" by iFixit.

Apple's approach to MacBook Pro battery replacements was cited by iFixit. The MacBook Pro self-repair manual says you need to remove more than the battery in order to replace it. The manual tells users to remove the entire top case, bottom case, battery management unit, flex cable, lid angle sensor, the trackpad and the display.

The battery is part of the top case and you shouldn't try to separate it, according to the 160-page manual. The BMU board, keyboard, keyboard flex cable, mic, and speakers are all non-removeable according to the manual.

The process of changing a laptop's battery isn't user-friendly or typical, but iFixit has a guide that breaks it down into 26 steps.

There are simpler, shorter battery replacement processes found in the repair manual for other PCs. The designs are different from the MacBook Pros.

To replace the battery on an M1 MacBook Pro via Apple's Self- Service Repair Store, you'll have to buy an entire top case, which will cost you about $527 to $615, minus an $88 credit if you send back your original part. There is a price breakdown in this handy price list. If everything else is working, that's a steep price to pay.

Individual battery replacements for the M1 MacBook Pros will eventually be sold by Apple. The Apple Self Repair Store Way requires a lot of time and money to replace batteries.

In order to do a repair on an Apple device, you have to read over 160 pages of documentation, pay an outrageous amount of money for an overkill replacement part, and decide whether you want to drop another 50 dollars on the tools they recommend. Sam Goldheart, iFixit's content adviser, wondered if Apple wanted better repairability.