Second bite: What does Apple’s new repair program mean for you?
Have an iPhone that needs repairing? Is your MacBook not working properly again? It’s almost expected that technology won’t go the distance, or that Apple parts will cost too much to get fixed. So we may as well buy a new one. It’s a mindset that has contributed to a stockpile of e-waste that is tipped to hit more than 70 million tonnes globally by 2030.
But what if you could repair your phone or other electronic devices yourself? Apple has introduced a Self Service Repair program, where you can order the parts to fix the issue yourself — or get a more experienced third party to do so.
World Consumer Rights Day: It’s time to make yourself heard
“Their voice is not always as loudly heard in Washington as the voices of smaller and better-organized groups – nor is their point of view always defined and presented. But under our economic as well as our political form of democracy, we share an obligation to protect the common interest in every decision we make.”
John F. Kennedy was writing on March 15, 1962, on what is now known as World Consumer Rights Day, in a “special message to Congress on protecting the consumer interest”. But swap Sydney or Melbourne for Washington and the then US President’s words are just as true for Australian consumers in the 21st century. If not more so.