iFixit has called out Apple's newly-introduced self-repair program for MacBooks, saying it makes MacBooks seem less repairable. Apple has recently opened up its pro-user repairability program to include MacBooks, while iFixit has had guides for multiple MacBook models for a while now.
In a fresh blog post, iFixit says Apple's process is potentially intimidating to users that may want to fix their own MacBooks the official way. The length and complexity of Apple's guides seems to be the issue here, prompting a response from the prominent champions of repairability.
iFixit says Apple's approach a little too complicated for the easy repairability movement
iFixit has been a champion of self-repair with its many tools and guides to go along. Apple has taken a fair amount of blame for lacking in this department. However, iFixit has raised Apple's repairability scores for releasing manuals. The company says that it might not have been the right move, though, as these new manuals are a step back.
An example iFixit cites is the battery replacement guide for the 14″ MacBook Pro, one of the best Macs you can get right now, which has only 26 steps if you follow iFixit's version. On the other hand, Apple's documentation is 162 pages long. iFixit says this, in addition to the price of spares, the deposit for tools and a 14-day window to complete the repair seems like too much work.
iFixit also knocked Apple for making battery replacement a lot harder, given the fact that they're the top degradable component in most portable devices. It also noted that Apple seems to be pushing case replacement over individual part replacement in some cases, bringing up the repair cost to an unreasonable amount.
This is not the best look for Apple, which seems to be making an effort to take the right stand on right-to-repair.
