#Apple will start supplying Mac parts to independent repair shops

Apple is finally loosening up its tightly-controlled repair program to allow independent repair shops to fix Macs.

The iPhone-maker — which until last year only allowed certain non-Apple partners access to company training and official parts — will provide training and official parts to a slew of smaller, independent shops as sales of its flagship computers have soared during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Apple last month reported 21.6 percent growth in quarterly Mac sales, bringing its computer business to $7 billion as more people are working from home. That’s compared to a 7.3 percent uptick the previous year.

Apple’s shift in repair practices came after years of calls from right-to-repair groups who had criticized the company for, among other things, only providing genuine parts and training manuals to firms such as Best Buy that were to do warranty-related work on its devices. Smaller shops argued that program was too costly to join due to volume commitments.

The move means that independent repair shops will be offered official parts for out-of-warranty repairs at the same price offered to authorized service providers, which perform warranty work.

Apple last year began offering replacement iPhone parts to independent shops to ease heavy demand on it and its authorized partners to fix millions of cracked screens and fried charging ports.

With Post wires.