Man shocked after Apple sends him a 36-kg kit to repair iPhone mini

Apple recently started the Self Service Repair program (Representative Image)

Tech journalist Sean Hollister was left frustrated after trying Apple’s new Self-Service Repair program which allows users to carry out their own repairs on Apple devices. Hollister, a journalist for The Verge, says that besides receiving a massive 79 pound (36 kg) repair kit to fix his iPhone mini, the process of repairing his device was itself daunting, messy and expensive.

In a piece published in The Verge, Hollister called out Apple for deliberately making it tough for customers to repair their own devices. The company, he noted, has a long history of resisting right-to-repair efforts. Their recent switch to Self Service Repair, which allows customers to rent repair manuals and genuine Apple parts and tools, could actually be a ploy to discourage users from repairing their own devices, Hollister said, noting that the company made the process unnecessarily complex.

He cited his own experience of trying to replace the battery of his iPhone mini.

“I expected Apple would send me a small box of screwdrivers, spudgers, and pliers; I own a mini iPhone, after all. Instead, I found two giant Pelican cases — 79 pounds of tools — on my front porch,” Hollister wrote.

Inside the cases were sophisticated, industrial-grade machines and tools for a simple battery replacement. After completing the replacement process – during which Hollister discovered that several things he needed were not included in the kit – he was confronted with another problem.

“The single most frustrating part of this process, after using Apple’s genuine parts and Apple’s genuine tools, was that my iPhone didn’t recognize the genuine battery as genuine,” he wrote.

An “unknown part” warning flashed on his phone, and Hollister said it happened because customers are expected to call Apple’s third-party logistics company after repairing their devices, so they can validate the replaced part.

The last straw? You can’t call them through your newly-repaired iPhone, because you’ll have to give the company remote access to your device. Instead, you will need a separate computer to carry out this validation process.

The Verge journalist said that what really surprised him about Apple’s self-repair service was the price tag – it cost him $69 for a new battery, $49 to rent the repair kit and a staggering $1,200 credit card hold for the toolkit which he would have had to forfeit if the kit was not returned within seven days of delivery.

Hollister concluded his piece by saying Apple probably did not expect a lot of users to repair their own devices, and had tipped the scales heavily in favour of getting them fixed at an Apple Store.