If you browse Apple’s French online store, you will now encounter a new detail on various products: A repairability index.
This is really useful information that could offer you insight into which Mac, iPad or iPhone might be the best one to buy. It will give shoppers an idea of how how hard and expensive it would be to fix if it gets broken.
Apple has to reveal this information in France thanks to new French legislation. Apple – and other companies – now have to indicate a “repairability index” on products. Hence when you shop at the French online store (or in the physical Apple Store stores if you happen to be in France) you will see a repairability score.
MacGeneration reports that the index is based on five factors:
- Access to documentation.
- Disassembly (how easy it is, what tools are required, etc).
- Availability of spare parts.
- Price of spare parts (compared to buying new).
- Access to software updates, free technical support and the ability to reset the software.
Not all products seem to have been updated with indexes yet, but iPhone 12 has been given 6 out of 10, M1 MacBook Air 6.5 out of 10 and M1 MacBook Pro 5.6 out of 10 (the 2.0GHz MacBook Pro gets a better score of 6.3.)
You can view an Apple support page that outlines how the scores are calculated.
Here’s the criteria by which the iPhone 12 was judged.
iFixIt famously offers a reparability scale for products, iFixIt awarded the iPhone 12 6 out of 10 for repairability. They haven’t yet given the M1 Macs a repairability score, but the 2018 MacBook Air got 3 out of 10, and the 16in MacBook Pro has just 1 out of 10.
We have a separate article where we discuss everything you need to know about getting Apple products repaired.
Via MacGeneration
Macworld Sweden’s Anders Lundberg contributed to this report.
Author: Karen Haslam, Editor
Macworld editor since 2008, Karen has worked on both sides of the Apple divide, clocking up a number of years at Apple's PR agency prior to joining Macworld two decades ago.
Karen's career highlights include interviewing Apple's Steve Wozniak and discussing Steve Jobs’ legacy on the BBC. Her focus is Mac, but she lives and breathes Apple.