Repairability ratings based on official government criteria in Europe found that Apple gets the worst ratings for repairability of both iPhones and MacBooks.
However, the MacBook Neo was found to be very much an exception in the laptop rankings, so perhaps there is hope for the future…
The French government imposes a legal requirement on manufacturers to display their repairability ratings according to a set of criteria intended to allow similar comparisons between brands. The EU’s criteria are very similar, and the American consumer organization Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) uses them for its rankings.
its latest report Provides repairability grades for four smartphone brands and eight laptop brands, with Apple getting the lowest scores in both categories. PIRG says it reviewed detailed repair information for a total of 105 devices.
Grade is a factor of seven different issues that impact the practicality of making a repair:
- repair documentation
- ease of disassembly
- Availability of spare parts
- Pricing of spare parts
- fasteners used
- equipment required
- Longevity of software updates
Apple’s failing score
Motorola tops smartphone repairability ranking with B+ grade. Google was second at C-minus, followed by Samsung at D and Apple was last with a D-minus rating.
For laptops, Asus got the best repairability score of B+, while Apple got the worst score of C-.
The MacBook Neo is an honorable exception
However, Apple has one thing in its favor. First of all, the MacBook Neo is an obvious exception, being widely praised for its repairability. This echoes the conclusion drawn by iFixit after its teardown a few weeks ago.
iFixit published its own teardown and repairability analysis of the MacBook Neo, and found it to be “the most repairable MacBook in fourteen years.”
Whether this is an exception specifically related to the design of this model, or represents a change in direction for the company, remains to be seen.
picture: I fix it
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