A Lot of Product Makers Snub Right To Repair Laws (theregister.com)
- Reference: 0178272410
- News link: https://it.slashdot.org/story/25/07/03/1833218/a-lot-of-product-makers-snub-right-to-repair-laws
- Source link: https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/01/right_to_repair_laws_manufacturers/
Apple delivered the study's biggest surprise, earning a B+ for its latest iPad and B for the M3 MacBook Pro after releasing repair manuals for the iPad in May. The Framework Laptop 13 and Valve's Steam Deck topped the rankings with A+ scores. Dishwashers from Beko, Bosch, Frigidaire, GE, and LG performed worst alongside gaming consoles from MSI, Atari, and Sony. Researchers could not access repair manuals for 48% of products and found no available spare parts for 44%.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/01/right_to_repair_laws_manufacturers/
Atari makes consoles? (Score:2)
Maybe they can't find manuals on the internet since they were printed on paper.
Re: (Score:2)
They've released a couple of those mini consoles in recent years. There's one from a couple years ago that looks like a 2600 and plays 2600 and 7800 games.
Require they provide STL print files for parts (Score:3)
When the arbitrarily make parts unavailable require they provide STL print files for those parts.
Essentially a zero cost for them to do this as they already have highly detailed CAD data for this.
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Right idea but they should provide STEP files and preferably also provide the CAD files themselves. Pretty much any CAD should be able to export STEP.
STEP to STL is an inevitably losy process. STEP is much easier to modify in CAD later while STL makes that difficult to impossible short of using the STL as a template to re-build the CAD.
I don't know about the other slicers, but Prusaslicer can use STEP files for input and do the STL conversion internally.
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Absolutely. I even hate it that people post STLs only on sites like thingiverse. Often I find myself manually recreating the object from the STL just to have a modifiable solid to work with. It's astounding to me how many people use mesh mixers to mixup STLs. I simultaneously cringe and admire them.
Occasionally electronics component makers release STEP files with their data sheets. For things like electrical plugs this is awesome to make sure you really are getting what you think you are. And I've been k
Do people care? (Score:3, Interesting)
Talking about consumer goods here, no farmers and shit.
I realize that many people on this site care. Put that aside a moment.
When considering the GENERAL PUBLIC, what percentage of them do you suppose care about the repairability of their phones, computers, TVs, washing machines, kitchen appliances and so forth? What percentage of them would actually repair these things, even with a 10/10 repairability score? Please discuss.
Now, I'm not saying that repairability isn't a worthy goal, or something to strive for or bitch about. So don't shit this post thinking I am. I'm seeking real discussion about whether the general public actually cares.
To that end, I have three conjectures:
1). Most people will definitely not repair shit themselves, even if doing so is easy.
2). Most people probably won't even pay someone else to repair common every day goods, choosing to replace them and "upgrade" in the process instead.
3). I believe most people won't even change a flat tire on their car anymore, instead preferring to wait for roadside assistance to come along and do it for them, regardless of how long they have to wait. Given this, actually repairing their own stuff? Very few members of the GENERAL PUBLIC will do so.
Consider how many people change their own oil and rotate their own tires anymore.
I'm reminded of something I saw recently:
In the 1950s, a vehicle's owner's manual provided instructions on how to adjust valves.
In 2025, a vehicle's owner's manual tells people not to drink fluid from the vehicle's battery.
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Look up phone repair. You'll probably find at least a handful of local shops that will do it if you live in a metro area. They apparently get enough customers to remain in business. Now imagine if those places could readily get any replacement part they needed and had the schematics.
Many people would probably do the same for dishwashers, washer and dryer, etc if there were repair people who could easily get the replacement parts at a fair price. Back in the before time when TVs were less proprietary and loc
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I actively through about tv repair when posting.
These days, you can get a 70" TV for under $500.
I'm just guessing, but I bet most people have a smaller TV.
So suppose your smaller than 70" tv needs a repair. You have to spend time to find a place to repair it. Now suppose you do. Then you probably need to get the TV to them. I bet most people can't transport a large tv with their own car, so most people are going to have to rent a moving van or trailer, twice (to get there and back). Call it $100. Then the
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Given an under 70 inch TV (such as mine), I would certainly pursue repair to the backlight if those parts were widely available at a fair retail price. (Naturally, assuming I diagnosed that as the failure). I would willingly do the same for a friend who asked. It would cost less than $50 to do that.
I would be especially inclined to do repair rather than replacement on my TV because it took some shopping to find one lacking the "smart" features that are specifically un-desired. It's even harder to find that
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TVs at this point are throw-away articles. Phones would be actually a fairly high priority target for repairs (*cough* deinstalling the spider app *cough*), if the parts are anywhere affordable. Washing machines and many kitchen appliances can be considered long term work horses. They have certain parts that tend to age more than others or are predetermined breaking points for machine protection reasons, but those should be easily accessible and replaceable.
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> what percentage of them do you suppose care about the repairability of their phones, computers, TVs, washing machines, kitchen appliances and so forth? What percentage of them would actually repair these things, even with a 10/10 repairability score?
For your first question: not many, most people don't think about it until something breaks. For your second question: lots.
Repairing shit is something that used to be very common. In the last few decades it's mostly disappeared outside of PCs and cell phones, but that doesn't mean that people wouldn't take their stuff in to a repair shop if they could.
Takes about a decade (Score:2)
Usually this kind of thing starts off slow but eventually takes over. Might take a decade, but that is the way it works.
Let people know (Score:3)
Enter companies not adhering to right to repair laws into Louis Rossman's Consumer Rights Wiki ( [1]https://consumerrights.wiki/Ma... [consumerrights.wiki] )
[1] https://consumerrights.wiki/Main_Page
Add Garmin to the list (Score:2)
If you mistakenly delete a file off of a Garmin GPS unit when it's in USB mode, there's no mechanism to restore it properly. Simply copying it over from an identical unit doesn't entirely work. You get an error message even though the unit still works. The only recourse is to send it to Garmin to the tune of $200.
Sueconomies of scale (Score:1)
It might require class-action lawsuits, or a sub-industry dedicated to suing them, somewhat comparable to patent trolls (but for a good cause).
Re: (Score:2)
Or mandate prominent ratings displayed on products - similar to the energy ratings.
Highly integrated makes repair a farce (Score:2)
> It might require class-action lawsuits, or a sub-industry dedicated to suing them, somewhat comparable to patent trolls (but for a good cause).
It won't work. Our modern products are just too highly integrated. For example our CPUs and RAM will with greater frequency be integrated and soldered onto mainboards, will not be replaceable socketable things. Upgrade or repair will involve buying an entirely new main board, probably from the original vendor (Apple, Dell, etc) since each will have a unique geometry to screw in and unique part placement to match cooling and other unique design elements. I/O port location on the case for example. Dell and Ap
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You know there are any number of DIYers who are quite competent to rework surface mount boards, right? Any one of them might also repair a friend's board as well. There are also professionals who could do it for a lot less than the OEM would charge for a new board.
Look up Louis Rossmann. He shows board repair on Apple hardware after the "Geniuses" told the customer replacement was the only option. He does it for a small fraction of what that replacement would cost. Unfortunately, due to Apple's ever tighten
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> You know there are any number of DIYers who are quite competent to rework surface mount boards, right?
No. That is a rare skillset.
> There are also professionals who could do it for a lot less than the OEM would charge for a new board.
And it's likely to remain a niche business. And you are still basically having to go to some company to repair it for you, unable to do repairs yourself. A friend had computer repair shop. He was an authorized Apple dealer so he could get authentic parts. Sometime he fixed a customer's electronics, sometimes he replaced. It depended upon what he saw when he opened the case. Actual repairs by a 3rd party is nothing new. However, as I mentioned, the skillset necessary is becoming m
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Funny, the Intel NUC I have has socketed RAM. As does my Framework mainboard that I recently had to replace.
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> Funny, the Intel NUC I have has socketed RAM. As does my Framework mainboard that I recently had to replace.
Good correction.
So does mine. I bought their barebones, add your own RAM and Storage. My mind was focused on the CPU when I wrote the above. But I wonder how long the NUC will persist this way. NUC is now owned by ASUS, they might contemplate cost reductions a CPU manufacture like Intel might not?
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I don't think a RAM socket adds a significant cost factor, especially if it means you have to produce different mainboards for a product line. The main reason it is done for GPUs is electrical, but that doesn't apply to normal CPU RAM anywhere as much.
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> I don't think a RAM socket adds a significant cost factor, especially if it means you have to produce different mainboards for a product line. The main reason it is done for GPUs is electrical, but that doesn't apply to normal CPU RAM anywhere as much.
Apple argues that is necessary for their highly integrated Apple Silicon CPUs. The integrated GPU, Neural engine, etc benefitting. Maybe this is more true for Mac Studio with its 3x+ RAM speed compared to Mac mini?