New York State (WBEN) - New York Governor Kathy Hochul, before the new year began, signed into law the Digital Fair Repair Act, making New York the first state to require original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to make diagnostic and repair information for digital electronic parts and equipment available to independent repair providers and consumers if such parts and repair information are also available to OEM authorized repair providers and servicers.
Going into effect July 1st, this new law, according to Governor Hochul, is an attempt to empower consumers with better options to repair their devices, save money and reduce electronic waste.
Garret Cleversley, CEO of MacSolutions Plus, says this really doesn't have any effect on his business as Apple started their right-to-repair program last year, "I don't think it really is gonna affect my business too much because Macbook Pro users always want to try and do their own repairs. The nice thing about that is, Apple started the right to repair last year, so they're providing the tools. Your pro users are able to do things on their own and get Apple genuine parts."
As opposed to third party parts, which could damage your devices, "Look online, phone's are exploding because they bought a cheap battery online, rather than using the Apple genuine battery for their own repair," Cleversley adds.
For those companies who already haven't already initiated their right to repair programs, this law only applies to those devices that are manufactured after July 1st, 2023 and certain devices are excluded including cars, home appliances, medical devices, off-road equipment and enterprise devices used by data centers, schools and hospitals.
Cleversley does have concerns with the average user trying to repair the devices themselves, "You're working with electricity, you're working with batteries. You know, you can't just be the average guy and think you're gonna repair these sophisticated devices. You have to have some knowledge and and be more of a power user to do it safely."
Apple currently has their own repair toolkit that they use to repair devices. They currently charge $49 dollars to rent the toolkit to the consumer. Cleversley is not sure if that charge will go away once this law goes into effect.
Cleversley advises that if you are doing repair projects on Apple devices, with little to no experience, make sure you do some research and read the manuals, "Learn it, watch it, read about it, use the service manuals and just do it safely."
