Apple's Independent Repair Provider program is expanding in a big way.
The program, which gives third-party repair providers access to genuine Apple parts, tools, repair manuals and diagnostics, was initially lunched in the U.S. in 2019, and expanded to Europe and Canada in 2020. This year, it will be available in more than 200 countries — "nearly" every country where Apple products are sold, Apple announced on Tuesday.
The repair providers that want to join the program can get free training from Apple, but they do have to commit to having an Apple-certified technician on duty (certification is also free). According to Apple, there are currently more than 1,500 Independent Repair Provider locations in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
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Prior to the program's launch, Apple was often criticized for not giving third-party repairers the necessary tools to repair Apple products. But the lobbying from right-to-repair groups, as well as tighter regulation in Europe, made the company change its stance.
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Apple says it's opening registrations for the program in a number of countries later this week. The full list is Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, and Vietnam.
The company says that the program is opening in additional countries and regions "later this year."
You can check whether a repair provider is part of this program over at support.apple.com/repair/verify-repair-provider (though it only appears to show U.S. providers at the moment).
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