Apple pressures Colombian man to teach him how to repair iPhone – 10/04/2023 – Tech

Colombian engineer Wilmer Becerra repairs iPhones, iPads and iMacs in videos posted on social media since 2018, but it was only in July 2023 that he was notified extrajudicially by Apple. The company asked him to stop displaying the apple logo, at risk of legal action.

At that point, the Colombian already had more than 12 million followers distributed across TikTok (5.3 million), Facebook (6.5 million) and Instagram (251 thousand) and a technical assistance network present in nine countries in Latin America . A Sheet He said he hasn’t brought the business to Brazil yet due to language barriers.

On August 1, the engineer responded to Apple with a defense of the right to repair. This guarantee, provided in some countries, combines property rights, free competition and environmental preservation to allow the repair of durable goods, such as cars, computers and cell phones.

When contacted, Apple says it will not comment on the matter.

“They asked about the parts I use to repair iPhones. I’m going to get them from authorized stores in the United States, because there President Joe Biden sanctioned the right to repair and big companies like Apple have to deliver device manuals and manufacture spare parts “, said Becerra in the video broadcast on Facebook and TikTok.

The idea is to extend the repair dynamics already present, for example, in the automotive industry to the electronics market. To encourage the practice, the European Union ordered cell phone and computer manufacturers to produce replacement parts for at least ten years.

On social media, the Colombian engineer said that extending the useful life of devices with repairs is a more energy-efficient measure than Apple’s recycling system, which buys customers’ old devices to produce new parts.

To prepare for a possible legal offensive by Apple, the owner of the technical assistance network even set up a service to produce personalized iPhone covers, which would pay for the lawyers.

The case was covered in newspapers in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Argentina and in the Spanish El País.

Apple then sent a second statement, in which it stated that it would not promote any measures, as long as Wilmer stopped displaying the Apple logo in his videos. He also invited Becerra to have authorized technical assistance.

In an interview with the report, the engineer stated that he does not intend to accept the proposal, because one of Apple’s guidelines for authorized partners is not to repair defective parts but to replace them, which limits the service.

iPhone and iPad owners who undergo repairs with independent technical assistance will lose their warranty, according to the rules determined by Apple.

Wiltech serves people who are no longer covered by the manufacturer’s warranty or who have not been able to have their problems resolved in an official store, according to Becerra.

Brazilian legislation does not cite the right to repair, nor is there any judicial precedent regarding such a guarantee. Lawyer and researcher at the digital law institute Legal Grounds Marina Lucena states, however, that it is possible to evoke this protection through consumer protection, free competition and environmental protection.

Companies, according to Lucena, use cybersecurity and piracy prevention as an argument. Apple’s more closed system, for example, makes it difficult to find vulnerabilities, which open the way for scams.

Defenders of the right to repair criticize the accumulation of electronic waste, as devices have a predetermined useful life, which has become known as planned obsolescence.

They also cite the owner’s right to choose where he wants to repair the device and that other businesses can compete for the manufacturers’ demand.

Discussions about the right to repair gained prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic, when medical equipment with its useful life extended by repair proved to be instrumental in combating the virus. Wilmer says his channels gained millions of followers at that time.

The entrepreneur states that he began to be interested in computers and logic boards before enrolling in the electronics technical course. He graduated in electrical engineering, before opening his first technical assistance, focused on notebooks.

“It’s practice that strengthens knowledge. Knowing the parts, changing them, understanding welding and tools”, he says.

The popularization of the debate opened space for internet forums with manuals and guides on various devices. The iFixit website brings together, in English, information about repairing clothes, household appliances, cars, cell phones and even medical devices.

Among the supporters of this library are Apple’s competitors, but not the iPhone maker.