Apple Vision Pro, new cameras fail user-repairability analysis

In December, New York became the first state to enact a "Right to Repair" law for electronics. Since then, other states, including Oregon and Minnesota, have passed similar laws. However, a recent analysis of some recently released gadgets shows that self-repair still has a long way to go before it becomes ubiquitous.

On Monday, the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) released its Leaders and Laggards report that examined user repairability of 21 devices subject to New York's electronics Right to Repair law. The nonprofit graded devices "based on the quality and accessibility of repair manuals, spare parts, and other critical repair materials.”

Nathan Proctor, one of the report's authors and senior director for the Campaign for the Right to Repair for the US PIRG Education Fund, told Ars Technica via email that PIRG focused on new models since the law only applies to new products, adding that PIRG "tried to include a range of covered devices from well-known brands."

While all four smartphones included on the list received an A-minus or A, many other types of devices got disappointing grades. The HP Spectre Fold foldable laptop, for example, received a D-minus due to low parts (2 out of 10) and manual (4 out of 10) scores.

The report examined four camera models—Canon's EOS r100, Fujifilm's GFX 100 ii, Nikon's Zf, and Sony's Alpha 6700—and all but one received an F. The outlier, the Sony camera, managed a D-plus.

Two VR headsets were also among the losers. US PIRG gave Apple's Vision Pro and Meta's Quest 3 an F.

You can see PIRG's full score breakdown below:

Credit: US PIRG

Repair manuals are still hard to access

New York's Digital Fair Repair Act requires consumer electronics brands to allow consumers access to the same diagnostic tools, parts, and repair manuals that its own repair technicians use. However, the PIRG organization struggled to access manuals for some recently released tech that's subject to the law.

For example, Sony's PlayStation 5 Slim received a 1/10 score. PIRG's report includes an apparent screenshot of an online chat with Sony customer support, where a rep said that the company doesn’t have a copy of the console's service manual available and that “if the unit needs repair, we recommend/refer customers to the service center.”

Apple's Vision Pro, meanwhile, got a 0/10 manual score, while the Meta Quest 3 got a 1/10.

According to the report, "only 12 of 21 products provided replacement procedures, and 11 listed which tools are required to disassemble the product."

The report suggests difficulties in easily accessing repair manuals, with the report's authors stating that reaching out to customer service representatives "often" proved "unhelpful." The group also pointed to a potential lack of communication between customer service reps and the company’s repairability efforts.

For example, Apple launched its Self Service Repair Store in April 2022. But PIRG's report said:

 ... our interaction with their customer service team seemed to imply that there was no self-repair option for [Apple] phones. We were told by an Apple support representative that 'only trained Apple Technician[s]' would be able to replace our phone screen or battery, despite a full repair manual and robust parts selection available on the Apple website.

Apple didn't immediately respond to Ars Technica's request for comment.

PIRG also had trouble accessing repair manuals from other brands, including Meta, where a customer service rep reportedly said that the company is not offering repair or part replacements for the Quest 3. Microsoft's representative said they were “not sure about self-repair options” for New York consumers, even though Microsoft offers service manuals and replacement parts.

Samsung, meanwhile, wouldn't provide a service manual without an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI). That was also the case when PIRG tried to access parts and documents for self-repairs from Canon, which also requested proof of purchase.

"The best way to encourage repair is to make repair materials broadly available," Proctor told Ars. "If you are a repair shop, should you need to ask your customers for the proof of purchase just so you can look up the information you need to complete the repair? We want repair information accessible."

Overall, PIRG said it "had the most difficulty accessing repair materials for the cameras we surveyed." Although New York's self-repair act went into effect at the end of 2023, a Nikon support rep reportedly told a PIRG member that only two of its products are self-repairable. A Sony support rep reportedly told the nonprofit that "Repair Manuals are only provided to Sony Accredited Centers and Certified Technicians."

Ars reached out to Canon, Fujifilm, Nikon, and Sony for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

User-repairability obstacles

As mentioned, PIRG's report only looks at a handful of devices. Still, the lack of repair manual accessibility for some high-profile devices and discrepancies between comments from customer support representatives and what New York law requires suggest that companies have a long way to go before they're truly enabling self-repairs.

PIRG's report encourages New York Attorney General Letitia James to step in to "ensure that manufacturers which provide no support for their covered products know about the requirements of this new law and that they could face penalties for noncompliance."

PIRG has also advocated for stronger New York legislation. New York Governor Kathy Hochul notably signed a pared-down version of the bill that the state legislature passed. Concessions to the final law include that it only applies to devices manufactured and sold in New York after July 1, 2023, business-to-business and business-to-government devices are excluded, and companies are not required to give consumers the requirements, like passwords, for avoiding device security lockouts. TechNet, a Big Tech lobbyist group, had a large influence over the law's final wording.

PIRG's report urged New York to consider tougher laws, such as what's seen in Minnesota, whose law covers business computers, and in Minnesota and California, where devices going back to July 2021 are covered. Ars asked Proctor how realistic he thinks it is for New York to update its self-repair laws. He said:

It will be a challenge to update the New York Fair Repair Act, but given how NY is now out-of-sync with other states, that provides incentive. Our right to Repair champions in Albany, Asm. Pat Fahy and Sen. Neil Breslin, filed legislation to update the statute, but it did not pass during the active months of the session.