Apple may be softening its stance on repair laws after fighting vehemently against such legislation in several states.

That’s according to an internal document from 2018, titled “Apple Genuine Parts Repair” and dated April 2018, which was obtained by Motherboard. In it, Apple states that it is now providing more repair companies the components and diagnostic software to fix its products.

According to the story:

The company has begun to give some repair companies access to Apple diagnostic software, a wide variety of genuine Apple repair parts, repair training and notably places no restrictions on the types of repairs that independent companies are allowed to do.

The presentation notes that repair companies can ‘keep doing what you’re doing, with … Apple genuine parts, reliable parts supply and Apple process and training.’

According to Kyle Wiens, who is the CEO of iFixit and prominent member of the right to repair movement:

This looks to me like a framework for complying with right to repair legislation. Right now, they are only offering it to a few megachains, but it seems clear to me that it would be totally possible to comply with right to repair.

As you probably know, iFixit performs product teardowns of consumer devices and sells repair parts and provides free online repair guides for consumer electronics on its web site. Founded in 2003, the site is a result of Kyle Wiens not finding a repair manual for his Apple iBook G3.

To quickly get you up to speed, major companies from tractor maker John Deere to appliance companies such as LG to technology giants like Apple, Samsung and others have gone out of their ways to make it way harder, preferably impossible, for users to repair their own devices.

Some of the tricks include authorized repair programs, software that prevents repair, controlled sale of replacement parts to independent companies, extended warranties and so forth.

Introduced in 20 US states, right to repair legislation seeks to force electronics manufacturers to sell replacement parts and repair tools to independent repair shops and the general public whilst making internal repair guides and diagnostic tools public.

Currently, Apple’s authorized technicians can switch out screens and batteries, but that’s pretty much it. Reversing that policy would be a major step toward right to repair.

How cool would it be if Apple actually backed right to repair legislation?

Image: MacBook Pro teardown analysis conducted by iFixit