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Just six months after supporting customers’ right to repair their devices in California, Apple is currently lobbying against a right-to-repair bill in Oregon, marking the first time the company has outlined its stance on right to repair during a public hearing, 404 Media reports.
John Perry, Apple’s principal secure repair architect, told the legislature: “It is our belief that the bill’s current language around parts pairing will undermine the security, safety, and privacy of Oregonians by forcing device manufacturers to allow the use of parts of unknown origin in consumer devices.”
The difference between Oregon’s and California’s bills is parts pairing, a practice whereby repair parts are tied to a specific device and must be unlocked by Apple or an Apple-authorized repair shop before they can be used. That means not only can you not use aftermarket replacement parts for your device, but you also can’t just take the screen or battery out of one iPhone and put it on another and have it work without the intervention of an authorized repair facility.
While technically Apple would be allowing customers to repair their devices, parts pairing means it still has control over that process. The California bill allows for parts pairing, the Oregon one does not.
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During the hearing, the director of an Oregon nonprofit noted that while the group received 15,000 donated iPhones last year, it was only able to refurbish 300 due to parts pairing while the remaining phones were sent to be shredded or recycled. Another group noted that 4,800 phones are currently thrown away each day in Oregon.
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