Apples contract for indie repair shops is so invasive that some refuse to sign it

Last August, Apple announced it would let more indie repair shops buy genuine iPhone parts and tools so they could do common iPhone repairs. It seemed like an exception to Apple’s tight restrictions around who it deems worthy of repairing your phone. But it sounds like Apple drew up a contract so draconian that some shops are refusing to sign it, making us wonder whether Apple meant to assist the repair industry at all.

Vice obtained a copy of the contract, and the terms sound extremely invasive. Apple can apparently do unannounced audits and inspections of a repair shop at any time to make sure it isn’t using knockoff repair parts, for example. And if Apple finds that a shop used knockoff parts in more than two percent of its...

Continue reading…