FP TrendingMar 31, 2021 09:09:44 IST
Tech giant Apple will be soon introducing its Independent Repair Provider program in over 200 countries, including India. The program will be introduced later this week in a few countries and will eventually be rolled out to several more countries and regions later this year. The program gives repair service providers access to genuine parts and tools for repairing Apple devices that are not in warranty, according to an Apple blogpost.
The program will be rolling out to India, Afghanistan, Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Guam, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Laos, Macao, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, and Vietnam, later this week. The program will be extended to several other countries and regions, later this year.
Apple is providing access to free training to repair providers, who are participating in the program. As Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs), they can get genuine tools, repair manuals, diagnostics and parts. Apple has over 5,000 AASPs providing repair for both in and out of warranty products.
A representational Image of a broken iPhone. Image: Pixabay
Any repair providing company can join Apple’s Independent Repair Provider program by committing that only an Apple-certified technician will provide repairs. They can purchase the tools and parts at the same price as AASPs.
The Independent Repair Provider program will be available in most of the other countries including Chile, Egypt, Libya and Venezuela by late 2021.
In 2019, the program was launched in the US and then expanded to Canada and Europe. Combining the three regions, there are currently 1,500 Independent Repair Providers.
Speaking about the program, Nils Weber, project manager in Germany’s Pro Repair GmbH said that the access to parts during the Covid-19 pandemic helped them to gain access to the high demand from their mail-in customers. Nils insisted that the program has been a positive experience for them and their customers.
Scott Baker, who is the owner of Texas’ Mister Mac in Wimberley, also said that being a part of the program has been a huge benefit to their business, as per the blog on Apple.
