Samsung This Is HUGE When your car has problems, your instinct is probably to take it to a mechanic. But when something goes wrong with your smartphone — say a shattered screen or a depleted battery — you may wonder: “Is it time to buy a new one?” That’s because even as our consumer electronics have become as vital as our cars, the idea of tech repair still hasn’t been sown into our collective consciousness.
Studies have shown that when tech products begin to fail, most people are inclined to buy new things rather than fix their old ones. And the main reason for that is Repair is inconvenient and difficult, so people don’t seek it. Well, that is due to the fact that companies like Samsung and Apple have made it so.
They made it even harder for third-party repairers to fix the device by soldering the processor and flash memory to the motherboard, gluing components together unnecessarily, or using non-standard pentalobe screws which make replacements problematic. Simply put these companies don’t want their customers to fix their phones themselves because that would hurt their sales. That however is now finally changing.
Samsung says it will make its phones and other devices easier to repair by partnering with iFixit. Called the Galaxy self-repair program which will give Samsung device owners access to spare parts, repair tools, and guides on fixing their devices at home or in any third-party repair store.
The Galaxy S20 and S21 series phones and the Galaxy Tab S7 Plus are first in line for the spare parts. Interestingly, the S22 phones aren’t mentioned yet but I’m sure Samsung will expand this for their latest flagships as well as their other phones as well.
This program will launch this summer and this is a huge win for consumers because this would literally mean you can order any parts such as the battery, display, back glass, charging port, and more and repair it yourself by watching iFixit’s video or go to any third party repair store who can do it for you. With that said, the self-repair program is another step Samsung is taking toward its sustainability goals.
Recently they increased Android software support timelines on its phones for 5 years, and for the new self-repair program, you can send the old broken parts back to Samsung to recycle for free. By the way, Apple also announced a similar imitative for iPhones. It would allow users to repair the iPhone 12 and 13 series in the comfort of their very own home, and ship them parts, tools, and manuals to do so.
The fact that Samsung has now also joined in is all terrific news for right-to-repair supporters as it will allow them to keep their phones working for longer periods of time. Of course with that being said, let me know what do you think about this down in the comments and as always I’ll see you tomorrow…peace out
