Parts and repair manuals for M1 MacBooks added to Apple's Self Repair Program

Late last year, Apple announced its Self Service Repair program that would give customers access to parts, tools, and detailed repair manuals for Apple products. In April, the program launched in the US with repair parts and manuals for iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and iPhone SE 2022. Apple has just updated its Self Service Repair program with parts and repair manuals for all M1 MacBook models including the 13-inch MacBook Air, and the 13, 14, and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.

The repair manuals are quite lengthy and show you how to repair things from keyboard keycaps, the display, perform a battery swap, change the trackpad, and how to replace individual module boards like the MagSafe, Touch ID, and USB-C components that may wear or fail over time.

Parts for various repairs are listed and ready to purchase and tools for the jobs can be found as well. The manual tells you what parts and tools you may need for the repair. Some parts like the keyboard caps are one-time use, meaning if you remove a key cap from the keyboard, you cannot use it anymore and it needs to be replaced with a new one. Key caps only come in a full set.

Whether you should buy parts and perform your own repair versus letting Apple fix it will depend on your repair itself and how confident you are with your repair skill levels. For most common repairs like the display, however, you won’t be saving much money if you don’t already have a full set of tools.

The Self Service Repair program is a great option for folks with a damaged iPhone or Mac to consider, but it is not for the faint of heart. You take on the risk of the repair yourself and you are on the hook for any other accidental damage incurred while attempting a repair. You also still need to contact Apple after performing some repairs since these parts may be serialized to the logic board. Still – it is nice to see the option and nice to see actual repair manuals for a MacBook so while it isn’t a groundbreaking move, it is a step in the right direction.

Sources 1 2