Getting your MacBook repaired at Apple has become quite a challenge lately There are daily lines outside the Apple store in Soho, and I've seen the same thing online with reservations booked out for the Genius Bar

Fortunately, this situation may soon improve Apple has announced that it will expand its independent repairer program (which licenses third-party stores to repair Apple products) to repair MacBooks, iMacs, Mac minis, iMac Pros, and other Macs Reuters carried news of this change expanding the program beyond just iPhones repaired out of warranty

Apple has been under fire for how heavily protected all of its products are and how difficult they are to repair iFixit does not expect this to change their mind (the repairable score for the MacBook Pro 16" is extremely low), but sees this as some positive move regarding the "right to repair" issue This could be seen as some kind of positive move regarding the "right to repair" issue

Apple previously limited the parties participating in this program to large corporations, but this change will open parts and training to independent repair shops

This change is expected to allow MacBooks to be repaired more quickly, as more stores will be able to repair MacBooks, thus reducing the burden on official repair locations such as local Apple stores

Jeff Williams, Apple's chief operating officer, told Reuters (in a statement), "We want people to have access to safe, reliable solutions when they need their devices repaired

Apple has yet to issue an official press release on the change, but we will update this article as soon as we receive a press release

The Independent Repairer Program is now available in the US, Canada, and Europe