City crews worked through the night to repair an 8-inch pipe that broke early Thursday morning in the Morena area. Repairs are also being made on a 10-inch pipe that was damaged in the break. (Photo courtesy of the city of San Diego via Twitter https://x.com/CityofSanDiego/status/2012227197491126616)
Street closures caused by a sinkhole in the Morena neighborhood were expected to remain in place until Tuesday, according to San Diego officials.
All southbound lanes on Morena Boulevard were closed between West Morena Boulevard and Linda Vista Road, and one northbound lane remains closed between Linda Vista Road and Cushman Avenue.
“City crews have completed the repairs to the 8-inch pipe that broke early Thursday morning in the Morena neighborhood. SDG&E and AT&T crews will need additional time to work on their lines in the area,” city officials posted Friday night on X. “Following the completion of SDG&E and AT&T work, the trench will be refilled and the water main can be put back into service. If the repairs are completed as anticipated, the roads will reopen on Tuesday evening.”
The sinkhole was reported around 11 p.m. Wednesday at Morena Boulevard and Napa Street.
Impacted utility customers can receive water from water wagons in the 900 block of Morena Boulevard, officials said.
SEPTA reopened its trolley tunnel in Center City on Monday morning, restoring trolley service between 40th and 15th streets. For two months, riders had to take shuttles to and from Center City, because the tunnel was closed for repair work.
Right to repair provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act, which would secure funding for the US military in 2026, are likely to be struck from the final language of the bill despite enjoying broad bipartisan support, sources familiar with ongoing negotiations tell WIRED.
They say that provisions in the act enabling servicemembers to repair their own equipment are likely to be removed entirely, and replaced with a data-as-a-service subscription plan that benefits defense contractors.
The right to repair has become a thorny issue in the military. If a drone, fighter jet, or even a stove on a Navy vessel fails, US servicemembers in the field can’t always fix it themselves. In many cases, they need to call a qualified repair person, approved by the manufacturer, and bring them out to the site to fix the problem.
The military would love to sidestep that hassle by giving personnel the tools and materials to make their own repairs in the field, and has repeatedly called for Congress to enable it to do so. However, some in Washington have been trying to neuter proposed right-to-repair provisions—a move that has been advocated for by defense contractor groups who sell the military the stuff they want to fix as well as the means to fix it, and stand to lose if the military is empowered to perform its own repairs.
Differing versions of the NDAA have passed the Senate and the House and the process is now in a conferencing phase, where lawmakers meet to combine the versions into one bill. The final language is expected to come through by next week; after votes in both houses of Congress, it will then go to president Donald Trump’s desk to be signed into law.
Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, long a supporter of repairability legislation, added Sec. 836 to the Senate version of the NDAA, a provision drawing inspiration from the Warrior Right to Repair Act she introduced in July. It called for contractors to be required to provide the US Department of Defense with “the rights to diagnose, maintain, and repair the covered defense equipment.”
A similar provision was also added to the House version of the NDAA, which was introduced by representative Mike Rogers, a Republican of Alabama and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee. (Ranking member Adam Smith of Washington, also led on the bill.) Sec. 863 is a “requirement for contractors to provide reasonable access to repair materials.” In essence, it would empower servicemembers to fix their own stuff without having to rely on the manufacturer, saving time and taxpayer money.
“Military leaders, service members, the White House, and hundreds of small businesses all agree these bipartisan right to repair reforms are desperately needed,” Warren told Roll Call last week. “The giant defense contractors fighting these reforms are more interested in innovating new ways to squeeze our military and taxpayers than strengthening our national security.”
A new app with a straightforward name wants to make it easier for people to fix their stuff by helping them find trustworthy repair services near them.
The Repair App launched today, on a day that’s being celebrated as International Repair Day. The app is currently available in beta form in the US and France, because that’s where cofounders Robert Lise and Caleb Faruki reside, respectively. If the app does well, more countries should be added soon.
The app arrives during a time of renewed interest in the right-to-repair movement. Through lobbying efforts and consumer advocacy campaigns, right-to-repair folks argue that when somebody buys a piece of technology, they should have the legal right to fix it, replace broken parts, or upgrade it using services, tools, and replacement parts accessed on the open market.
“You don’t actually own something if you don’t have the ability to repair it,” says Lise, the app’s cofounder.
It sounds like a position that doesn’t need much advocacy, but large companies like Apple, Samsung, and John Deere have been resistant to allow their customers to tinker with their products.
Lise says the goal of The Repair App is to platform businesses and service providers who cover just about anything that can be repaired, from devices like phones and computers to bicycles, clothes, and maybe eventually vehicles. To start, they have reached out to verified repair businesses that they can vet for inclusion in the app.
Matt Zieminski, vice president of Repair.org and VP of partnerships at the repair marketplace iFixit, has worked with Lise and the others on the Repair App and says he supports the project. He says that if the app is utilized by enough people, it could make finding options for fixing your stuff easier than it is now.
For example, if you’re searching for repair options on Google, Zieminski says, your local community repair shops might not necessarily come up as one of the top results. Instead, you’re presented with big repair franchises or generic service providers.
The app makes it easy to find independent shops near you.
Courtesy of Marine Reliquet; The Repair App
The Repair App will instead show you the shops closest to you that have been vetted by the tech repair experts behind the app.
“I think this is really cool,” Zieminski says. ”It is going to level that playing field and allow everybody to find the services they need and then to offer the services to people that may not even know those services exist.”
Linking customers to businesses is certainly not a new service. (Remember phonebooks?) Sites like Thumbtack or Angi (formerly Angie’s List) have long acted as repositories for finding handypeople to hire for a variety of tasks. Places like Upwork and Fiverr put a gig-economy spin on the same format. And there are more specific service finder sites like RepairPal, a resource for car repair shops. (RepairPal was bought by Yelp last year.)
Strong surf, winds wash out Ponce Inlet jetty walkway months after repairs
THE PONCE INLET JETTY HAS NOW BEEN WASHED AWAY. TAKE A LOOK AT THIS PHOTO THAT SHOWS THE AFTERMATH OF THE ROUGH SURF AND HIGH TIDE ALONG THE VOLUSIA COUNTY COAST. YOU SEE THE ROCKS AND THEN THE WOOD JUST TOSSED ALL AROUND HERE AS WESH TWO SPENCER TRACY EXPLAINS, THIS WASHOUT COMES AFTER MONTHS OF REPAIR. LINDSAY. THE HIGH SURF IS CLEARLY VISIBLE. CHECK OUT THE WAVES, JUST HOW BIG THEY ARE, AND I THINK THE BIGGER PICTURE IS SHOWING THOSE WAVES CRASHING AGAINST THAT JETTY WALKWAY. AND THAT’S WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE DAMAGE TO IT. AND WE’VE HEARD FROM SOME FISHERMEN THAT TELL US IT’S AFFECTING THEIR LIVELIHOOD, THAT THEY’RE NOT ABLE TO GO OUT THERE RIGHT NOW. AT THIS MOMENT, WE KNOW THE COUNTY STAFF BUILT THIS TEMPORARY WOODEN WALKWAY, MUCH TO THE DELIGHT OF THE FISHERMEN WHO FREQUENT THE AREA. A COUNTY SPOKESPERSON SAYS THE WALKWAY WAS DAMAGED RECENTLY AND CLOSED, BUT THESE CONDITIONS HAVE TAKEN THE WHOLE THING. THE COUNTY PLANS TO EXTEND THE CONCRETE JETTY, BUT IT’S A LENGTHY PROCESS REQUIRING FEDERAL APPROVAL FROM THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS. IT’S JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF HOW THIS NASTY WEATHER IS IMPACTING THE COAST. WE LIVE IN IN DAYTONA BEACH SHORES ON THE RIVER, AND MY HUSBAND’S BEEN IN THAT HOUSE SINCE THE 70S AND NEVER HAS THE WATER BEEN THAT HIGH. WHEN THERE’S NOT A STORM, A HURRICANE. SO SWIMMING IN THE WATER ALONG VOLUSIA SHORELINE WAS PROHIBITED YESTERDAY AS THE COUNTY WAS UNDER A DOUBLE RED FLAG WARNING. THAT’S ALL BECAUSE OF THE STRONG RIP CURRENTS AND AS WELL AS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF DEBRIS. THEY’RE ASKING PEOPLE NOT TO TOUCH SEAWEED THAT WASHES UP, SAYING IT PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN RENOURISHMENT. THE COUNTY SAYS ONCE THE WEATHER GETS BETTER, THAT’S WHEN THEY PLAN TO HAVE CREWS GO OUT THERE AND REPAIR THAT JETTY. BUT AS YOU CAN SEE RIGHT NOW, THAT’S DEFINITELY NOT HAPPENING TODAY. AS YOU CAN SEE, THE RIP CURRENTS ARE STILL REALLY STRONG. AND AS WE WERE HEADING INTO THE INLET, OFFICIALS TOLD US THAT RIGHT NOW THEY’RE UNDER A RED FLAG WARNING. SO THEY’RE STILL URGING PEOPLE NOT TO GO IN THE WATER AS IT CAN BE DANGEROUS. I’M COVERING VOLUSIA COUNTY IN PONCE INLET.
Strong surf, winds wash out Ponce Inlet jetty walkway months after repairs
The Ponce Inlet jetty walkway, which reopened in May, was washed out to sea Saturday morning due to high surf and windy weather along the coast.The whole section of the jetty had been getting clobbered by high surf for a few days.It had been closed following Hurricane Milton and reopened in May.The county had finished work on the wooden portion of the walkway in time for Memorial Day, bringing smiles to the faces of fishermen who frequent the area.However, the high surf conditions and wind washed it out to sea Saturday morning.The county said it had been closed since Hurricane Imelda damaged it a little more than a week ago.Many people have been asking why not drive pilings into the ground and make the whole thing concrete?The short answer is that this walkway has always been temporary.The county plans to extend the concrete deck, but has to get plans approved by the Army Corps of Engineers before work can begin.A county spokesperson said staff will be out clearing debris once conditions improve.
PONCE INLET, Fla. —
The Ponce Inlet jetty walkway, which reopened in May, was washed out to sea Saturday morning due to high surf and windy weather along the coast.
The whole section of the jetty had been getting clobbered by high surf for a few days.
It had been closed following Hurricane Milton and reopened in May.
The county had finished work on the wooden portion of the walkway in time for Memorial Day, bringing smiles to the faces of fishermen who frequent the area.
However, the high surf conditions and wind washed it out to sea Saturday morning.
The county said it had been closed since Hurricane Imelda damaged it a little more than a week ago.
Many people have been asking why not drive pilings into the ground and make the whole thing concrete?
The short answer is that this walkway has always been temporary.
The county plans to extend the concrete deck, but has to get plans approved by the Army Corps of Engineers before work can begin.
A county spokesperson said staff will be out clearing debris once conditions improve.
A lending library that specializes in tools, not books, is asking the public to help it relocate.
West Philly Tool Library has started a crowdfunding campaign to support its move from its home in Squirrel Hill. The nonprofit, which loans out over 4,5000 tools and other equipment to its members, says its lease was not renewed and it must leave by the end of 2025. It has operated out of a building at 1314 S. 47th St. for almost 15 years.
The library is now aiming to raise $20,000 to help cover “the significant costs associated with repairs and interior build-out at the new space as well as moving costs.” Staffers estimate they will need closer to $50,000 in total.
As of Friday morning, the campaign has generated a little over $5,000. Jason Sanders, the library’s executive director, said via email that the nonprofit has not received any other monetary donations yet. But several businesses, he wrote, have already pledged raffle items or food and drink donations for the West Philly Tool Library’s fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 25.
“This is such a critical moment for the Tool Library and we are looking for support from the community,” Sanders said in a statement. “We are the only tool library in Philadelphia and it’s such an important resource to preserve — everyone deserves to have affordable and equitable access to tools and skills.”
The library’s inventory includes power and mechanical tools as well as ladders, drop cloths, gardening equipment, pressure washers, carpet cleaners and even a few books (mostly manuals). These items are available to all members, who pay annual dues. The library offers several membership tiers based on income, ranging from $20 a year to $1,000 for lifetime access.
The West Philly Tool Library also offers DIY classes on sewing, woodworking and painting, among other topics.
It has been a big year for repairable-laptop maker Framework. After launching the Framework Laptop 12 and the Framework Desktop this summer, the company is now rolling out a big update to the Framework Laptop 16. The machine can be configured with (or upgraded to) an Nvidia RTX 5070 laptop graphics card. You can also upgrade to the new 2025 mainboard, which includes the next-gen AMD Ryzen AI 300 series chips.
Why is this a big deal? Well, Framework is a company we’ve grown to appreciate a lot over the past few years. The company has been pioneering a more sustainable (and fun!) approach to designing computers, making as many parts of the device as modular as possible. That has included things like the RAM and storage, naturally, but also the CPU, battery, Wi-Fi card, and much more.
The idea is to swap out components on the laptops when new modules come out (or if something breaks down), reducing the need to buy a new laptop every few years and sending fewer parts to the landfill. But upgrading discrete graphics on laptops has always been elusive. Companies like Alienware have tried modular discrete GPUs in portable PCs before, and they never lasted. But with the new RTX 5070 graphics module upgrade, Framework proves it can be done.
Courtesy of Framework
The original Framework Laptop 16 arrived at the beginning of 2024, launching as an AMD-exclusive system with the Ryzen 7 7840HS (or Ryzen 9) and the discrete Radeon RX 7700S for graphics. At the time of testing, GPU performance landed somewhere around a mobile RTX 4060. On paper, that makes the jump to an RTX 5070 not only a great demonstration of the Framework ethos—but also a big deal for performance. Framework says it’s a 30 to 40 percent increase in GPU performance over the RX 7700S.
More power doesn’t come free, so Framework is shipping a 240-watt USB-C charger that uses the USB Power Delivery 3.1 spec. That’ll make it one of the only laptops with an RTX 5070 that is powered solely by USB-C. Other 240-watt power adapters often use a proprietary power port (see almost every gaming laptop).
The Framework Laptop 16 was the follow-up to the original Framework Laptop 13 and added more than just the discrete graphics module. It also had a unique approach to customization, letting you arrange the keyboard and trackpad however, using modules and spacers to customize it. The new model also comes with a better webcam and a more rigid top cover (on the lid).
There’s some good news though. At a Climate Week NYC panel, focused on repairable technology—hosted by Back Market and moderated by One5c—Nicole Azores, a manager of Government Affairs and Public Policy at Google, said on Tuesday that the company is thinking through the design of the Pixel Watch to make it more repairable.
“Watches and wearables are still fairly nascent, and we are thinking through how to make this repairable,” Azores said on the panel. “We’re thinking about repairability on a broader scale, not just on phones and tablets, and we want to make sure that all of our products eventually become repairable. I think watches being so new as a category, there are some design elements that need to be considered on how we make them repairable.”
When Can You Fix It?
Azores did not provide any additional information, including a timeline. Consumer tech products typically have a two- to three-year development time. But it’s unclear whether this more-repairable framework will show up in the Pixel Watch 4 next year or even later than that. Google has stuck with the same design for its Pixel Watch over the past three generations, though the Pixel Watch 3 launched in two sizes for the first time.
This is the first time the company has publicly commented on the irreparability of its smartwatch. Until now, Google representatives have typically said the company has nothing to share when repairability concerns are brought up.
The Pixel Watch is a latecomer in the world of smartwatches, but the software it runs—Wear OS—has been around for a decade (formerly called Android Wear). Google managed the operating system, as manufacturers like Fossil and LG made the smartwatches themselves. That changed in 2022, when Google released its very own smartwatch, following its effort to jumpstart the waning platform alongside Samsung and Fitbit.
Google reportedly captured 8 percent of the wearable band market share in the fourth quarter of 2022, the timeframe of when the first Pixel Watch launched. Research group Canalys says the company shipped 880,000 Pixel Watches in that period (the rest are Fitbit devices).
Just the Starting Point
Lack of repairability will doom many of these watches as electronic waste to the landfill, which according to a recent UN climate report has already reached a crisis point. In 2022, there were around 137 billion pounds of e-waste, and less than a quarter was recycled. By 2030, e-waste is expected to grow by 33 percent, outpacing the recycling rate.
There are ongoing efforts to enforce repairability in tech. Last year, the European Union passed regulations requiring smartphones and tablets to have longer-lasting batteries or easier methods for users to replace batteries using common tools beginning in June 2025. While it doesn’t have to comply with this legislation, Apple’s new iPhone 16 debuted a new adhesive that makes the battery inside easier to remove,
Whether it’s in the Pixel Watch 4 or Pixel Watch 5, this design change is a win for consumers. Now Google needs to focus on improving the repairability of Fitbit’s wearables. Despite the prevalence of its trackers, the company doesn’t have any repair centers to send your device in for fixes.
This only affects new smartphones launching in the EU after June 2025, which means the iPhone 16 does not have to adhere to this law. The regulation doesn’t just touch on batteries though. Manufacturers need to sell critical spare parts for seven years and offer at least five years of software updates. These laws often influence other regions, which is why Apple is likely testing this battery replacement process in its latest phone. It’s unclear whether the new adhesive would be fully compliant with the EU’s regulations.
“The point of the legislation is that it won’t most likely require [Apple] to completely change the design of the product,” says Ugo Vallauri, codirector of the Restart Project and a founding member of the Right to Repair Europe coalition. “As long as they can supply the spare part as well as the tools needed to perform the repair, and it can be performed by a generalist—someone with some level of competence—they would not need to change much further, which can be potentially be seen as a weakness of the legislation. We will see what happens in that respect.”
Matching Game
But easier battery replacements are just one part of the story. Apple is notorious for “parts pairing,” the policy where it uses software to identify and approve parts. Apple will disable certain features if it finds the part wasn’t sourced from Apple’s official channels—even if the part comes directly from another iPhone. For example, as iFixit’s website says, if you replace your iPhone’s screen with a genuine but secondhand part, your device will lose access to Apple’s True Tone and autobrightness features, even though the screen will otherwise function normally. You may also see warning messages for replaced parts that Apple cannot identify.
New laws in Oregon and Colorado prohibit the practice of parts pairing to discriminate against otherwise compatible parts, and Apple earlier this year said it would expand repair options to support used genuine parts starting this fall. That now applies to the Face ID sensor in the TrueDepth selfie camera—you can now swap this component from one unit to another without compromising security, safety, and privacy, according to Apple.
Apple also says that now, if you use a third-party part that isn’t available in its cloud-based calibration servers, the phone will try to activate the part and make it work to its full capability. It will also show the repair history of the device within Settings and list which parts have been replaced. Any used Apple parts will now be able to be calibrated after you install them, and these will appear as “used” parts in the device’s repair history. That means features like True Tone will finally be enabled for third-party displays, and you’ll be able to see health data for third-party batteries. The front camera and lidar scanner will also stay operational if the module is replaced.
“I’ve always felt like the goal of right to repair is to create the incentive for these manufacturers, who are the ones good at making stuff, to prioritize or at least incorporate repairability into their objectives,” says Nathan Proctor, senior director of the Campaign for the Right to Repair at Public Interest Research Group. “And once they do, they are actually coming up with new ways to make things easier to fix in ways I couldn’t have predicted or thought up. It’s exciting to see Apple engineers coming up with solutions for making things more fixable.”
Lock Step
Photograph: Apple
But there’s a new concern on the horizon with iOS 18 rolling out to Apple devices: Activation Lock. You might be familiar with this if you have erased an iPhone in the past but forgot to remove your Apple account details, essentially locking a new owner out from the device unless they have your password. In iOS 18, this Activation Lock feature now extends to iPhone parts. The idea is that this will deter thieves from stealing iPhones to sell parts. If the iPhone detects that a used part has been installed, it will ask for the original part owner’s Apple account password.
Proctor says the number one complaint he’s heard from device refurbishers is around Activation Lock—these companies have devices legally acquired from donations or recycling programs, but they cannot do anything to unlock the phone. (Apple has ways to bypass Activation Lock if you have proof of purchase documentation.)
“We need a way to verifiably say this is not a stolen part,” Proctor says. “I really respect and appreciate and understand the value of the way Activation Lock thwarts theft, but there’s got to be some middle ground where a reputable recycler doesn’t have to shred working parts and working phones. It’s ridiculous. It has the potential to undermine any environmental gains from all the other stuff that they’re doing.”
Atelier, the Michelin-starred restaurant in Lincoln Square, has been closed since August 24 as staff contends with a broken air conditioner and wall and ceiling damage caused by heavy rain late last month. As founder Tim Lacey and chef Christian Hunter wait for a new unit to arrive, the small business needs a way to continue in the short term. That’s why they’re offering a special five-course takeout menu from Friday, September 6 through Sunday, September 8.
Lacey admits that his staff is having flashbacks to the start of the pandemic when fine dining restaurants across the country did the unthinkable in offering carryout meals as government officials kept dining rooms closed to curb the spread of COVID. Many fine chefs never thought they would be in the position of creating takeout meals. Chicago’s restaurants leaned into comfort foods which travel well in bags and to-go containers. Even Ever chef Curtis Duffy began selling burgers in December 2020. Atelier, which replaced another Michelin-starred restaurant, Elizabeth, had been blazing its own path and was named a 2024 James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant.
The takeout menu — no substitutions — consists of a pita and mezze course (baba ghanoush, pickled summer squash, fermented garlic scape tapenade, rhubarb chutney); grilled Korean pork sausage Bibb lettuce wraps (sea beans, kohlrabi/kimchi slaw); root vegetable fasolada (diced parsnips, celery root, sunchokes, rutabagas); lasagna in lamb neck ragu with ricotta and sourdough garlic knots. and a nectarine and pear galette with caramelized whey, allspice-cinnamon gelee, and spruce chantilly cream.
Hunter and Lacey are hopeful the air conditioning can be fixed by Tuesday, September 10, and that they’ll be back open on Wednesday, September 11. Check their Instagram for updates.
Atelier’s five-course takeout menu is available Friday, September 6 through Sunday, September 8 with pickup between 5:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Order via Tock.
What is particularly egregious about this lack of repair options is Google knows how to handle this properly. If your Pixel breaks, you can very likely get it fixed.
“Repair options include mail-in service, walk-in repairs at authorized locations, and even DIY repairs with official parts and guides provided by our partner iFixit,” Nickel told WIRED in an email. “Our repair support site, located here, is the best entry point for support.”
You can get genuine parts for the Pixel 2 through the new Pixel 8A from iFixit. If you’re unfamiliar, the iFixit website is a wonderful resource for anyone looking to repair their gadgets. It provides parts, repair kits, and video tutorials, and the company consults with many major manufacturers, including Microsoft, Fairphone, Logitech, HP, and Lenovo, to make their devices more repairable.
Currently, iFixit provides official parts for Google, HTC, Fairphone, Motorola, Teenage Engineering, Vaude, and Valve devices, among others. However, the repair company recently ended its partnership with Samsung due to a lack of follow-through from the electronics giant, though iFixit still offers repair kits for Samsung devices.
Apple maintains rigid control over its repairs, fiercely resisting proper support for unapproved third-party repair shops or amateur home repairs, though it conceded a little ground on iPhone parts recently. Regardless, iFixit does offer kits for many Apple devices too. Still, Apple will at least fix your broken devices, even if it charges a premium.
Nickel says Google does offer replacement parts to DIY support partners, like iFixit, where possible, and it hopes to improve repairability for its gadgets, though this seems to be driven by legislation. While the right-to-repair movement has gained some ground, the impact of federal legislation in the US and the UK remains to be seen, and tech companies continue to resist, making what many campaigners feel are minimal efforts.
Repairs to fix a Bay Area highway damaged during a winter storm in February will commence Monday, Caltrans said.
Niles Canyon Road, which also operates as state Highway 84 in Fremont between Livermore and Sunol, will be closed from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. nightly until the repairs are fixed. Ground under the road deteriorated during the winter storm, causing a portion of the highway to collapse into Alameda Creek. One-way traffic control has been in effect since then.
The repair work will not take place during the weekends. Caltrans said they expect the work to be finished by the end of the year and that they are shooting for an end date of November.
Weather and other unforeseen events could push back that schedule.
Motorists will have to take Interstate 680 when the repair work is being done. One-way traffic control on the highway will continue during the non-working hours.
Oregon governor Tina Kotek yesterday signed the state’s Right to Repair Act, which will push manufacturers to provide more repair options for their products than any other state so far.
The law, like those passed in New York, California, and Minnesota, will require many manufacturers to provide the same parts, tools, and documentation to individuals and repair shops that they provide to their own repair teams.
But Oregon’s bill goes further, preventing companies from implementing schemes that require parts to be verified through encrypted software checks before they will function, known as parts pairing or serialization. Oregon’s bill, SB 1596, is the first in the nation to target that practice. Oregon state senator Janeen Sollman and representative Courtney Neron, both Democrats, sponsored and pushed the bill in the state senate and legislature.
“By eliminating manufacturer restrictions, the Right to Repair will make it easier for Oregonians to keep their personal electronics running,” said Charlie Fisher, director of Oregon’s chapter of the Public Interest Research Group, in a statement. “That will conserve precious natural resources and prevent waste. It’s a refreshing alternative to a ‘throwaway’ system that treats everything as disposable.”
Oregon’s law isn’t stronger in every regard. For one, there is no set number of years for a manufacturer to support a device with repair support. Parts pairing is prohibited only on devices sold in 2025 and later. And there are carve-outs for certain kinds of electronics and devices, including video game consoles, medical devices, HVAC systems, motor vehicles, and—as with other states—“electric toothbrushes.”
Apple opposed the Oregon repair bill for its parts-pairing ban. John Perry, a senior manager for secure design at Apple, testified at a February hearing in Oregon that the pairing restriction would “undermine the security, safety, and privacy of Oregonians by forcing device manufacturers to allow the use of parts of unknown origin in consumer devices.”
Apple surprised many observers with its support for California’s repair bill in 2023, though it did so after pressing for repair providers to mention when they use “non-genuine or used” components and to bar repair providers from disabling security features.
According to Consumer Reports, which lobbied and testified in support of Oregon’s bill, the repair laws passed in four states now cover nearly 70 million people.
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