Apple isn’t going to like Oregon’s new right-to-repair law

Well, Apple won’t like this: the practice of parts pairing – which can prevent third-party repair shops from cannibalizing broken devices for parts – is set to be outlawed by Oregon, reports The Verge.

Similar to California’s right-to-repair law, the Oregon bill also requires companies to make the same parts, tools, and repair documents available to any owners that it offers to authorized repair shops, and without charging any more for them.

It doesn’t specify a number of years that companies need to make those items available, though. Like California and Minnesota’s laws, it wouldn’t apply to phones sold before July 1, 2021. But for all other gadgets, it goes all the way back to July 1, 2015. The ban on parts pairing wouldn’t apply to any existing device, though — only consumer electronics manufactured after January 1, 2025.

Apple has lobbied against the Oregon law. An Apple exec lobbied against a strong right-to-repair bill in Oregon on February 9, which is the first time the company has had an employee actively outline its stance on right to repair at an open hearing, reports 404 Media.

“It is our belief that the bill’s current language around parts pairing will undermine the security, safety, and privacy of Oregonians by forcing device manufacturers to allow the use of parts of unknown origin in consumer devices,” John Perry, told the legislature.