We've got the right to free speech, the right to assemble, and coming soon, the right

to repair our phones.

From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech.

I'm Lily Dremale.

Right to repair laws have been floated across the country.

New York and Minnesota have passed them, and California is closing in on one of its own.

These laws require most electronics and appliance manufacturers to provide instructions and

tools to consumers wanting to repair their products, instead of paying company technicians

for the service or worst case, buying a replacement.

It's something that iPhone Maker Apple has long been against until last month when

the company suddenly announced its support for California's bill.

We asked Brian Heeter, hardware editor at TechCrunch about Apple's change of heart and what

it means for consumers.

What's great about this for really Californians, and I think basically just everybody on the

internet, is that companies will have to start putting repair manuals online.

So those will just be available for you.

So if it's a small issue, you can download it and fix it yourself.

They have to supply those components, and then they have to give you the tools to repair

it, if you want to repair it.

And Apple does now give people a toolkit to that end, but they are now also supporting

the right to repair.

Why is that?

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