Chromebooks and MacBooks are among the most difficult laptops to repair, according to an analysis shared this week by consumer advocacy group US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). Apple and Google have long been criticized for selling devices that are considered harder to repair than their counterparts. Worse, PIRG believes both companies are failing to make laptops easier to disassemble and repair.
“Failure to Fix (2024)” report released this week [PDF] It is based on the Repairability Index score required for laptops and other electronic products sold primarily in France. However, PIRG's report places more importance on the breakdown score than other categories in the French index, such as availability and affordability of spare parts. “, the report says.
Like France's Repair Index, PIRG's score also takes into account the availability of repair documentation and product-specific criteria (PIRG's report also takes into account phones). For laptops, these criteria include providing updates and the ability to reset software and firmware.
PIRG has also joined trade groups opposing right-to-repair legislation and docked OEMs for failing to “easily provide full information about how their products are calculated.”
Chromebooks, MacBooks are less repairable
PIRG examined 139 laptop models and concluded that Chromebooks “are less expensive than other devices but continue to be less repairable than other laptops.” This was largely because the laptop had a lower average decomposition score (14.9) than other laptops (15.2).
The report examined 10 Chromebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, and HP and found that Chromebooks had an average repair score of 6.3, compared to 7.0 for all other laptops. It said:
These low averages indicate that Chromebooks are, on average, less repairable than other laptops, even though they are often considered affordable choices for individuals or schools.
Google recently extended Chromebook support from 8 to 10 years. PIRG's report doesn't take software support timelines into account, but even if it did, Chromebooks' repairability scores wouldn't increase appreciably as Chromebooks would only reach “industry standards.” Lucas Gutterman, US PIRG's Designed to Last campaign director and education fund told me.
But he added that current “standards” need to be improved.
At the very least, if manufacturers can no longer financially sustain their support, they should allow the community to continue maintaining the software, or make it easy to install alternative operating systems, to prevent laptops from becoming junk.
Analyzing non-ChromeOS laptops, PIRG gave Apple laptops the lowest rating for repairability, with a D, behind Asus, Acer, Dell, Microsoft, HP and Lenovo. In this week's report, Apple received the lowest average teardown score among OEMs (4 out of 10 compared to an average of 7.3).