Back in 2019, Apple decided to promote third-party repair shops and help them be on par with Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASPs) with its Independent Repair Provider Program. Unfortunately, it was just available for repair shops in the US at the time. Today, the Cupertino giant has expanded the program to over 200 countries, including India. It means that iPhone and iPad repairs from third-party repair shops in the country will become more reliable than ever.
Now, for the uninitiated, Apple’s Independent Repair Provider Program is essentially for non-Apple-authorized service centers. As we know, Apple-authorized service centers provide genuine Apple parts and components for repairs. On the other hand, general third-party mobile repair shops often use fakes or dupes. Now, under this program, any third-party repair shop will be eligible to be on par with AASPs.
If a third-party repair service provider signs up for this program, Apple will offer free training, genuine parts, repair manuals, and diagnostics to them in India. Repair shops in the country could join the program free-of-cost. However, to qualify for the said program, third-party repair providers would need to have an Apple-certified technician to repair the devices.
Now, keep in mind, that this program is only for repairing certain out-of-warranty devices. If your device is on warranty, then it is always better to take it to Apple Authorized Service Providers for any repairs.
However, with this program, small, third-party repair shops will now be able to get their hands on genuine Apple parts to repair out-of-warranty devices. So, Apple users in India will not be getting any duplicate parts or components when they take them to repair in one of these third-party repair centers.
The Independent Repair Provider Program will go live for every eligible service center in India starting next week.
