Open hardware

Brighter

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Right-to-repair laws gaining force
- EU Directive on Promoting the Repair of Goods adopted 13 Jun 2024; obliges makers to offer spare parts and repair at “reasonable cost” for at least 10 years after purchase. European Commission
- California SB 244 (in force 1 Jul 2024) requires parts, tools and diagnostics for electronics and appliances—first US state to cover everything from phones to tractors. California Legislative Information
Repairability & durability labels becoming standard
- From 20 Jun 2025 every phone and tablet sold in the EU must carry A–G grades for battery life, durability and repairability, plus a pledge that key spares arrive in ≤10 days.
Modular, user-serviceable hardware is thriving
- Framework Laptop 16 ships with socketed CPU/GPU modules, replace-in-minutes keyboard and open parts store.
- Fairphone 5 promises 8 years of Android and 10 years of security
Big brands opening up self-service repair
- Apple Self Service Repair expanded to 33 European countries in 2024 and now covers iPhone, Mac, and Studio Display diagnostics
Local-first smart-home standards
- Matter 1.3 (Nov 2024) adds energy & water-management clusters while keeping the “works without the internet” rule; Home Assistant earned full Matter certification in Mar 2025.
Broader sustainability framework in the EU
- The forthcoming Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) will set durability, recyclability and firmware-support minima for nearly all consumer hardware.

2021 - 1st wave "whitegoods" - washing-machines, dish-washers, fridges, displays, servers, vacuum-cleaners
- Spare-parts catalogue for 7–10 yrs
- 15-day delivery time
- Disassembly with basic tools
2021-2027 - Batteries Regulation - All portable devices (phones, tablets, cameras, laptops, earbuds)
- Battery must be user-removable with commercially-available tools by Feb 2027
- Diagnostic software & instructions must be public

2024 - Right-to-Repair Directive - whitegoods, portable devices
- After the 2-year legal-guarantee, the manufacturer must still offer repair “at a reasonable cost” unless impossible
- May not obstruct 3rd-party parts
- Must publish a European Repair Information Form and join the new EU repair-matching platform

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2024 - Right-to-Repair Directive
- Member-states must transpose by 31 Jul 2026; applies the same day

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Minimum repair window
- Between the 2-year Sales-of-Goods guarantee, the extended 12 months if a consumer chooses repair (Art. 12 R2R), and the Ecodesign spare-parts period, most white goods must now be fixable for 7–10 years, smartphones for 5 years (parts) and batteries for as long as the device is sold plus 5 years.
No more “parts-pairing” road-blocks
- Both the R2R Directive and the smartphone Ecodesign rules ban software practices that prevent using independent parts or disable features after repair.
European Repair Platform (2026)
- Think “EU‐wide Booking.com for fixes”: repairers and refurbishers list services; consumers compare price/time via the mandatory information form.
Transparent labels drive demand-side pressure
- From June 2025 every phone/tablet box in the EU carries the new multi-icon label, letting buyers rank devices on battery endurance and repairability score at a glance.
Batteries come out again
- By 2027 a dead phone battery will once more be a screwdriver job, not a €300 replacement or a new handset.