Tariffs seem poised to make nearly every new piece of technology more expensive for US consumers. But in times of economic uncertainty, repair offers resilience and keeps costs down by letting you keep your current devices working like new for longer.
That’s not to say repair is immune; the cost of getting quality parts and tools will also go up. We’re doing everything we can to mitigate these new costs while maintaining our high standards of quality and safety, though we won’t be able to avoid them entirely. But the cost of repair will likely remain significantly lower than the price of a new device.
Tariffs inflate costs and create economic uncertainty. An analysis in January 2025 by the Consumer Technology Association (an organization we usually disagree with, due to their anti-repair positions) indicates that proposed tariffs could raise consumer electronics prices by up to 16.4%. Last week’s announcement revealed tariffs even higher than CTA assumed, further emphasizing the need for repair. For example, the manufacturing cost of a new iPhone is expected to jump from about $550 to $850—and some if not all of that increase will need to be passed on to consumers.
Trump accidentally inventing cassette futurism because America becomes too poor to afford anything built past 1999
Welcome to Hölvania, Drifter
I’m afraid replacement parts may not merely go up in price, but many could simply disappear from the American market. Higher prices quash demand, and importers may make the strategic decision to stop delivering less popular secondary SKUs if it doesn’t make financial sense.
Not to mention companies like apple that actively lock down their replacement parts to prevent people from having a spare whatever.
True and computers in general just became 2x priced in the US.
The US going to see major smuggling from Canada/Mexico I bet.
Or California will get their own deals lol. And then all the countries major businesses will have to have a presence in California. Now that would be ironic!
The american market? Nah, for the most part, repair parts also come from Asia.
So yes, the price of repair parts is likely to go up with these tariffs as well, but regardless repair will be the better choice. With a broken screen for example, it used to be a choice between replacing a $400 device or getting a $200 repair, now it will be a choice between an $800 device or a $300 repair. The situation definitely isn’t better for anyone, but making the right choice becomes easier.
Except parts come from the same places the whole ass phone does. 🙄
I have a feeling Fairphone will have the best year ever when they’ll release their new phone
They’re produced in China…they’ll be pounded in to the ground with tariffs
Yep the most repairable devices will be ones that we have a lot of not the ones we can get replacements as a majority of the replacements come from tarrifed countries.
Fair phone, framework, and others that are repairable will actually be in a semi bad part where getting a replacement may be more expensive to procure or outright decide to stop distribution because of the logistics hell.
Since i saw this coming, and my phone was losing updates this year, i pulled the trigger on a Titan Pocket (unihertz). I love the physical keyboard, and the look of it has already gotten some excited comments from people my age lol. The repairability is the best part tho
Repair is great, but fuck iFixit. This company sells scams.
How so? That’s the first time I’ve heard that take.
