I sit with my new AirPods Max on my ears and think about what they really cost. Not just the price in the store. But the hidden price — the one that comes with it the day something breaks.
A broken ear cushion. A battery that has lost capacity. A charging connector that stops working. How much does it cost to fix? Where can I get it fixed? And who can?
Those questions have long had unpleasant answers. But that is changing — for real, and with the full force of the law.
A business model built on your frustration
This isn't a story about bad products. It's a story about deliberately designed frustration.
For decades, big tech companies and manufacturers have systematically built systems that make it difficult, expensive, or downright impossible to repair what you buy. Not by mistake. But as a strategy.
Manufacturers have intentionally made repairs difficult — from limiting access to parts and schematics, to using software locks that limit functionality after third-party repairs. 
It's not a conspiracy theory. It's documented, prosecuted in court, and now addressed in law.
Louis Rossmann is one of the most well-known voices in the movement. He started his repair shop in 2009 after realizing that the possibilities for component-level repairs for Apple products were disastrous or completely nonexistent. Technicians were replacing entire motherboards for 5,000–12,000 kronor instead of finding and replacing the ten-kronor component that was actually broken.
He started filming his repairs on YouTube to teach others. Today, he has more than 1.5 million subscribers and has become one of the most important forces in the Right to Repair movement.  His message is simple: when you buy a product, you should really own it — including the right to fix it.
The tractor you didn't get to fix
If you thought a locked iPhone felt absurd, wait until you hear about farmers and John Deere.
John Deere is the world's largest manufacturer of agricultural machinery.And for years, they locked down their tractors with software — preventing farmers from diagnosing or repairing their own machines in the field. Instead, customers were forced to rely on Deere-approved specialists — the only ones with access to the company’s essential repair and diagnostic software. These authorized dealers charged artificially inflated prices, directly hurting farmers’ incomes.
Imagine that. You own a tractor worth millions. It's the middle of harvest season. The machine stops. And you can't even read the error code without calling Deere's own service center — which may have a wait time of several days.
For eight years, American farmers fought John Deere in court. In April 2026, they won.  John Deere is forced to pay $99 million in damages and will also make diagnostic tools available to farmers and independent repair shops for at least the next ten years. 
It's a huge victory. And it didn't come from goodwill from the company — it came from persistent struggle from ordinary people who got fed up.
The EU steps in — and Sweden follows
Against this background, it is understandable why the EU's Right to Repair directive is such a big deal.
The EU adopted the directive (2024/1799) in the summer of 2024 with the aim of making it easier and cheaper for consumers to repair products instead of throwing them away. Sweden must have implemented the rules in national legislation by 31 July 2026.  That's in a few weeks.
What does that mean specifically?
Manufacturers are required to offer repairs both within and outside the warranty period, and to provide spare parts, technical information and tools at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time. All devices must be repairable — even by local technicians. 
The manufacturer monopoly is thus broken up. An independent workshop near you should be able to order the same original parts and have access to the same technical documentation as the manufacturer's own service center. And software locks that block repairs — like what John Deere used, and which Apple has long applied — will be prohibited.
Consumers can also request a standardised European form specifying the cost, time and conditions of repair before entering into a contract.  No more hidden fees or unpleasant surprises when you pick up your product.
The reward for choosing the right
There is also an incentive built into the law that I think is elegant.
If you choose to repair a defective product instead of replacing it, the statutory warranty period is extended by an additional year. 
It's a signal. The legislators are saying: we want you to repair, not buy new unnecessarily. And we reward you for that choice.
Combine that with the Swedish Consumer Purchase Act's three-year right of complaint for original defects, and you actually have a pretty strong safety net — if you know about it.
Why has it taken so long?
It's a question worth asking. Back in 2022, a vote in the European Parliament showed that 79% of EU citizens believed that manufacturers should be obliged to make it easier to repair electronics, and 77% said they would rather repair their products than buy new ones. 
So the will has always been there for us. It's lobbying and huge business interests that have slowed things down. The manufacturers make more money from you buying new. It's not more complicated than that.
But now politics has finally caught up.
What it means to me — and to you
I live with a lot of Apple electronics. MacBook, iPad, AirPods Max, Apple Watch Ultra. I love the ecosystem, it’s true. But I’ve also felt that stinging feeling when something starts to break and the answer is: “It costs almost as much to fix as to buy new.”
I no longer accept that answer — and with this law, we don't have to.
Smart Living isn't about always having the latest. It's about understanding what you actually own, knowing your rights, and making decisions that last over time. A well-maintained product that lasts another three years is not a compromise. It's an active choice — for the economy, for the environment, and for yourself.
The law is on your side now. Use it.
Have you ever felt cheated by a manufacturer when something broke — and what happened next?
Maria, Amaelle Life
