Skip to main content

Samsung joins Apple with support for DIY phone repairs

In another win for right-to-repair campaigners, Samsung has joined Apple in offering users who’d like to repair their own phones the option of doing so from their own homes, the company announced. The ability to do so will be available first for the Galaxy S20 and S21 phones and the Galaxy Tab S7+ tablet. The service will start in the summer.

This will be a gradual process, with cracked screens, broken backs, and wobbly display ports first on the list to be replaced. While Samsung plans to add more devices later, it’s not clear if it’ll extend this to more fiddly things like cameras. Once the self-repair program kicks in, customers will be able to get device parts, repair tools, and repair guides. In the interim, access to same-day repair through Samsung Authorized Care locations will remain.

Recommended Videos

“At Samsung, we’re creating more ways for consumers to extend the life span of our products with premium care experiences,” said Ramon Gregory, senior vice president of customer care at Samsung Electronics America. “Availability of self-repair will provide our consumers the convenience and more options for sustainable solutions.”

The company is partnering with iFixit on this project, though it has yet to share precisely how as of the time of writing. It says more information will be forthcoming when the program goes live. “We are excited to be consulting with Samsung to help them develop a solution for DIY parts and repair information,” said Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit. “Every time you fix a device, you’re helping the planet.”

In 2021, Apple also announced a similar imitative for iPhones. It would allow users to repair the iPhone 12 and 13 series in the comfort of their very own home, and ship them parts, tools, and manuals to do so. With both Apple and Samsung on board the self-repair train, this is a victory for right-to-repair campaigners who have always pointed out the wastefulness of throwing away perfectly serviceable smartphones. At the same time, there has been an increasing global push for the right to repair, and governments have started to get involved. As we speculated with Apple, Samsung could simply be trying to get ahead of potential regulation. Whatever the motive, it remains laudable all the same.

Michael Allison
Former Mobile News Writer
A UK-based tech journalist for Digital Trends, helping keep track and make sense of the fast-paced world of tech with a…
Samsung ends support for a pivotal phone that redefined the smartphone segment
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Samsung has officially ended support for one of the most important phones in recent history. It’s time to say goodnight to the Samsung Galaxy S20 family as it leaves the official list of phones to be updated.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 was a pivotal device, not just for Samsung, but for the rest of the smartphone market too. It marked a change in strategy for Samsung, with a new naming structure that matched the year of launch. The phone prior to the Galaxy S20 was the Galaxy S10, but rather than introduce the Galaxy S11, Samsung jumped to a more meaningful numbering.

Read more
Next Samsung Galaxy Ring 2 could charge by docking into your phone
The Samsung Galaxy Ring.

The next Samsung Galaxy Ring 2 may have a unique and novel charging method that could mean you don't need a charger at all.

The new technology would mean the ring could be charged from a Samsung phone, meaning it would not require a dedicated dock and would allow you to charge wherever you are, with your phone.

Read more
Samsung’s foldable phone plans are more ambitious than we realized
Samsung Flex G display concept in two sizes.

Samsung is no stranger to foldable phones, with devices like the Galaxy Z Fold 7 just around the corner. Now a newly discovered patent suggests Samsung's plans for foldables go beyond what we initially expected. A post at SamMobile points to a display that folds not two, not three, but four times via three separate hinges. This would allow it to expand to a massive size, perhaps as large as most tablets.

It's hard to state anything definitively from just a patent, but the included diagram gives us an idea of what the final product might look like. From initial impressions, it would be on the bulkier side of things. The central hinge is the largest of the three, and the outer panels would fold inward twice — once onto themselves, and again onto the two inner halves to an end result roughly the dimensions of a modern phone, although several times thicker.

Read more