{"id":387567,"date":"2026-04-08T05:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387567\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T05:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T05:22:10","slug":"samsung-gets-a-d-apple-scores-a-d-minus-repair-report-says-your-phones-arent-built-to-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/387567\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung gets a D, Apple scores a D minus: Repair report says your phones aren’t built to last"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Robert Triggs \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

TL;DR<\/p>\n

Samsung and Apple scored D and D- respectively, ranking second-last and last in a new smartphone repairability report.
\nThe report uses the EU\u2019s new EPREL repairability system, which focuses on how easy it is to open and repair devices.
\nHowever, the report lacks details such as the specific models tested and also has an uneven dataset.<\/p>\n

A new report has delivered quite a blunt verdict on Samsung and Apple when it comes to smartphone repairability.<\/p>\n

According to the latest \u201cFailing the Fix 2026\u201d study<\/a> released by the US PIRG Education Fund (via Wired<\/a>), Apple\u2019s iPhones scored a D-, the lowest grade among major smartphone brands, while Samsung\u2019s Galaxy phones weren\u2019t far behind with a D.<\/p>\n

\"Cellphone<\/p>\n

The rankings place the top two smartphone makers in the world well behind competitors like Motorola, which topped the chart with a B+, and Google, which scored a C-.<\/p>\n

How were smartphone repairability scores calculated?<\/p>\n

US PIRG is a consumer advocacy organization that researches tech, environmental, and public interest issues. It often pushes for stronger Right to Repair laws and greater transparency from manufacturers.<\/p>\n

The organization notes that this year\u2019s report<\/a> switches to a new methodology for calculating smartphone repairability. Instead of relying on France\u2019s older repair index, it uses the European Union\u2019s EPREL (European Product Registry for Energy Labeling) system, designed to better reflect real-world repair problems.<\/p>\n

\"FY26<\/p>\n

Under the EU\u2019s new scoring system, repairability is judged across several factors, including how easy a device is to disassemble, whether it uses standard tools, the availability of spare parts, access to repair documentation, and the length of software support. Ease of disassembly carries the highest weight in the system.<\/p>\n

The change from the French index to the EPREL seems to have hurt both Samsung and Apple. One of the biggest factors dragging their scores down is the lack of proper software support disclosure. While both companies offer long-term software update support, they only declare the regulatory minimum of five years in the EPREL database. As a result, they earn the lowest possible score in that category in the report.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

\"google\"google<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the report also factors in corporate behavior beyond hardware design. Companies lose points if they are members of trade groups that lobby against Right to Repair legislation, and both Samsung and Apple take a hit here as well.<\/p>\n

That said, the report isn\u2019t without some limitations. While it evaluates up to 10 recent devices per brand, the dataset is uneven. Samsung, for instance, was graded using only five models because several of its phones weren\u2019t yet listed in the EPREL database at the time of analysis. Similarly, Google\u2019s score is based on eight models, as devices older than the Pixel 8 are no longer listed for sale.<\/p>\n

Another notable omission is pricing. Unlike France\u2019s earlier repairability index, the EU\u2019s EPREL system does not factor spare parts costs into the score. That\u2019s a significant omission, given that high repair costs are one of the main reasons people choose to replace devices instead of fixing them.<\/p>\n

Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robert Triggs \/ Android Authority TL;DR Samsung and Apple scored D and D- respectively, ranking second-last and last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387568,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[936,61,60,202,573,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-387567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-apple","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-mobile","12":"tag-samsung","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}