Enlarge / Dragon Sector uploaded a video to social media after discovering an "undocumented ‘unlock code’ which you could enter from the train driver’s panel" fixed "mysterious issues" impacting trains in Poland. (credit: Adam Haertle on YouTube )

An unusual right-to-repair drama is disrupting railroad travel in Poland despite efforts by hackers who helped repair trains that allegedly were designed to stop functioning when serviced by anyone but Newag, the train manufacturer.

Members of an ethical hacking group called Dragon Sector, including Sergiusz Bazański and Michał Kowalczyk, were called upon by a train repair shop, Serwis Pojazdów Szynowych (SPS), to analyze train software in June 2022. SPS was desperate to figure out what was causing "mysterious failures" that shut down several vehicles owned by Polish train operator the Lower Silesian Railway, Polish infrastructure trade publication Rynek Kolejowy reported . At that point, the shortage of trains had already become "a serious problem" for carriers and passengers, as fewer available cars meant shorter trains and reduced rider capacity, Rynek Kolejowy reported.

Dragon Sector spent two months analyzing the software, finding that "the manufacturer's interference" led to "forced failures and to the fact that the trains did not start," and concluding that bricking the trains "was a deliberate action on Newag's part."

Enlarge / The Framework Laptop 13, with Framework's gear logo on the lid. (credit: Andrew Cunningham)

Part of Framework’s sales pitch is that the company’s modular laptops are a ( somewhat ) more sustainable, responsible alternative to buying a hermetically sealed and non-upgradeable model from one of the big PC makers. The company has attempted to encourage reuse and recycling by offering refurbished models and 3D-printable cases for repurposing laptop motherboards as tiny desktop computers.

Earlier this month, the company took another step in that direction , opening up a Framework Outlet section in its online marketplace to sell refurbished products and things that have been returned by their original buyers. The company is also expanding its "factory seconds" offerings—it previously offered some 11th-gen Core i5 Framework Laptop motherboards this way, but that's now expanded to Core i7 motherboards and some complete Framework Laptop models built with bodies and screens that have minor manufacturing defects.

"With the excess displays we received from the factory, we found a subtle cosmetic defect on some of them," wrote Framework CEO Nirav Patel. "There is a wavy pattern and backlight non-uniformity that is visible from certain angles. Because of this, we’re calling these systems “B-Stock” and pricing them even lower than our 11th Gen refurbs. As always, you can upgrade any part of the system including the display using parts from the Framework Marketplace whenever you need to."

Enlarge / A section of Apple's repair manual for the M2 MacBook Air from 2022 . Apple already offers customers some repair manuals and parts through its Self-Service Repair program. (credit: Apple)

Right-to-repair advocates have long stated that passing repair laws in individual states was worth the uphill battle. Once enough states demanded that manufacturers make parts, repair guides, and diagnostic tools available, few companies would want to differentiate their offerings and policies and would instead pivot to national availability.

On Tuesday, Apple did exactly that. Following the passage of California's repair bill that Apple supported , requiring seven years of parts, specialty tools, and repair manual availability, Apple announced Tuesday that it would back a similar bill on a federal level. It would also make its parts, tools, and repair documentation available to both non-affiliated repair shops and individual customers, "at fair and reasonable prices."

"We intend to honor California's new repair provisions across the United States," said Brian Naumann, Apple's vice president for service and operation management, at a White House event Tuesday .

Enlarge / The iPhone 15 Pro. (credit: Apple)

Improving a device's modularity and repairability isn't just a hobby horse for right-to-repair activists—it can also significantly lower costs when something breaks. Case in point: the iPhone 15 Pro, which is said to pick up some of the same internal changes that Apple made to last year's non-Pro iPhone 14 to make repairs easier.

Replacing the back glass in older iPhone X-style designs previously involved going in through the front of the phone, a tricky and involved process that made it expensive to pay for and extremely difficult to do by yourself. The iPhone 14 and iPhone 15 Pro change this, making it as easy to remove the back of the phone as it is to remove the screen and giving easier access to the battery and other components to boot.

To find the upshot, compare repair estimates on Apple's iPhone Repair & Service page ( via MacRumors ). Fixing damaged rear glass on an iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max costs you $499 or $549, respectively, if you didn't buy AppleCare+ protection for your phone. That's half of what those models cost to buy brand new. For an iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max, that charge falls dramatically, down to $169 or $199.

Enlarge (credit: Bloomberg/Getty )

Google announced today that it's extending Chromebooks' automatic update support from 8 years to 10 years for devices released from 2019 and later. The move follows increasing criticism from consumers, schools, and advocacy groups around the many Chromebooks in use and on sale with looming death dates.

"All Chromebook platforms will now get regular automatic updates for 10 years," Google's blog post says. Numerous Chromebooks released in 2019 were about to expire next year. Now, no Chromebooks should be expiring within the next two years.

Google's blog continues:

Enlarge (credit: iFixit )

California, the home to many of tech's biggest companies and the nation's most populous state, is pushing ahead with a right-to-repair bill for consumer electronics and appliances. After unanimous votes in the state Assembly and Senate, the bill passed yesterday is expected to move through a concurrence vote and be signed by Governor Gavin Newsom.

"Since Right to Repair can pass here, expect it to be on its way to a backyard near you," said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens in a statement . iFixit, a seller of repair parts and tools and advocate for right-to-repair laws, based in San Luis Obispo, California, was joined in its support for the California repair law by another California company with a history of opposing repair laws: Apple. The consumer tech giant's letter urging passage of the bill was surprising, to say the least, though Apple said that the bill's stipulations for "individual users' safety" and "product manufacturers' intellectual property" were satisfactory.

California's bill goes further than right-to-repair laws in other states. Rather than limiting its demand that companies provide parts, tools, repair manuals, and necessary software for devices that are still actively sold, California requires that vendors provide those items for products sold after July 1, 2021, starting in July 2024. Products costing $50 to $99.99 must be accompanied by those items for three years, and items $100 and more necessitate seven years. The bill also provides for stronger enforcement mechanisms, allowing for municipalities to bring superior court cases rather than contact the state attorney general.

Enlarge (credit: Getty )

The right-to-repair movement has had its share of adversaries. From Big Tech to politicians and individuals who don't think product repairability should be government-mandated, it's been a tedious battle for a movement that has seen major wins lately. One of the most recent wins came from Apple, a former DIY repair combatant, supporting repairability legislation . But taking Apple's place is a new entity looking to limit right-to-repair legislation: Scientologists.

Today, 404 Media reported on a letter sent on August 10 to the US Copyright Office by Ryland Hawkins of Author Services Inc. The company, its website and letterhead say, represents the "literary, theatrical, and musical works of L. Ron Hubbard, the late founder of Scientology. Author Services, according to records archived via the WayBackMachine , is owned by the Chuch of Spiritual Technology, which describes itself as a church within Scientology.

The letter addresses Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which "makes it unlawful to circumvent technological measures used to prevent unauthorized access to copyrighted works." The Scientology group's letter seeks to alter exemptions granted for self-repairing some consumer electronics, like video game consoles, laptops, home appliances, and farming tractors.

Enlarge / The McDonald's ice cream machine is a relatively simple machine. It has a compressor, a motor, churning and agitating elements, and a series of circuit boards that keep service contracts flowing. (credit: iFixit / YouTube)

McDonald’s soft-serve ice cream machines are regularly broken, and it’s not just your perception. When repair vendor and advocate iFixit was filming a video about the topic, it checked tracking map McBroken and found that 34 percent of the machines in the state of New York were reported inoperable. As I write this, the nationwide number of broken machines is just above 14 percent.

To improve the nation’s semi-frozen milk fat infrastructure, iFixit has done two things. One, as first reported by 404 Media , is to join with interest group Public Knowledge to petition the Copyright Office for an exemption allowing people to fix commercial equipment, such as McDonald’s ice cream machines and other industrial kitchen equipment, without fear of reprisal under Section 1201 of the DMCA .

The other is to obtain one of the Taylor ice cream machines used by McDonald’s franchises, tear it down, and marvel at how it could be so unreliable.

Enlarge / Repairing an M1 MacBook. (credit: Apple )

Somewhere, ol' Beelzebub is putting on his thickest coat, because Apple has endorsed a right-to-repair bill, suggesting hell has frozen over. In a letter dated August 22, Apple showed its support for California's right-to-repair bill, SB 244 , after spending years combatting DIY repair efforts.

As reported by TechCrunch , the letter, written to California state Senator Susan Eggman, declared that Apple supports SB 244 and urged the legislature to pass it.

The bill requires vendors of consumer electronics and appliances to make sufficient documentation, parts, and tools for repairs available to customers and independent repair shops. The big exceptions are video game consoles and alarm systems.