What Apple's new repair program means: even if you don't own an iPhone

The plan by the world's most profitable company is a sign that the tech industry could finally be warming to making maintenance a part of the experience of owning a gadget.

Apple delivered an early holiday gift on Wednesday to the eco-conscious and the do-it-yourselfers: It said it would soon begin selling the parts, tools and instructions for people to do their own iPhone repairs.

It was a major victory for the “right to repair” movement, which has demanded that tech manufacturers provide the necessary components and manuals for customers to fix their own smartphones, tablets and computers.

Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others have long fought proposed legislation that would make such repair resources publicly available. But the movement gained momentum this summer when the Federal Trade Commission announced that it would