If you've ever wanted to fix your iPhone yourself, Apple is now giving you the chance to do it with official parts and tools.

Apple just announced its new Apple Self-Service Repair Program, an unprecedented move that gives users the opportunity to repair their own phones and provides the tools and parts to do so - for a fee, of course.

Starting next year in the U.S., the program will cover the display, battery, and camera of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. Initially, only commonly replaced parts will be covered, but more options will be opened by the end of the year.

The program will also be expanded throughout 2022 to include repairs on M1 Macs (including MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and iMac) and will be available in more countries.

The way it works is that users must first read Apple's official repair guide for the product they wish to repair. They then purchase the necessary parts and tools at the Apple Self Service Repair Online Store and return the replaced parts for recycling.

Apple (and us) recommend that most people take their cell phones to an Apple store or certified technician for repair because cell phone repair is delicate. However, those who are used to dealing with electronics and want their cell phones to last as long as possible have repair options available to them that were not previously available.

However, Apple still has a long way to go before it can be considered an advocate of the "right to repair." Recall that until recently, replacing the display on the iPhone 13 made Face ID unusable. Even if Apple no longer cares about users trying to repair their devices themselves, they are still trying to get people to buy and repair Apple's own parts rather than use more readily available (and presumably cheaper) equivalent parts.

Overall, this is a welcome move from Apple, even if it will only be accepted by a minority of iPhone users. Hopefully, it will also help that Apple's iOS backward compatibility is still long enough to allow users to keep using their iPhones for much longer.