Laptop Makers Stalled On Repairability Improvements

The right to repair movement has gained momentum, yet laptop makers have largely stalled on improving repairability.

The Public Interest Research Group, a US-based non-profit that's long been part of a coalition of repairability advocates, said in its 2025 Failing the Fix report that the latest generation of smartphones became more repairable in 2024, particularly in ease of disassembly.

Laptops, however, saw little to no advances, with most brands remaining difficult to mend.

"There was not significant improvement across the eight most popular laptop brands in the US: HP, Apple, Dell, Acer, Lenovo, Microsoft, Samsung and ASUS," PIRG said. "While Apple and Dell laptops both saw some improvement in ease of disassembly, the other brands saw minimal to no change from 2024 to 2025."

Even with some improvement in disassembly, Apple laptops "still fare the worst by far" for ease of disassembly. That factor significantly impacts its overall repairability score.

"We ... heavily weigh the disassembly score because we think this better reflects what consumers think a repairability score indicates," PIRG said. 

The rankings of the eight laptop manufacturers PIRG reviewed reflect this, with Apple earning a C- and seventh place ahead of Lenovo, which earned a far worse F grade for repairability despite claiming in 2023 that four out of five of its devices would be repairable by this year.

"We gave Lenovo an F because they failed to provide the full French repairability index [a key measure PIRG uses for its scores] for 12 of the 13 models (92%) available in both the US and France," Lucas Gutterman, PIRG's Designed to Last campaign director told The Register. "Because of this, we were only able to score one Lenovo device."

In other words, Lenovo's F grade primarily reflects its failure to provide French repairability index data for most of its models, rather than a full assessment of its devices' repairability.

ASUS earned the highest repairability grade (A-) in PIRG's rankings, followed by Acer, making them strong choices for those prioritizing fixability.

Samsung was added to the list for the first time this year, PIRG said, because it's become one of the most popular laptop brands in the US. 

PIRG said it examined the ten most recently released devices from the eight leading brands (or the top 10 devices featured on their websites) to "ensure that our data reflects the repairability of the newest devices and those that are most prioritized." Scores are calculated using a combination of ease of disassembly, availability of documentation, part availability and pricing, with adjustments for companies' stances on the right to repair movement.

On that last point, don't expect many manufacturers to score well. 

"Eight out of 10 brands we looked at were part of an anti-Right to Repair trade association," PIRG said, with the companies having membership in groups like TechNet and the Consumer Technology Association, both of whom lobby against the right to repair. 

"Google was the only manufacturer to fully offset its deductions for anti-repair memberships through legislative work," PIRG said. "The company supported four Right to Repair bills in the past year."

Apple leads the smartphone sphere for repairability after caving to advocates in the past couple of years, but with a B- score, that doesn't mean the iMaker has made things easy. Despite progress, repairability advocates have described Apple's concessions as more attempts to confuse consumers. 

"[Apple's] is a strategy of half-promises and unnecessarily complicated hedges," iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens told us following Apple's decision to allow used iPhone parts for device repairs. 

A common repairability refrain: Ground gained, but not enough

"Advocating for Right to Repair is having an impact, but there's still a lot of work left to do," PIRG said of the past year of tracking laptop and smartphone repairability. The group noted that 20 states have introduced right to repair legislation in the US in 2025, totaling 41 bills targeting vehicles, farm equipment, wheelchairs and consumer electronics. 

The fight is far from over, however.

• The state of Right to Repair: Progress made, but key barriers remain
• State-by-state is the best approach for right to repair, says advocacy leader
• European Parliament votes to screw repair rights in consumer toolkits
• John Deere boasts driverless fleet - who needs operators, anyway?

"Even with improvement from some manufacturers, fixability is not improving fast enough given the growing e-waste problem," PIRG noted. "Advocacy and education are important, of course, but all parties need to step up and take action to solve this problem."

According to the UN in March 2024, e-waste is growing five time faster than it can be recycled.

PIRG argues that manufacturers - and retailers - should disclose repairability scores to help consumers make informed choices. Consumers, likewise, should vote with their wallets by purchasing devices that are more repairable, and lawmakers need to actually pass repairability laws.

One thing folks should avoid if they're concerned about repairability are Chromebooks - PIRG noted that the devices continue to have short shelf lives despite Google's promise of 10 years of automatic updates. That didn't do a thing to improve their hardware, Gutterman told us. 

"Google can work with Chromebook manufacturers, pushing them to produce spare parts, and standardize part design to the greatest extent possible," Gutterman suggested. "This would reduce electronic waste and increase repairability." ®