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I find it… curious that the Self Service [0] website of famously brand-conscious Apple is dog-ugly, generic, and has no Apple branding whatsoever. [0]: https:/

I find it… curious that the Self Service [0] website of famously brand-conscious Apple is dog-ugly, generic, and has no Apple branding whatsoever. [0]: https://www.selfservicerepair.com/home https://www.selfservicerepair.com/home

mttjj 5y ago
As stated on Apple’s Self-Service support page (https://support.apple.com/self-service-repair https://support.apple.com/self-service-repair): “The online store is operated by a third-party provider authorized by Apple to sell genuine Apple parts and tools.” Seems similar to Apple’s trade-in program. The trade-in website is operated by a third-party and (in my experience) notoriously ‘un-Apple’.
chrisseaton 5y ago
It’s a third party.
- mansilladev 5y ago
  IMO, they should make it clear that you should not try to login with your email-based Apple credentials.
camillomiller 5y ago
In my experience this is on purpose by third party Apple sellers, to avoid any confusion about them being Apple. It's also definitely not a marketing-driven website, but rather a website that aims to be easy to navigate, lightweight and effective.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
shrew 5y ago
I thought it was a bit sketchy too and spoke to their support agent about it. It seems this site is run by a partner, SPOT or Service Parts or Tools. Their privacy policy lists servicepartsortools.com as a domain but visiting the domain shows a standard parked domain page. The domain is owned by CTDI[0] which does seem more legitimate. The response I got from the support agent after pressing the issue was: "Apple has partnered with CTDI for the SSR store and the fulfillment of related parts and tools. CTDI will utilize its SPOT subsidiary, including SPOT customer service agents, in support of SSR store customers." It makes sense that Apple would offload this to someone else, but I agree it's a rather jarring experience. [0] https://www.ctdi.com https://www.ctdi.com
- MikePlacid 5y ago
  Kinda strange that Apple has not used the time-and-customers-tested (and with a nice website) ifixit.com for the task. I only hope that iFixit will not die as a result - it’s always nice to have an alternative.
  - NegativeLatency 5y ago
    I agree that would be cool, and probably a better user experience but I’d suspect apple has large amounts of loathing for a company that criticizes their products.
    - eyelidlessness 5y ago
      I find iFixit’s repairability reviews incredibly objective, often more generously short on outright criticism than I’d expect given both their opinion and business incentive.
      - sandworm101 5y ago
        >> iFixit’s repairability reviews incredibly objective Which is while Apple doesn't like them. If you care about sales, glowing reviews are always better than honest reviews. There are plenty of people willing to praise Apple and so there is no need to cater to objective reviewers.
        threeseed 5y ago
        Apple is one of, if not the, most reviewed company in the world. For every new product there are thousands of reviews for which iFixit is just one. And almost all of those reviews are overwhelmingly objective and honest as you can see for the lacklustre reviews of the Studio Display. If I were Apple I wouldn't waste any time on iFixit either since they have limited traffic and limited social reach.
  - edrxty 5y ago
    ifixit is a somewhat political organization, they're pushing right to repair and grade products on repairability. I'd rather they stay independent from Apple.
TillE 5y ago
Using a generic template like that just screams spam/scam to me these days. Definitely a weird site.
vanilla_nut 5y ago
Clearly a lazy contract job. The "contact us" page is hilarious, who thinks these giant stock images are a good thing on any website? https://www.selfservicerepair.com/support https://www.selfservicerepair.com/support
- samhw 5y ago
  That stock image makes me feel like I'm on the Joe Rogan podcast..
- diebeforei485 5y ago
  It looks like malicious compliance.
- hawthornio 5y ago
  Can’t even see what the image is because it’s so zoomed in on mobile
quasarj 5y ago
Yeah, I would look at that and say it's a scam..
paxys 5y ago
Yeah, it is so bad that you can't even use the simple "it is made by a third party" excuse, especially considering how much control Apple usually exerts over things like this. In this case I'm pretty sure the directive from Apple was specifically to make the site as bland and un-Apple as possible.
LouisSayers 5y ago
I thought the same when I ordered a new macbook. Some of the delivery emails looked like an update you'd expect from a car mechanic.
LeoPanthera 5y ago
If this wasn't linked to from apple.com I would be convinced that it was a phishing site. The gratuitous use of stock photography really doesn't help.
gordon_freeman 5y ago
It seems like Apple has tasked building and managing this website to a 3rd party as I could not find Apple naming or its logo anywhere on this site.
addcn 5y ago
> I find it… curious that the Self Service [0] website of famously brand-conscious Apple is dog-ugly, generic, and has no Apple branding whatsoever. That's exactly why it is the way it is. You do not want a brand associated with the highest quality and seamless integration to be associated with self-repair kits. Even under the best of circumstances, with the best of expertise, one must expect self-repair kits sold to the mass market to fail 5%? 10%? of the time?
TedShiller 5y ago
It’s run by a partner
swlkr 5y ago
It's crazy that it doesn't have sign in with apple support too
xyst 5y ago
"dog-ugly" looks okay to me. I'm buying parts, not partying with friends or looking at it for long periods of time. As long as the part buying experience is gucci, then I am okay.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

mttjj 5y ago

As stated on Apple’s Self-Service support page (https://support.apple.com/self-service-repair https://support.apple.com/self-service-repair): “The online store is operated by a third-party provider authorized by Apple to sell genuine Apple parts and tools.” Seems similar to Apple’s trade-in program. The trade-in website is operated by a third-party and (in my experience) notoriously ‘un-Apple’.

chrisseaton 5y ago

It’s a third party.

mansilladev 5y ago
IMO, they should make it clear that you should not try to login with your email-based Apple credentials.

camillomiller 5y ago

In my experience this is on purpose by third party Apple sellers, to avoid any confusion about them being Apple. It's also definitely not a marketing-driven website, but rather a website that aims to be easy to navigate, lightweight and effective.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

shrew 5y ago

I thought it was a bit sketchy too and spoke to their support agent about it. It seems this site is run by a partner, SPOT or Service Parts or Tools. Their privacy policy lists servicepartsortools.com as a domain but visiting the domain shows a standard parked domain page. The domain is owned by CTDI[0] which does seem more legitimate. The response I got from the support agent after pressing the issue was: "Apple has partnered with CTDI for the SSR store and the fulfillment of related parts and tools. CTDI will utilize its SPOT subsidiary, including SPOT customer service agents, in support of SSR store customers." It makes sense that Apple would offload this to someone else, but I agree it's a rather jarring experience. [0] https://www.ctdi.com https://www.ctdi.com

MikePlacid 5y ago
Kinda strange that Apple has not used the time-and-customers-tested (and with a nice website) ifixit.com for the task. I only hope that iFixit will not die as a result - it’s always nice to have an alternative.
- NegativeLatency 5y ago
  I agree that would be cool, and probably a better user experience but I’d suspect apple has large amounts of loathing for a company that criticizes their products.
  - eyelidlessness 5y ago
    I find iFixit’s repairability reviews incredibly objective, often more generously short on outright criticism than I’d expect given both their opinion and business incentive.
    - sandworm101 5y ago
      >> iFixit’s repairability reviews incredibly objective Which is while Apple doesn't like them. If you care about sales, glowing reviews are always better than honest reviews. There are plenty of people willing to praise Apple and so there is no need to cater to objective reviewers.
      - threeseed 5y ago
        Apple is one of, if not the, most reviewed company in the world. For every new product there are thousands of reviews for which iFixit is just one. And almost all of those reviews are overwhelmingly objective and honest as you can see for the lacklustre reviews of the Studio Display. If I were Apple I wouldn't waste any time on iFixit either since they have limited traffic and limited social reach.
- edrxty 5y ago
  ifixit is a somewhat political organization, they're pushing right to repair and grade products on repairability. I'd rather they stay independent from Apple.

TillE 5y ago

Using a generic template like that just screams spam/scam to me these days. Definitely a weird site.

vanilla_nut 5y ago

Clearly a lazy contract job. The "contact us" page is hilarious, who thinks these giant stock images are a good thing on any website? https://www.selfservicerepair.com/support https://www.selfservicerepair.com/support

samhw 5y ago
That stock image makes me feel like I'm on the Joe Rogan podcast..
diebeforei485 5y ago
It looks like malicious compliance.
hawthornio 5y ago
Can’t even see what the image is because it’s so zoomed in on mobile

quasarj 5y ago

Yeah, I would look at that and say it's a scam..

paxys 5y ago

Yeah, it is so bad that you can't even use the simple "it is made by a third party" excuse, especially considering how much control Apple usually exerts over things like this. In this case I'm pretty sure the directive from Apple was specifically to make the site as bland and un-Apple as possible.

LouisSayers 5y ago

I thought the same when I ordered a new macbook. Some of the delivery emails looked like an update you'd expect from a car mechanic.

LeoPanthera 5y ago

If this wasn't linked to from apple.com I would be convinced that it was a phishing site. The gratuitous use of stock photography really doesn't help.

gordon_freeman 5y ago

It seems like Apple has tasked building and managing this website to a 3rd party as I could not find Apple naming or its logo anywhere on this site.

addcn 5y ago

> I find it… curious that the Self Service [0] website of famously brand-conscious Apple is dog-ugly, generic, and has no Apple branding whatsoever. That's exactly why it is the way it is. You do not want a brand associated with the highest quality and seamless integration to be associated with self-repair kits. Even under the best of circumstances, with the best of expertise, one must expect self-repair kits sold to the mass market to fail 5%? 10%? of the time?

TedShiller 5y ago

It’s run by a partner

swlkr 5y ago

It's crazy that it doesn't have sign in with apple support too

xyst 5y ago

"dog-ugly" looks okay to me. I'm buying parts, not partying with friends or looking at it for long periods of time. As long as the part buying experience is gucci, then I am okay.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]