Apple on Wednesday surprised consumer rights activists by announcing a program that will provide spare parts and detailed instruction manuals for iPhones and Mac computers to individuals and independent repair shops, so they can feasibly fix the devices.

The program, called Self Service Repair, goes into effect early next year and will initially apply to iPhone 12 and 13 models and M1 processor-based Macs.

The announcement was quickly hailed as a major victory in the growing right-to-repair movement, which seeks to empower consumers to legally fix their own gadgets instead of using manufacturer-authorized centers that can be costly, inconvenient, or otherwise challenging to access.

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Consumer advocates have pushed for years for right-to-repair protections that make it easier and more affordable for people to restore broken gadgets.

They also question why manufacturers have any say in where you repair the smartphone, laptop, or game console that you paid for.

“This is just a basic protection of your property rights and your right to tinker so long as you’re not harming anyone else,” says Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project, an advocacy group focused on market power. “Manufacturers want everything to be a service so you don’t own anything, so that you’re beholden to them.”