The iPhone is the least repairable phone on the market, according to repair experts. Phones from Samsung and Google are not far behind.
The most recent estimate of restructuring is from an annual report called “Failure to Repair” released today by a consumer advocacy group American PIRG. A 2021 French law required products to be marked for repair, and US PIRG says this is the first report since then that shows which companies are—or aren’t—making progress. The answer is that the renovation is going much faster in some places than in others.
The results were good for phones made by Motorolawhich earned a B+. Google phones he got a C-. The sentence was worse for Samsung phoneswhich got a D. Last on the list was Apple and D-. Apple and Samsung did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Scores were better for laptops than smartphones, with Asus at the top with a B+ and Apple at the bottom with its MacBooks at a C–.
The report’s authors hope that publishing these low scores will encourage manufacturers to do better.
“Putting these incentives in place can push these companies to make innovations that are actually beneficial,” says Nathan Proctor, executive director of PIRG’s US campaign for the right to manufacture. “Instead of coming up with new ways to shove AI down our throats, you can make things that are permanent and that we can fix.”
Despite many right to make agreements companies have made—such as making their tools, parts, and repair instructions publicly available—those lists are lower than in previous years, mainly because of new information that has been obtained from European laws that require repair marks to be printed on product packaging.
French law classifies products according to how easily they can be disassembled, whether documentation and tools are provided, and the availability and price of spare parts. In 2023, the European Union was adopted the law set up European Product Registration for Energy Labellinga process that marks equipment on key repairable features such as whether products have easy access and disassembly, battery life, ingress protection such as waterproofing, and durability to handle frequent falls. Grades range from A to F.
To arrive at its own rating, the US PIRG aggregates the EPREL and French restructuring indices and other US-specific factors, such as whether companies actively lobby against manufacturing rights or are members of trade unions that do so.
“If you’re buying your equipment from a company that’s using their money to lobby against your right to make that thing, that doesn’t speak well for their support, for your ability to fix it,” Proctor says. “So we’re marking some of that legal activity.”
Apple phones are getting better scores than in previous years, like when iPhones were handed out F rating in 2022. (iPhones got a C– in 2025.) The low rating for Apple’s phones is due to software support, and the way EU laws track information companies enable in their products. According to EU rules, companies have to self-report how their equipment meets repair requirements. And those levels tend to have very low scores.
“While we’ve been charting the curve, Apple hasn’t been the leader in the negative,” Proctor says. “But why are we marking the curve? We should have more durable products.”
The main goal of these standards, Proctor says, is to bring attention to the importance of repair, accessibility, and waste reduction.
“This is an emerging, very important issue that we need better leadership from companies and other public policy officials,” Proctor says. “We shouldn’t be losing all our internet-connected things every couple of years because it’s impossible to use them with software. It’s impossible. It’s crazy. Let’s not build that world. That world is poor.”
“I’m really confident that some of those things will be addressed,” Proctor adds. “Apple engineers are good at making things. They’re good at solving problems.”
