Your smartphone screen is cracked. The retailer offers repair or a replacement device. Until now, it didn't matter. The warranty stayed the same either way.
From July 31, 2026, that changes. And it changes in your favor.
If you pick repair, you automatically get one extra year of warranty on top. Two years become three. This isn't some retailer's marketing trick, but your new right to repair – written into EU law.
What Actually Changes with the Right to Repair?
EU Directive 2024/1799 makes repair significantly more attractive. The most important point: manufacturers like Apple, Samsung and others can't fob you off with overpriced repairs or excuses anymore. They must offer repairs at a fair price.
Why this matters? Because according to the European Parliament, consumers lose 12 billion euros annually. Simply because repair was too complicated or too expensive until now. Buying a new device was often the easier choice.
The best part: The legal guarantee (normally two years) automatically extends by twelve months when you choose repair. Without you having to apply for anything. The warranty extension on repair is the biggest benefit of the EU right to repair.
Which Devices Does the Right to Repair Cover?
Does this apply to all devices now? Unfortunately not.
The EU repair directive only applies to products with existing ecodesign requirements. Sounds complicated, but it's actually simple: The big devices are covered, the small ones aren't.
Covered:
Smartphones and tablets (the most important for most people)
Washing machines and dishwashers
Refrigerators and vacuum cleaners
TVs and certain batteries
Not covered:
Coffee machines, toasters, headphones. According to Right to Repair Europe, these devices lack the necessary ecodesign requirements.
If you buy a refurbished iPhone or refurbished iPad, you'll fully benefit from the new law. For smaller devices, you still need to check the retailer's warranty.
10 Years of Spare Parts: What's Behind It
This is where it gets really interesting: The right to repair obliges manufacturers to keep spare parts available for seven to ten years. For smartphones, it's at least seven years from the last sale date.
Concretely, that means: Your iPhone 14 from 2022 must still be repairable in 2029. With original parts directly from Apple. Not with some cheap knockoffs.
Why this matters for refurbished buyers: A refurbished device stays usable significantly longer when spare parts are guaranteed available. You can buy a four-year-old iPhone and know: If the display breaks in two years, you can get it repaired.
What About Devices You Already Own?
Here's where it gets interesting. The right to repair also applies to products purchased before July 2026. According to legal experts, Samsung, Apple and others must offer repairs from the deadline onwards, even if your device is older.
But: The twelve-month warranty extension only applies to devices purchased from July 31, 2026 onwards. Buy before that date, and you benefit from the repair obligation but not the extra year.
Smartphone repair with warranty extension is therefore only available from the end of July 2026.
Why Refurbished Device Buyers Benefit
The directive explicitly protects the use of second-hand and 3D-printed spare parts. Manufacturers cannot refuse repairs just because a device was previously repaired by third parties.
This is good news for anyone buying refurbished. The right to repair promotes sustainability and extends the lifespan of electronics. Principles that are already central to refurbished devices today.
Extended spare parts availability means refurbished products stay usable longer. And protection for third-party parts strengthens independent repair shops. The principle of "repair instead of replace" is finally anchored in law.
Right to Repair: What's Next?
Germany must transpose the directive into national law by July 31, 2026. The Federation of German Consumer Organisations is calling for a nationwide repair bonus following the French model. In France, consumers already receive vouchers worth up to 200 euros for repairs.
Whether Germany introduces such a bonus is still open. Consumer advocates are pushing hard, but as of today there's no commitment.
The message is clear: Repair instead of replace is becoming the standard. Germany just needs to follow through now.
