Most crucially for electronics - especially those made by Apple - the petition asks the FTC to implement rules such that “identical components from two identical devices ought to be interchangeable without manufacturer intervention.” In other words, no more parts pairing.

Apple tossed its weight behind limited national right-to-repair rules late last month, surprising many. As we pointed out then, Apple’s negotiations with California on its right-to-repair rule passed in October resulted in a carve-out that allowed it and other manufacturers to carry on using parts pairing to restrict repairs.

Parts pairing means Apple and other OEMs get final say on whether replacement parts are fully functional by requiring repair shops to call and verify serial numbers on swapped-in components. This hampers home repairs by making it impossible, for example, to simply pop an old screen from a dead iPhone into a working handset without calling an authorized Apple supplier to get the okay.