Apple quietly lobbied to stop ‘Right to Repair’ bill, records show

Apple itself never publicly testified against the legislation, which would have helped Floridians fix broken iPhones. But the company has tentacles into most of the organizations that did.

Photo credit: Håkan Dahlström

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Earlier this year, Florida lawmakers began working on a plan to help anybody who would rather spend a little money fixing a broken smartphone than a lot of money buying a new one altogether.

The bipartisan bill would have forced corporations that sell smartphones and tablet computers to give customers and independent repair shops access to the parts, tools, and records needed to fix a device when it breaks. It was a front in a cross-country “Right to Repair” campaign, a movement meant to ensure all Americans can find affordable repair options for expensive equipment that is critical to their lives and livelihoods — from mobile phones to farm tractors to wheelchairs.

But as soon as Senate Bill 1132 began to move in Tallahassee, an array of amorphous front groups appeared to fight it.

An executive from CTIA, a wireless industry trade group, told lawmakers that the legislation was unnecessary. A director at TechNet, which represents tech firms, warned that it could discourage companies from investing in new products. The head of an organization called Repair Done Right even claimed the bill would be dangerous for consumers.

Representatives from the James Madison Institute, a think tank in Tallahassee, and the Taxpayer Protection Alliance, an advocacy group in Washington, publicly testified against the legislation, too.

There was, however, someone else working to kill the bill from behind the scenes: Apple Inc., the $3 trillion maker of iPhones, iPads, and other electronic devices.

Emails obtained in a public-records request show that Apple privately lobbied lawmakers against the Right to Repair legislation. The corporate behemoth also pushed for changes that would have weakened the bill.

And Apple — which rings up around $200 billion in iPhone sales ever year — did it all without ever saying peep in public.

The lobbying effort worked. Though Senate Bill 1132 breezed through three committees in the Florida Senate, the legislation ultimately failed to pass, in large part because Republican leaders in the state House of Representatives refused to hold a single hearing on it.

The emails documenting Apple’s lobbying in the Florida were obtained by McKenna Schueler, a central Florida-based journalist who writes for the Orlando Weekly newspaper and publishes “Caring Class Revolt,” a newsletter covering labor issues. Schueler shared the records with Seeking Rents.

Representatives for Apple declined to answer specific questions about the lobbying effort. The company instead referred to a position paper it published last year in which Apple argued for uniform repair regulations across the country — rather than “potentially conflicting approaches” between the states.

“Apple was the first smartphone manufacturer to come out in support of federal regulation for repair in the US,” the company wrote in the June 2024 paper. “We believe that consumers and businesses would benefit from laws that balance repairability with customer safety, product performance, and integrity.”

The episode is an example of how individual corporations often lobby from the shadows — particularly when consumer-sensitive companies like Apple may be lobbying against the interests of their own customers or employees. They will instead outsource public opposition to brand-masking intermediaries like chambers of commerce, trade associations, think tanks, and advocacy groups.

While Apple never publicly testified against Senate Bill 1132 itself, the company has tentacles into most of the organizations that did. Corporate records show, for instance, that Apple is a member of CTIA, TechNet, and Repair Done Right. And tax records show that a subsidiary of CTIA provides funding to both the James Madison Institute and the Taxpayer Protection Alliance.

To be clear, Apple was not the only company that lobbied against the Right to Repair legislation. Deere & Co., the $130 billion manufacturer of tractors and combines, also organized opposition to the bill, which would have imposed similar rules on companies that make farming equipment.

And the American Association for Homecare — a lobbying group for wheelchair manufacturers like Sunrise Medical, Pride Mobility, Permobil and Numotion — fought a similar “Right to Repair” bill written specifically to support users of electric wheelchairs. The wheelchair legislation also failed to pass during the Florida Legislature’s 2025 session, which ended last month.

But few companies carry the cachet of Apple, which ranks among the five biggest publicly traded corporations in the world and spends millions every year on lobbying operations. Apple has 15 lobbyists on its payroll in Florida alone.

The records also reveal some of the ways in which Apple hoped to weaken Senate Bill 1132 in case the legislation were to pass — a tactic the company and its allies are likely to use again if another Right to Repair bill is filed in the Florida Legislature next year.

For example, Senate Bill 1132 would have essentially required smartphone manufacturers to provide owners and independent repair shops with access to any documentation, parts or tools necessary to repair a broken device.

Apple wanted to narrow that down so that manufacturers would only have to give people access to materials that they already provide to “authorized” repair techs in Florida — like employees working in an Apple Store’s Genius Bar or on a Best Buy Geek Squad.

“Our primary goal with the amendment is to treat authorized repair providers and independent repair providers the same,” Chris Dudley, a lobbyist for Apple, wrote in an email to an aide to Sen. Keith Truenow (R-Tavares), the sponsor of Senate Bill 1132.

One of the changes to SB 1132 proposed by Apple.

But that would have created a loophole in which Apple could deny people access to parts and tools that it uses in repairs made exclusively through the company’s mail-in repair program.

Senate Bill 1132 also would have come with some sharp enforcement teeth. That’s because the legislation would have empowered any owner or repair shop denied access to repair materials to sue in state court — exposing a smartphone manufacturer caught violating the Right to Repair law to potentially hefty jury awards.

Apple, records show, wanted to strip individuals of any ability to sue under the law.