Today, Colorado’s governor has signed the state’s third Right to Repair bill into law, cementing its position as the best place in the world for repair access. Covering consumer electronics of all kinds—anything with a chip, with a small set of exceptions—this law will ensure that independent repair shops and device owners will have the right to access the same parts, tools, and documentation that manufacturers’ own repair facilities have.
Colorado previously protected repair of powered wheelchairs and farm equipment. This year, the Colorado state legislature also passed a resolution calling on the Federal Trade Commission to create a repairability scoring system.
The passage of HB 24-1121 cements the win of the recent passage of a bill in Oregon, as both prohibit parts pairing restrictions on repair. It also applies to enterprise equipment like servers in data centers, without the sneaky loopholes that passed in Minnesota.
Manufacturers will have to comply with the Colorado bill beginning January 1, 2026, for all electronics manufactured on or after July 1, 2021.
“Colorado’s taking a search-and-destroy approach to repair monopolies,” said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens. “Anyone who still expects to keep people away from repair should watch out. We’re excited that this law will protect repair of server equipment, much of which could live a lot longer than it does now.”
Parts Pairing on the Ropes
Like the bill that passed in Oregon in March, the new Colorado law includes an explicit prohibition on the ways that manufacturers have restricted repair via parts pairing, the software barriers to repair that have threatened to put many independent repair shops out of business.
As this bill was making its way through the legislature, Apple threw one last Hail Mary pass, attempting to stop the progress of the law: They promised some upcoming changes to their parts pairing practices, explaining that they will now allow the pairing of genuine used Apple parts in iPhone 15 and beyond.
Apple’s announcement heralds a welcome change—refurbishers and independent repair shops often “cannibalize” parts from used devices to minimize waste and stay competitive. But it does not actually comply with the Oregon law or the now-passed Colorado law. Apple has made no promises to enable previously blocked functionality for third-party parts, which are also key to independent and DIY repair. To be clear, nobody expects Apple to make parts work when they don’t meet the necessary specifications—but currently, Apple blocks functionality of many third-party parts preemptively, disabling True Tone and battery health indicators.
Enterprise Equipment: Covered
The Colorado bill stands out for its enterprise equipment protections. Manufacturers often maintain control of this equipment and its repair even outside of standard contracts by limiting access to repair parts.
Like the law that passed last year in Minnesota, this law includes business-to-business equipment and equipment used in data centers. The Minnesota law included an overbroad exception for “critical infrastructure” equipment—which was not defined in the law and, we fear, could potentially be interpreted to apply to any internet-connected devices at all.
But the win in Colorado includes no overbroad exclusions and so ensures a future in which enterprise and data center equipment will be covered under Right to Repair legislation.
Almost Everything… But Not Quite
Like the other electronics Right to Repair bills that have passed in the US, this bill includes almost everything with a chip. But the list of exclusions will look familiar to anyone who’s followed those other bills: No motor vehicles. No mining or forestry equipment. No portable generators. No ATVs. No emergency equipment. No video game consoles.
What’s Next?
The exclusions list is a pretty good map of what’s next in Right to Repair legislation. As Colorado’s approach shows—first wheelchairs, then tractors, then electronics—we’re adding more and more products to repair protection laws around the world.
Meanwhile, we’re continuing to work toward national legislation that protects repair. Last week, Congressman Joe Morelle reintroduced the Fair Repair Act, which would extend repair protections very similar to this Colorado law across the whole United States.
To join the fight, find a repair advocacy network near you.
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