Louis Rossmann

On October 8, 2018, CBC News ran an investigative piece on Apple's business practices surrounding repair of their devices. They went undercover in an Apple store with a malfunctioning MacBook Pro looking for a quote on repair. They explained that the screen was simply black and they couldn't see anything on the screen. The Apple store quoted a customer in their undercover video $1200 for a logic board replacement, explaining that the liquid contact indicators (LCIs) turned red, and that only happened when in contact with any type of liquid, so the whole logic board needed to be swapped out, in addition to the top case.[5] When taken to Rossmann's repair shop, Rossmann explained that there was no liquid damage, and that simple room humidity likely set off the LCIs. He also explained that a pin that connected the MacBook Pro's backlight was simply not seated properly. After seating the pin properly, the MacBook Pro was seen working again. Rossmann explained his repair shop would likely not charge for simply re-seating the backlight pin.[6]

In 2018, Rossmann testified as witness in a lawsuit from Apple towards an independent smartphone repair shop owner in Norway, Henrik Huseby, regarding right to repair and authorised smartphone parts. The Norwegian court originally sided with Huseby, but ruled in favor of Apple in 2019 after an appeal hearing showed Huseby had been using counterfeit parts.[7][8] He has also spoken and testified in right to repair hearings in Boston,[9] Maine,[10] Washington State[11] and Nebraska.[12]

Rossmann has also appeared in right to repair campaigns related to farming machinery in Nebraska in March 2020.[13] Though he was initially completely against any form of curbs imposed by companies on farmers from repairing their equipment (which might have resulted in voiding the equipment's warranty), he later admitted that his opinions were not completely correct due to him lacking expertise in the field of farming machinery when he received a mail from a John Deere employee regarding how allowing farmers to tune their tracking can result in harm to themselves and possible violation of environmental laws.[14]

Rossmann has criticised the design of the third generation MacBook Air. He notes that the fan is not positioned above the CPU, nor connected to it via any radiator circuit, calling it a "placebo fan" which can easily lead to overheating and damage.[15][16]

On October 18, 2018 Rossmann uploaded a video entitled "Apple & Customs STOLE my batteries, that they won't even provide to AASPs".[17] In the video, Rossmann explains that U.S. Customs seized his package containing 20 Apple MacBook batteries, worth $1,068 USD, labeling them as counterfeit goods.[18] He claims the sole reason for seizure was the batteries he was importing bore Apple's trademark, and feels it is retribution for the CBC piece, as Rossmann had been importing MacBook batteries for years without incident until shortly after the CBC story was published.[19][20]

On June 5, 2019, Rossmann posted a video on YouTube where he appeared as a key witness in a Norwegian court case, in which Apple Inc. had sued a Norwegian repair shop in an effort to stop them from repairing Apple products.[3][21] On June 29, he posted a video explaining the case, in which he explained that the case ended in the court ruled in favor of Apple Inc. as the repair shop in question was using counterfeit parts, a detail Rossmann claims he was not aware of before testifying.[22]

Several of Rossmann's videos have been removed from YouTube following privacy complaints. These were subsequently revealed to be from lobbyists opposing Right to Repair, and a contractor producing substandard work.[23]

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