Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits • Hacker News Board

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#51

Post by balls187 » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 3:56 PM UTC

24gttghh wrote: post #45

iaml wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they said sorry and let users disable it. FWIW disabling it makes my phone turn off when I'm using it in cold so they had their reasons. Not only that, they released ios12 which makes my iphone 6 feel like new again, which is unprecedented in other OSes.

Wait, so how do we disable it? I thought all the did was add "battery statistics" one could view?

Under Settings => Battery => Battery Health. The option to disable throttling only shows up if it's been applied to your phone.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#52

Post by jaytaylor » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 3:59 PM UTC

Perfect timing from Motorola; amidst all the Apple iPhone and Mac proprietary repair nonsense, price gouging, and counterfeit replacement parts floating around in lieu of official ones, this is a beacon in the darkness. Techies are sure to appreciate the shift in philosophy from a well-established player like Motorola.

The gap between various mobile phones is ever shrinking these days, this is definitely enough to get me to give Motorola serious consideration for my next device.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#53

Post by icebraining » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:04 PM UTC

gowld wrote: post #40

icebraining wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you live? I'm pretty sure that one can't renounce the mandatory warranty for stuff bought in the EU, so if you live here, you should be OK (but don't blame me if they're hard to convince!).

Modifying the software (for example, temperature-triggered CPU throttling?) might move liability to the customer side, if the hardware's integrity is software-controlled: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/dealing-with-customers... " the injured party must prove that: damage took place, your product was defective, the defect and the damage were linked." "You bear no liability if you can prove that: he defect causi…

Fair point, but that page is not related to the warranty, only to damages caused to people or other things. Personally, I think it's unlikely that my phone will harm someone or destroy over 500€ of stuff, so I'm not concerned.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#54

Post by gumby » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:06 PM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #32

bloopernova wrote: post #10

I have a lot of respect for iFixit. They at least appear to have their heads screwed on right, and the tools I've bought from them do really seem to be good quality. My only recent "complex" task that needed their tools was adding a hybrid water cooler to a 1080ti GPU. Their stuff was great, and their customer service has been good too. (EDIT: I meant to say, the addition went well due to their tools, good quality st…

What does T-Mobile know about hardware repairability? They’re a carrier aren’t they? They don’t have anything to do with any hardware.

They have a huge infrastructure of fixed hardware, of course (their phones have to talk to something) and certifying & deploying that requires plenty of EEs and a surprising amount of hardware development (and getting in deep with their vendors).

Things have changed since I was a supplier to that industry but it used to be that the carriers really did certify the terminals. GSM (well, the SIM requirement), and then in the US the iPhone, changed that so I don't know how that end works today.

In addition T-mobile is a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom which does still do quite a bit of hardware development, though I'm not sure how close the links there are.

(plus they are a huge channel)

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#55

Post by openfuture » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:06 PM UTC

zubspace wrote: post #50

I own a fairphone 1 and after I dropped it once I was able to order a new screen. With instructions made by by the fairphone team I was able to fix my phone. I'm bitter though, because they soon switched development to fairphone 2 in a higher price class and I'm left with android 4.2.2. Many new apps on the play store stop being compatible. I believe, something like this is only viable, if the phone maker guarantees…

It's too expensive, phone makers need to collectively support stuff like LOS but they can't because if they do then google won't allow them to bundle google software.

This has been discussed a bit on here but this is a replay of what happened with linux and microsoft back when desktops were a thing.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#56

Post by bradfa » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:07 PM UTC

zubspace wrote: post #50

I own a fairphone 1 and after I dropped it once I was able to order a new screen. With instructions made by by the fairphone team I was able to fix my phone. I'm bitter though, because they soon switched development to fairphone 2 in a higher price class and I'm left with android 4.2.2. Many new apps on the play store stop being compatible. I believe, something like this is only viable, if the phone maker guarantees…

Regarding longer software update promises, a good number of recent Motorola phones are on either the Android One or Android Enterprise Recommended lists, so they should get security updates for at least 3 years from launch and see at least 1 or 2 Android letter OS upgrades.

The Android Enterprise Recommended "rugged" devices get at least 5 years of security updates, which is quite good, although Motorola doesn't make any "rugged" devices currently.

Android is getting there and this announcement of factory repair parts through iFixit is awesome to see. It's probably not as easy to repair a Motorola phone as a Fairphone, but it's getting better which is the important part.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#57

Post by Zeebrommer » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:09 PM UTC

gowld wrote: post #40

icebraining wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where do you live? I'm pretty sure that one can't renounce the mandatory warranty for stuff bought in the EU, so if you live here, you should be OK (but don't blame me if they're hard to convince!).

Modifying the software (for example, temperature-triggered CPU throttling?) might move liability to the customer side, if the hardware's integrity is software-controlled: https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/dealing-with-customers... " the injured party must prove that: damage took place, your product was defective, the defect and the damage were linked." "You bear no liability if you can prove that: he defect causi…

That sounds quite reasonable. If you break something due to your own modifications (hw/sw), the manufacturer should not be held accountable. The trouble is of course proving that is was not due to the mod if the device breaks.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#58

Post by bradfa » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:10 PM UTC

lower wrote: post #28

organsnyder wrote: post #5

Looks like my next phone will be a Motorola! I'm tired of "upgrading" phones every couple of years because the battery wears out.

FWIW, Motorola is very slow with software updates. My G5 plus is currently still on Android 7.0 on the June (!) 2018 security patch level and this is usual. I think that an update to 8.1 is around the corner, but they've promised an update to Oreo for over a year now...

Be happy you got updates in 2018! My unlocked LG G5 is still on Android 7.0 but the most recent security update is December 2017.

My advice is to focus your next Android phone purchase on devices which are on the Android One or Android Enterprise Recommended lists. They'll get 3+ years of timely security updates.

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#59

Post by Fej » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:11 PM UTC

zubspace wrote: post #50

I own a fairphone 1 and after I dropped it once I was able to order a new screen. With instructions made by by the fairphone team I was able to fix my phone. I'm bitter though, because they soon switched development to fairphone 2 in a higher price class and I'm left with android 4.2.2. Many new apps on the play store stop being compatible. I believe, something like this is only viable, if the phone maker guarantees…

I love the concept of Fairphone but I can't believe they're still selling their phone for €530. It's worth maybe 1/5th that, if that. Is it just hubris? I hope not, because even if their phones command a reasonable price premium over competitors, it's worth it to some people. They're definitely filling a need. It would be a shame if few of their phones get into people's hands because they price them too far above cost (because, let's face it, it's almost impossible to turn a profit as a small phone manufacturer).

Re: Motorola and iFixit partner to sell phone repair kits

#60

Post by addicted » Tue, Oct 23, 2018, 4:14 PM UTC

nerdponx wrote: post #8

organsnyder wrote: post #5

Looks like my next phone will be a Motorola! I'm tired of "upgrading" phones every couple of years because the battery wears out.

FWIW, you can now get an official iPhone battery replacement for $30 on the "last-gen" models, or for free with Applecare. https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/battery-power It looks like on some issues, we still have market power.

I got a battery replacement for $30 (that’s a temporary price which Apple provided because of the PR flack they were getting for slowing down phones with poorer batteries). Unfortunately, it’s clear it wasn’t a new battery, or maybe the replacement wasn’t done correctly, but the battery life isn’t great and I can no longer get a battery health reading from the settings>battery section.