Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#21

Post by Joker_vD » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:28 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #16

RandallBrown wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets say you buy one of these recycled phones that Apple has already deemed unfixable. Maybe it mostly works, but the screen occasionally blacks out or there's a bunch of dead pixels. Maybe the battery dies almost immediately. It's Apple's reputation that gets tarnished by this.

Then I guess we need to double-down on allowing this, in order to normalize second-hand/recycled hardware across the society. Then Apple's reputation will be invulnerable, as any random complaint about iPhones on the Internet will be counterable by "surely you bought a third-party refurb from your local recycler".

And whatever warranty may be legally obliged to exits, it falls on that local recycler (or maybe they explicitly have to sell it without warranty, but then the redistributors have to either also explicitly sell without warranty or take the warranty obligations on themselves).

I mean, it's not like it's a completely new development, the secondary markets have been existing for centuries, and generally either you buy second-hand from an individual in which case caveat emptor, or from a firm/some sort of legal entity, in which case it's their problem to provide some basic level of customer protection, but definitely not on the original producer.

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#22

Post by ascot_attn_atol » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:28 PM UTC

pier25 wrote: post #17

Not allowing the resale of used devices should be illegal. Not only because of the environmental impact but also because this is a way for Apple to control the market.

Reselling devices is good. Taking devices that were sent to you to be recycled and then reselling them is bad.

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#23

Post by entropicdrifter » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:29 PM UTC

pier25 wrote: post #17

Not allowing the resale of used devices should be illegal. Not only because of the environmental impact but also because this is a way for Apple to control the market.

In many markets it is illegal. Heck, in Europe, Valve got in trouble for not allowing the resale of used software on Steam ( https://www.polygon.com/2019/9/19/20874384/french-court-stea... )

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#24

Post by ggrrhh_ta » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:30 PM UTC

RandallBrown wrote: post #12

Joker_vD wrote: post #3

Well, very technically speaking, they did recycle those iPhones. Why is Apples so obsessed with controlling the entirety of their devices' life cycle, anyway?

Lets say you buy one of these recycled phones that Apple has already deemed unfixable. Maybe it mostly works, but the screen occasionally blacks out or there's a bunch of dead pixels. Maybe the battery dies almost immediately. It's Apple's reputation that gets tarnished by this.

You don't need to do anything fancy. Just say it is not new. People do that all the time with practically every physical item.

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#25

Post by birdyrooster » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:31 PM UTC

cblconfederate wrote: post #9

I wonder what that contract said. "These devices are to be recycled in a way that creates the maximum amount of CO2"

“These devices may not be resold or refurbished.” Maybe?

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#26

Post by andrewjl » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:31 PM UTC

RandallBrown wrote: post #12

Joker_vD wrote: post #3

Well, very technically speaking, they did recycle those iPhones. Why is Apples so obsessed with controlling the entirety of their devices' life cycle, anyway?

Lets say you buy one of these recycled phones that Apple has already deemed unfixable. Maybe it mostly works, but the screen occasionally blacks out or there's a bunch of dead pixels. Maybe the battery dies almost immediately. It's Apple's reputation that gets tarnished by this.

Why is Apple's reputation more important than the profits of a recycling company?

Contracts aside, banning resale over something like this isn't capitalism. You either own something or you don't.

Edit: I misunderstood the article and thought that the devices were sold. Indeed a service contract for recycling should be enforced, unless health & safety reasons preclude. Apple is in the right here, I think.

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#27

Post by psim1 » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:32 PM UTC

Please use the original title rather than editorialize: Apple catches electronics recycler illegally reselling over 100,000 iPhones, iPads, Apple Watches

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#28

Post by rob74 » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:32 PM UTC

RandallBrown wrote: post #12

Joker_vD wrote: post #3

Well, very technically speaking, they did recycle those iPhones. Why is Apples so obsessed with controlling the entirety of their devices' life cycle, anyway?

Lets say you buy one of these recycled phones that Apple has already deemed unfixable. Maybe it mostly works, but the screen occasionally blacks out or there's a bunch of dead pixels. Maybe the battery dies almost immediately. It's Apple's reputation that gets tarnished by this.

Or they are devices that were traded in (https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in) for a new iPhone and are still working fine, but Apple wants destroyed so that they don't erode their market?

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#29

Post by nottorp » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:32 PM UTC

pwinnski wrote: post #7

Apple is probably legally in the right here, since the recycler violated their contract. But Apple seems very much in the wrong here on an ethical level. If the devices have resale value, then they should be resold, not destroyed! Reduce and Reuse are both higher priorities than Recycle.

Yeah, that's what I read too. "Apple recycles perfectly usable iphones".

Re: Apple says electronics recycler “illegally” reselling over 100k iPhones, iPads

#30

Post by mortenjorck » Fri, Oct 02, 2020, 4:34 PM UTC

RandallBrown wrote: post #12

Joker_vD wrote: post #3

Well, very technically speaking, they did recycle those iPhones. Why is Apples so obsessed with controlling the entirety of their devices' life cycle, anyway?

Lets say you buy one of these recycled phones that Apple has already deemed unfixable. Maybe it mostly works, but the screen occasionally blacks out or there's a bunch of dead pixels. Maybe the battery dies almost immediately. It's Apple's reputation that gets tarnished by this.

This is really the critical question here: Are these phones actually unfixable? If they are, reusing them will only cause more problems (not to mention burning more fossil fuels as they are shipped to consumers and then shipped back within a few months for recycling a second time). If they aren't, then recycling is the wrong destination for these units.