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Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

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41–50 of 140 posts

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is pirating software and repairing a device you have purchased comparable?

Because, legally, they are pretty similar - both are a breach of EULA, both are not an expected use. I would wager that in the not too distant future, legislation and social attitudes will view repairing damaged electronics as theft. Right to repair will ironically likely be the mechanism through which this happens - mfgs are using it to create closed ecosystems with no participants - see apples programme for indepen…

It's not a breach of EULA if you never agreed to the EULA.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because, legally, they are pretty similar - both are a breach of EULA, both are not an expected use. I would wager that in the not too distant future, legislation and social attitudes will view repairing damaged electronics as theft. Right to repair will ironically likely be the mechanism through which this happens - mfgs are using it to create closed ecosystems with no participants - see apples programme for indepen…

It's not a breach of EULA if you never agreed to the EULA.

Implied acceptance is sufficient for prosecution - there’s tort on this - and many EULAs define using the product as implicit acceptance of the terms.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#43
post #28

I think the story isn't the end of the repairable iPhone. It's about the end of the consumer (or consumer segment) who cares enough to vote with their dollars for repairability more than new functionality and price. We are all free to vote with our money what we want. We collectively choose not to, on average.

Wait until the EU commission hears about it. I have a feeling that they’re not going to let this fly.

I hope so. But we have to be vigilant: “Big Tech's aggressive EU lobby caused a shift in power” [1]

[1] https://www.europeandatajournalism.eu/News/Data-news/Big-Tec...

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a breach of EULA if you never agreed to the EULA.

Implied acceptance is sufficient for prosecution - there’s tort on this - and many EULAs define using the product as implicit acceptance of the terms.

If you pirated it, you were never offered the EULA. There's no implied acceptance there. Otherwise you'd have a license and they'd be violating it to break the program!

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#46
post #11

I have mixed feelings about this. I can see the need for security but at same time I can see why the big companies love to pursue "security", it gives them an incredible opportunity to exert even more control.

I'm going to guess that spare parts and repairs are a net loss for Apple. It's a cost of doing business. What they don't want is shody spares and repairs sullying their image.

I think image is the important thing. The one time I bought a used iPhone from a shop (reputable one), I received a device sold as "refurbished as new" with a clearly subpar third party display (protruding, wrong colors). Had I not known how the phone is supposed to look like I wouldn't have a great opinion of Apple's build quality.

Now, Apple does have authorized and official repair shops. Clearly they don't have enough of them and they treat them quite poorly too. When I called one that I needed replacement AirPods Pro (already with a ticket from apple), they told me the wait time is 3 weeks because they can only source 1 part per week (and the two earpieces and the box are counted separately).

Apple is fine if you live in a country with Apple stores, but outside of that it's a big risk.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#47
Just need to look at display replacement prices, with cracked displays being the most frequent damages (aka Spiderman app). Where these used to be around 60-80 EUR for iPhone 6 (third-party replacement parts), for the X and newer it's basically approaching the price of a new device. Samsung phones, or any other modern Android phone, are just as uneconomically to repair. It seems the only thing to stop the trend for extremely expensive throw-away phones is consumer-/eco-friendly legislation.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#48

> But the main camera module is not a security component. I wonder if this is related to the fact that iOS now shows an indicator light when the camera is active? If your phone ended up with a modified camera, perhaps it could spy on you without you knowing.

The light is not very useful anyway.

Source: http://xlab.berkeley.edu/connect/Portnoff%20-%20WebcamPaper....

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#49
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first step of the process is to not buy anything apple recognizing there hardly ever was a company more hostile to user freedom both on software and hardware side.

Apple is not a computer company. They are a consumer electronics company.

They're barely even that. Apple is the expensive handbag company of consumer electronics. Something people buy to show off their wealth.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#50
post #35

Not too long ago, I went to the Apple store to get my MacBook Pro looked at for a faulty key and degraded trackpad. As I had a Genius diagnose the issue, the screen brightness of my iPhone 7 had dropped nearly completely. While it was true that the glass of the screen had cracked due to a fall, the phone had operated just fine for many months since. The Genius told me it was likely a display issue while I told him it…

Honestly the bit that kills me is being thoroughly buggered for cash. And that is being forced down your neck even more regularly these days, particularly on the back of failures.

When it came to upgrade time this year I skipped buying a mid-range iMac, built a hefty Ryzen desktop instead and had enough spare change to buy a Lenovo T495s.

It’s phone upgrade time in January. I don’t know which way to turn yet.

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