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Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

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Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#131

Post by supernova87a »

taejavu wrote: post #10
gear54rus wrote: post #5

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.

An alternative first step might be for other companies to make products that are as good as Apple’s.

Absolutely -- go push other companies to make an alternative. Or even better, go investigate how to build a phone and its software, in a way that gives you all the control and repairability you want.

Maybe you'll find that it's harder than you think (as well to turn a profit) and there may be reasons why things are the way they are?

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#132

Post by supernova87a »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #30
supernova87a wrote: post #3

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.

> We are all free to vote with our money what we want. We collectively choose not to, on average. While I agree with this on principle, to me it looks like it gives the collective us an agency which I would argue isn't really there in that not enough people consider it as a factor. I think that many people don't really care. As another commenter said, people seem to care more about "specs" (like in the commenter's ex…

We live within many systems where what the majority wants determines what we get. Some things, if you can't build up enough support, you either live with or create your own environment where it is possible.

If I live in a neighborhood where it takes 7/10 households to vote to improve the paved road, or install fiber internet, if only 3 of them want it, we're not getting any of those things. I can move to a different neighborhood, or pay for my own solution.

This is life.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#133

Post by supernova87a »

nerbert wrote: post #28
supernova87a wrote: post #3

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 am actually a little puzzled by this, and maybe you can explain the position.

Suppose that there is a consumer market for something, and people have shown their preferences, and are actually demonstrating that they actually don't want something (issue, feature, functionality).

Are you saying that regulators should come in and force rules that satisfy the desires of say, 5% of users (if even that), to the detriment of the rest?

Who are they to contradict the choices of the rest of the people? I mean, this is not like carbon regulation or pollution where someone's individual action has a negative shared cost on everyone else. What principle are we to apply then? There are tons of other 5% issues too -- which ones will be put into regulation?

I think it's important to differentiate when your desire for something is personal and you want a company to do something despite others not caring about it, versus when there is actually harm being done and needs to be regulated.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#134

Post by Kwpolska »

tinus_hn wrote: post #45

So how does this play out with the recently announced third party repair program?

If you’ve got 16 minutes, listen to Louis Rossmann describe how much of a joke it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rCUF-V1esM

The short version is that Apple (a) does not let those stores order components in bulk, which means 2+ week turnaround on a repair that an independent store can do in 15 minutes, and (b) limits those stores to screens and batteries for iPhones. You can’t fix iPads, can’t fix Macs, can’t fix anything other than these two components.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#135

Post by threatofrain »

adrianN wrote: post #24
ashtonkem wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s tricky in some cases, but consumer electronics are actually pretty easy because most of the harm done is during manufacture (Apple estimates that more than 75% of an iPhone’s emissions come from manufacture). You could either expect Apple to pay for the externalities at production, or mandate that they’re required to accept back all dead Apple electronics and recycle them at a specific standard.

Even assuming that CO2 is the only relevant externality here (and not, say, electronic waste, mining runoff, chemicals used during manufacturing...), we don't have accurate models that can tell you a dollar cost per ton CO2. Estimates I've seen range from "climate change is not real" to 600 Euros. On the other hand you only have to disassemble an iPhone and check the availability of replacement parts to see whether i…

But as consumer devices become miniaturized and waterproofed, these kinds of advances come into natural tension with ease of repair. They are also the keys of somebody's data kingdom, and external repair shops bring in some risk.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#136

Post by [deleted] »

maccard wrote: post #108
toper-centage wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I damaged the charging port on my android phone. I paid 20 euros plus shipping for a new bottom module and used the screw driver provided by the manufacturer to open the phone and replace it. If you care about repairable phones... Buy a repairable phone, instead of a "flagship".

Ah yes, blaming the customer for making an uninformed choice when the information about whether my choice is informed or not isn't available. If repairability was top of my list, I'd be using 4-5 year old device that's proven repairable. Silly me, I tried to be "reliable" and choose a samsung - you know the largest manufacturer of Android phones, and when that didn't work out for me I tried Google - the people who ma…

[deleted]

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#137

Post by julianmarq »

maccard wrote: post #108
toper-centage wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I damaged the charging port on my android phone. I paid 20 euros plus shipping for a new bottom module and used the screw driver provided by the manufacturer to open the phone and replace it. If you care about repairable phones... Buy a repairable phone, instead of a "flagship".

Ah yes, blaming the customer for making an uninformed choice when the information about whether my choice is informed or not isn't available. If repairability was top of my list, I'd be using 4-5 year old device that's proven repairable. Silly me, I tried to be "reliable" and choose a samsung - you know the largest manufacturer of Android phones, and when that didn't work out for me I tried Google - the people who ma…

> If your advice to people is to avoid all of the premier manufacturers, I think that shows that the ecosystem has major problems, no?

I've seen you try to make this point everywhere in the thread and I can't for the life of me even understand what you mean by this.

As a developer, I often reach for open source libraries, tools and platforms before any "premium" offerings (databases are far from the only examples, but they are an obvious one: to wit, Postgres vs Oracle or SQL server), and the OSS options are also the ones I suggest when I'm asked.

In another example, my current laptop is from a niche manufacturer instead of by Dell or Apple.

So, yeah, I don't understand what you mean by this question. Then again you also say that repairability is not high in your priority list while TFA is explicitly about that so I don't actually understand the general point you're trying to make in this discussion.

Seems like you should just use Apple products.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#138

Post by m463 »

whytaka wrote: 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…

I just watched this video

https://youtu.be/EATdYG7h9IQ

starting at ~ 11:35 it shows how a lot of track pad issues are resolved.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#139

Post by antisthenes »

yholio wrote: post #59
maccard wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved from apple to android a few years ago, hoping the grass would be greener. I hoped I was leaving behind a locked in ecosystem with hard to repair devices for a more open ecosystem where competition would improve quality. Android is a fat mess, with flagship phones from premium manufacturers being incompatible with various OS features, and devices from different manufacturers being incompatible in ways that nev…

The Android ecosystem is great for low cost devices. I have a 5 year old Samsung that still serves me great for what I need it: quick web searches, mapping and Waze, communication etc. The screen is cracked in 200 pieces, I literally stepped on it on multiple occasions, the power button has fallen off but I figured I don't really need it anyway except the rare cases where I leave it to discharge completely. Otherwise…

My experience mirrors your somewhat. I bought a refurb Galaxy S5 back in 2015, and have been using it since.

Today, when shopping for devices at a comparable price, their specs are usually worse than S5, a phone that's 6 years old at this point.

Many of the new budget phones today come with 2GB RAM (Laughable), and a less than 1080p screen (Usually some weird resolution like 1520x720?). For me to get the same performance/screen quality as the S5, I would now have to spend around $400-500, not $225 like I did 5 years ago. Mid range now seems to mean $500-700 phones, an amount that wouldn't be out of place for a desktop PC, and way more than I'm willing to spend on a phone.

What was it about tech getting cheaper again? Doesn't hold in my experience.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#140

Post by allarm »

whytaka wrote: 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…

I repaired 2 of my MacBooks during the last couple of years - one had a butterfly keyboard issue and another had a swallen battery. Both times it took 1-2 days and both times their support was amazing. The best part of it - both times I did not pay a cent for the repairs, it was all known issues. In the swallen battery case they replaced a keyboard and the touchpad module as well, and the laptop was not even under warranty anymore.

I guess my case is a bit different from yours, but I was very satisfied with their technical competence as well. I suppose it depends on the country in the end, in my case it was Singapore.

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