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AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

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Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#171
post #140
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why don't you just get applecare plus? Getting a case has never even crossed my mind, I can just go replace my phone for free whenever I want.

What are you talking about? It's not free, there is a deductible. And it's not anytime you want. It's a maximum of 2 incidences per year. So you pay $200 a year plus $30 for cracking your screen. Or $150 for loss or theft. I'm guessing you could get a third party screen repair for less than $230.

Oh, Apple stores will waive the deductible if you ask. They don't even try to charge it if your device was originally sold in the EU.

I've replaced two iphones in the past month, didn't pay a deductible for either.

If you break your phone more than twice a year, a regular phone case probably isn't going to cut it.

>I'm guessing you could get a third party screen repair for less than $230.

Yes, but not 4 third party screen repairs and definitely not even one replacement phone. I've had two total losses in my 2 year applecare period, once the phone was damaged on both sides by a police baton and once by a falling dumbbell. A normal phone case wouldn't have been enough in either of these situations.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also a line of phones made by CAT, the construction company, that looks pretty durable. I've been thinking about getting one just to have fun with the thermal camera.

I like those phones and never had one (either CAT or third party) fail... the issue is that the processor / RAM setup is always a little on the weak side and OS updates are a problem. I'd probably buy my first ever iPhone if Apple came out with a ruggedized version of the current iPhone SE.

Sony[1] has a ruggedized version of their flagship with all the same fancy specs. You might not like the price however.

https://electronics.sony.com/mobile/smartphone/professional-...

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#173
post #3

I wonder what the internal discussion at Apple was about whether or not to include a loophole in the product. The fact that fixit has gone out and shown how you can add a loophole rather than wasting $13 on an accessory is a bit of a facepalm moment.

Because it's not going to be $13, you'll surely be able to buy 5 for $6 off Amazon soon for whatever kind of holder-with-loophole you want. People love customizing their things. Some people will need large holes, other tiny ones, depending on what they're attaching it to. Some will want to make their AirTag bigger and bulkier, others not. In this case I think Apple made the absolutely right decision.

Put one in your ear as a tunnel. Remember tunnels?

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#174

Do people actually need to use these things? Maybe I'm weird, but when young, I had drilled into me Benjamin Franklin's "A place for Everything, and Everything in its Place". If I can't remember where I put something, then I suspect Bigger (medical) Problems are on the horizon... (!)

I’d love to track my wallet, but tags are too thick for that.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the os updates is why I've been holding off. Basically just have to accept you won't get any

I mean, to be honest, I didn't pay a lot of my original one (non-CAT) but it's on Android 8.0.1 forever... which isn't exactly a bad version. I wish Android would decouple the device drivers from the kernel space kinda like a desktop OS so your manufacturer could just supply their drivers and you could upgrade the OS at will... a man can dream.

The desktop OSes that use Linux do not have the device drivers decoupled from the kernel. Apple also builds these drivers into Darwin (hence Nvidia GPUs breaking on MacOS), Windows (on x86-64 only) is the only platform that has a semi-stable ABI for device drivers.

Microsoft has dedicated many developer years to supporting said API, and all the kernel panics caused by said drivers.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#176

Do people actually need to use these things? Maybe I'm weird, but when young, I had drilled into me Benjamin Franklin's "A place for Everything, and Everything in its Place". If I can't remember where I put something, then I suspect Bigger (medical) Problems are on the horizon... (!)

I had a tile, and I might get one of these, since the UI of the Tile app was just a hot/cold thing back when my Tile worked, and this claims to offer an arrow, which is nifty.

As for why: My laptop bag. Not my laptop, I know where that is at all times, but surprisingly often I'll leave my laptop bag in an environment (think an onsite visit, hot desks, etc) where someone will helpfully "place it out of sight" if I have to walk way for a while. It doesn't happen every day, and of course, right now it happens zero times, but if I ever return to that sort of scenario, it's nice to be able to find my bag if it's moved for me. If I completely lose the bag, it's not that big of a deal, but if I can quickly find it with some electronic help, then great.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#177
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you’ll have to wait until 2015: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple-designed_processors#W_se...

* for computers. From what I've heard, their chipsets don't have the same problems as the ones they use in macs.

The M1 Macs are essentially iPhone/iPad hardware. The latest iPad Pro shares the same M1 chip, and I imagine it shares most other components as well.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not like the choice is "thick and doesn't need a case or thin and needs a case". Even if the phone was thicker, people would be using cases if they bought it, right?

Back when phones were built to survive the outside world without a case, I never put cases on my phones. The whole Nextel and Nokia and Blackberry era, not a one. They looked a bit worn from a few years each in my pocket with my keys, but they all worked fine, and they'd all survive a drop to the floor. Today the only phone I'd trust to survive a naked drop would be a Unihertz Titan, but until there's an AOSP ROM for…

Well that's just completely wrong.

You never lived in that time where people had their Nokia phones in those leather zip cases which completely covered the device clipped to their waist? Or the fact that many Nokia phones had removable front and back cases that you could replace yourself?

I definitely remember my screen being scratched.

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Back when phones were built to survive the outside world without a case, I never put cases on my phones. The whole Nextel and Nokia and Blackberry era, not a one. They looked a bit worn from a few years each in my pocket with my keys, but they all worked fine, and they'd all survive a drop to the floor. Today the only phone I'd trust to survive a naked drop would be a Unihertz Titan, but until there's an AOSP ROM for…

Well that's just completely wrong. You never lived in that time where people had their Nokia phones in those leather zip cases which completely covered the device clipped to their waist? Or the fact that many Nokia phones had removable front and back cases that you could replace yourself? I definitely remember my screen being scratched.

[deleted]

Re: AirTag Teardown Part One: Yeah, This Tracks

#180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like those phones and never had one (either CAT or third party) fail... the issue is that the processor / RAM setup is always a little on the weak side and OS updates are a problem. I'd probably buy my first ever iPhone if Apple came out with a ruggedized version of the current iPhone SE.

Sony[1] has a ruggedized version of their flagship with all the same fancy specs. You might not like the price however. https://electronics.sony.com/mobile/smartphone/professional-...

I'd pay it gladly if I knew I could get OS updates beyond 2 years... my issue with current flagships is unless you go Apple, you'll be buying a new one every few years.
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