Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

theverge.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 558 posts

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#91

Post by PragmaticPulp »

Does Apple require you to rent all of these specialty tools to replace the battery? Or is this author just getting all of the specialty tools to make a point?

Obviously, people have been replacing iPhone batteries without 79 pounds of special tools for a long time. The fact that Apple provides the option to buy their special tools is great, but this author is digging deep for a reason to spin that as a bad thing which is kind of silly.

At this point I don’t even understand what people who are complains about this actually want (other than to complain about Apple?). Do they want Apple to completely redesign every phone to use old school screws and gaskets and other features that double the size of the phone just in case somebody wants to repair it without having to improvise tooling? Or do they want Apple to just not offer the custom tools at all and instead sell the battery with a “Good luck, you’re on your own” mentality?

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#92

Post by ghaff »

IgorPartola wrote: post #14
jeroenhd wrote: post #11

It's so silly that modern phones (from all manufacturers, really) need these giant kits (or hacks like microwaving a jelly sock) just to replace the single part that wears down. I still have my first Android phone. It contains a battery you can pop out after removing the back cover. Replaceable batteries used to be the norm! Now we need suction cups, hot air stations and professional guides to replace the part, becau…

On the other hand phones are now thing and waterproof. Not saying that replaceable batteries are bad but it’s not like this was an entirely arbitrary decision.

>extremely specialised tools which ensure every repair is perfect with little room for any human error.

I'm not sure I see the problem. Apple is saying that this is the "right" way to do the repair. Alternatively, you can have them do it. You can also, although Apple won't endorse it, take it to a third-party, order a kit from iFixit, or otherwise do it yourself.

Ford will also not endorse doing repairs yourself, using an independent mechanic, using parts from a junkyard, etc. but they don't generally prevent you from doing so.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#93

Post by wfhordie »

Apple can’t win here. If they had sent the sleek, easy to carry tools this author asked for, the author would complain about the pathetic tools they are providing.

Really disappointed in The Verge on this article. Could have been a cool piece about the specific tech that Apple provides, but instead it’s framed so disingenuously that I come away not feeling particularly good about right to repair in general. It no longer sounds to me like people trying to get access to their own devices. It sounds like people taking potshots at BigCo because big co bad.

By the way. The tools this guy used are common, dead-common in China. Go to any repair mall in Shenzhen and you’ll see hundreds of these.

Does he actually want to repair his phone? It doesn’t seem like it.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#94

Post by sokoloff »

ezconnect wrote: post #24

Battery has DRM now, wow.

Battery has an identifier which, if mismatched, causes the phone to work but present a warning that the battery may not be genuine and does not report battery health.

Honestly, that sounds pretty fair/reasonable to me. (It would be outrageous if it had “DRM fail: phone shuts off”. “DRM detects possible non-genuine battery and works but reports battery as possibly non-genuine” is a lot more reasonable, possibly totally reasonable.)

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#96

Post by lupire »

This is clearly a professional repair kit, to be used at a local shop or maker space.

And now that the devices are available to the public, anyone can use the ideas in them to develop less fancy alternatives.

Maybe it's time to accept that a tiny powerful computer, radio, camera, and display is worth the base price plus $50 for and extended 3 more years of use?

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#97

Post by ghaff »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #84
thescriptkiddie wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to carry a spare battery with me and swap them in 10 seconds when the one in the phone died. Now I have to carry a much bulkier battery powered charger and USB cable that takes an hour to recharge the phone.

Power banks are pretty small these days. If you have magnetic inductive charging capabilities on your phone, you can even just snap them on and keep going. Otherwise, get a power bank that has a small cable built in.

I found the lack of swappable batteries somewhat irritating at first. But these days, for the relatively few times when I run low on juice I'd rather just use an external battery pack than carry a bulkier phone around all the time. And as you say, with inductive charging, there are pretty unobtrusive options.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#98

Post by lupire »

cheshire_cat wrote: post #71
Closi wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed - I'm not sure why we assume that a modern smartphone is designed to be completely taken apart and reassembled with a standard toolkit. I've had two third party repairs on my iPhones - one was done with a heat-gun and the finish was awful and the screen popped up in one corner at the end and the metal frame was dented from the pry-tool, and the second shop used a proper heat pad and an assembly tool and the fi…

> Agreed - I'm not sure why we assume that a modern smartphone is designed to be completely taken apart and reassembled with a standard toolkit. The point is that they chose to do it that way because it makes them more money, not because their technology is too advanced to let the user easily change their battery. If companies designed their product in a way that you can exchange parts that often break (batteries) an…

It's $100 for 3 more years of battery. If you can't handle that, buy a slightly cheaper phone or a refurb.

The alternative id far worse -- phones that get thrown away after a year or two because they don't get OS updates or they just break.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#99

Post by lupire »

makeitdouble wrote: post #58
throwk8s wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's incumbent upon Apple to invent a new set of tools for self-service repairs. Assuming these are the tools they actually use, rather than a cumbersome set they invented just to be insufferable, then making the tools available seems like a fair way to (reluctantly) satisfy the right-to-repair demand. I think a better indication of whether they're really honoring the right to repair is if they keep doi…

Time won’t flow back, but it was less than a decade ago that you replaced batteries by popping the phone’s back. I wouldn’t say Apple bears no blame in making 79 pound tools necessary to replace a battery. And as they basically opened that path for every other maker to follow and point at Apple as a justification, we really shouldn’t give them a pass.

Those phones had smaller batteries/phone ratio due to the extra casing, which creates the waste of throwing away an extra (smaller) battery.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#100

Post by blagie »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #91

Does Apple require you to rent all of these specialty tools to replace the battery? Or is this author just getting all of the specialty tools to make a point? Obviously, people have been replacing iPhone batteries without 79 pounds of special tools for a long time. The fact that Apple provides the option to buy their special tools is great, but this author is digging deep for a reason to spin that as a bad thing whic…

You misread the article. Apple is renting out the tools for $49 and a $1200 deposit. Apple is doing this at a loss; the tools cost more than $49 to ship, let alone rent, and probably way more than $1200 to buy.

That's weird.

Apple is also charging $69 for a $5 battery -- their normal repair fee. That's unfair.

Apple set up a bizarre, convoluted process, on which both Apple and the customer lose money.

Post reply on HN