Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery • Hacker News Board

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

#221

Post by Nextgrid » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:43 PM UTC

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #207

Nextgrid wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My problem with this process is that it's a low-volume, just-in-time system where you have to order the part, do the repair and send back your old part in a limited timeframe otherwise you are overcharged, not to mention the final step of having Apple support pair the new part to your phone to disable the warnings. It's unnecessarily annoying and admin-heavy. Compare that to just buying a handful of batteries and kee…

I mean, I don't even know what to say, how often do you think consumers are having to replace the batteries in their phones? The idea that people would keep stock on hand is just beyond absurd. Returning cores for a price rebate is a totally standard industry practice. You apparently get 18 days to initiate the return and Apple gives you a free return label.

I'm not saying people should be keeping stock on-hand. I'm saying that their current system is clearly malicious compliance as all that admin also costs them more, so the only reason I can see is extra annoyance to make self-repair less attractive (and prevent third-party shops from using this program as a source of genuine parts).

> Returning cores for a price rebate is a totally standard industry practice.

Depends for what. A worn down (or outright destroyed, if you screwed up and couldn't get it out intact) battery has zero value beyond its raw materials, which are much less than the cost of shipping it back (the eco-friendly option here is to drop it off at a local recycler which will collect and ship them in bulk).

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

#222

Post by throwaway0a5e » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:44 PM UTC

mostertoaster wrote: post #194

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and when there's enough of you for this to represent an actual, realistic target market you will then find someone who will sell you one. Personally, my perspective on this is that it's a lot like the kind of complaining that gets a lot of play in the motoring press about the disappearance of the manual transmission (like Car and Driver's "Save the Manuals" thing). Lots of people will claim they would like the ch…

I would definitely buy a manual if I could. Just more fun to drive. I think Honda civic’s lowest model might still have one. Not sure of anything else.

Pretty much every compact/subcompact still has a manual option.

If you want a crossover I think the only new one that still has a manual is the Crosstrek.

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

#223

Post by ornornor » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:44 PM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #134

ornornor wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill and exactly what is wrong with the current state of self repairs. Never mind the DRM on the battery so that the phone won’t recognize even a genuine battery as genuine without involving the 3PL to marry the parts together… It shouldn’t be so complicated. If it makes the phone one…

> You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill You know people were swapping batteries long before this was available, right? And that you don’t have to rent the official factory tools? Apple did a great thing by providing this option at a loss to themselves. The fact that people are rushing to criticize the move suggests m…

Not having easily replaceable batteries (and pardon me but I don’t consider requiring 79 lbs of equipment and a 1200$ deposit “easy”) in modern phones is akin to selling cars with the tires welded on.

It is ridiculous, consumer hostile, and wasteful.

Batteries are consumable, they should not be a reason to throw the phone away once they stopped working.

You don’t throw your house away when the garbage bag is full or when the tap starts leaking. These are things you’re expected to replace and it can easily be done with simple tools.

Phones shouldn’t be any different when it comes to their parts, especially consumable ones.

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

#224

Post by soneil » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:45 PM UTC

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…

Apple's position seems to be that most people don't need the tools at all - 80% of the US lives within 20 minutes of an AASP, and frankly rural people know fine well they need to drive further to reach services like this (it used to take us more than 20 minutes to get to a post office).

The big wins are that the parts are available to customers and the tooling is available to third-party service providers. Being able to rent the tooling yourself is meant to cover the edge-cases.

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

#225

Post by thg » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:45 PM UTC

tinus_hn wrote: post #150

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill You know people were swapping batteries long before this was available, right? And that you don’t have to rent the official factory tools? Apple did a great thing by providing this option at a loss to themselves. The fact that people are rushing to criticize the move suggests m…

People can just buy a Fairphone if they want one with a detachable battery. It is however bulkier, heavier and not waterproof.

I guess it's only bulkier because it's made up of several user-replaceable components.

The Fairphone 2 is a lot smaller and lighter than the FP3, though. My boss has a FP2 and my FP3 is really quite a monster compared to his.

Regarding buying one: Only us Europeans can actually do that since it's not available anywhere else.

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

#226

Post by 777Blooms » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:45 PM UTC

Is there any good solution to this? An easily repairable phone that is also waterproof?

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

#227

Post by Terretta » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:45 PM UTC

ITT, “technologists” who don’t understand “normals”.

The most important line in the article:

> I’d never successfully repaired a phone — and my wife has never let me live down the one time I broke her Samsung Galaxy while using a hair dryer to replace the screen.

Every crack and snide remark about Apple’s motivations, both in the article and in this thread, pretend that remark doesn’t describe almost everyone. It’s certainly the most plausible explanation and motivation for every aspect the author ascribes as bad intent by someone trying to help him do a good job when he doesn’t want to do a good job.

It’s not just phone batteries, it’s spark plugs, compressors … nobody knows how to repair anything … and they generally don’t want to. They (a) don’t want to think about it when it works, and then (b) don’t want to have to do anything when it doesn’t.

Apple’s process was built for normals. Their designs make the devices inconceivably reliable relative to the past, and then they take responsibility to deal with those choices at the repair step. Regardless what normals say if you poll them, that’s what normals actually want.

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

#228

Post by NovemberWhiskey » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:46 PM UTC

canuckintime wrote: post #70

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did they conveniently forget to say that Apple will give you a further refund in you return the replaced part? Ah, yes, they did. In the case of the battery for iPhone 13 mini described in the article, that's an additional refund of $24.15. Since I've never heard of anyone getting back the broken part when getting an in-store repair, it'd be reasonable to compare at the $44.85 price, wouldn't it?

They didn't 'conveniently' forget; it's mentioned and accounted for in the article: > $49 to rent Apple’s tools for a week, more than wiping out any refund I might get for returning the old used part.

It's $49 to have Apple ship two Pelican cases of tools to you, to have you use them for the week, then to ship them back to Apple and (presumably) to have someone inventory them to make sure there's nothing missing and that they're reading to ship out to the next person.

You think Apple is making money on that?

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

#229

Post by nkrisc » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:47 PM UTC

mostertoaster wrote: post #194

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and when there's enough of you for this to represent an actual, realistic target market you will then find someone who will sell you one. Personally, my perspective on this is that it's a lot like the kind of complaining that gets a lot of play in the motoring press about the disappearance of the manual transmission (like Car and Driver's "Save the Manuals" thing). Lots of people will claim they would like the ch…

I would definitely buy a manual if I could. Just more fun to drive. I think Honda civic’s lowest model might still have one. Not sure of anything else.

If “fun” is the primary advantage (I know there are others) then it’s no wonder there’s fewer manuals in the US, at least. I think for many people, myself included, a car is a tool. I don’t need it to be fun. I need it to be reliable, easy to use, and as efficient as possible.

For some cars are a hobby, but for many people they’re most another tool in our lives.

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

#230

Post by ornornor » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:48 PM UTC

lr1970 wrote: post #205

ornornor wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill and exactly what is wrong with the current state of self repairs. Never mind the DRM on the battery so that the phone won’t recognize even a genuine battery as genuine without involving the 3PL to marry the parts together… It shouldn’t be so complicated. If it makes the phone one…

> It shouldn’t be so complicated. If it makes the phone one mm thicker but you can swap the battery easily without requiring all this equipment, why aren’t we there yet? Because a non-replaceable battery is a great marketing tool. Dying battery (every three years or sooner) is a powerful force making a customer consider their options including buying a new phone. This alone makes companies design their products delib…

> Because a non-replaceable battery is a great marketing tool.

This is exactly why we need laws to prevent this kind of behavior. It’s against the greedy nature of companies and their desire to externalize social costs, the only way to stop this is by making it illegal.