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

theverge.com

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

#271

Post by ghaff »

nkrisc wrote: post #229
mostertoaster wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, and fun on a windy country road is a heck of a lot less fun commuting in stop and go traffic.

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

#272

Post by shkkmo »

snowwrestler wrote: post #244
ornornor wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Whoa whoa hold on. You can pay Apple to replace your battery. That’s been true for years. I’ve done it with multiple phones. We just had Apple replace the battery in my wife’s iPhone SE (the original version) and it’s working great. The metaphorical tires are not welded on; you can keep an old phone going with a new battery. But just like tires, if you insist on doing the work yourself , you’re going to need some spe…

> The metaphorical tires are not welded on; you can keep an old phone going with a new battery.

The metaphorical tires are DRM'd on by a company that has been actively trying to prevent third party repair shops from being able to work on your car.

The doubt of Apple's intentions here is not happening in a vacuum, but against their consistent and ongoing efforts to make self-repair unnecessarily difficult.

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

#273

Post by turbinerneiter »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #262
turbinerneiter wrote: post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never said they are incompetent. These trade offs are far sampler than what they want people to believe. Apple has the budget and the talent to do it. They don't because they don't want to. //edit: also screws are not the only option, see Pixel 6 which doesn't have screws but still makes it easier to open up the phone. That's fine and that's their right, but we should call it what it is, and not act like a screw is…

I was referring to > This is a made up target-conflict that is easily resolved by any trained industrial designer and engineer. It seems like your first comment was claiming that Apple could easily solve these issues without trade off.

Yes, I think they could. They have the best engineers in the world and incredible amounts of money. The regularly invent new manufacturing techniques to enable their new designs. They often invest heavily in their suppliers to enable them to make the parts they need.

If Apple wanted to they could make an iPhone that people love and has all the features they want and be much easier to repair then the current version.

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

#274

Post by simondotau »

mmastrac wrote: post #189
IgorPartola wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you find a way to run a phone off a watch battery you will make a lot of $$$

The point is not to run off a watch battery. The point is that you can open and close a watch without affecting its waterproofing rating.

A watch mechanism is (typically) circular, ideal for devices that need to be opened and closed frequently. And the mechanism is a much smaller percentage of a watch's overall volume; much more of its volume is enclosure material.

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

#275

Post by sircastor »

I repaired my washing machine this last week. An unbalanced load had caused some sort of break on one of the wire harness connectors.

I found what I thought was the problem, I bought the service manual off a third party site, and found a replacement wire harness on eBay. It was a bit of work, but after getting it all finished, I ran the self-diagnostics and calibration, and we’re washing clothes again.

I feel like the article is pretty disingenuous, but never really gets to the point of what right to repair is. It’s being able to get the components you need - not just modules. It’s about flexibility in how you care for your property (including its future). It’s about honesty of what really needs to be fixed/replaced/addressed.

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

#276

Post by shkkmo »

asoneth wrote: post #264
turbinerneiter wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely made up and false conundrum. You can design devices that are easy to repair and still waterproof and sleek. This is a made up target-conflict that is easily resolved by any trained industrial designer and engineer.

This assumption (that there are minimal tradeoffs when optimizing for repairability) has not been my experience in industrial design. Every single product has tradeoffs between size, weight, cost, ruggedness, ease of repair, etc. I believe Apple didn't set out to make it difficult to repair, it was just a side effect of not caring one way or the other and optimizing for the other aspects. Personally I buy products th…

> I believe Apple didn't set out to make it difficult to repair, it was just a side effect of not caring one way or the other and optimizing for the other aspects.

Apple's efforts with DRM and using IP law to restrict parts supply seem to clearly indicaye a desire and intent to limit the ability to self-repair. While there are legitimate trade-offs to make, it seems obvious to that Apple has made choices that unnecessarily reduced repairability.

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

#277

Post by phoehne »

Please keep in mind that my comments come from someone who bought a Framework laptop precisely because of their right to repair stand. I've also experimented with alternate phones like the Pine Phone, looking for something that could be more open. However, like many criticisms of Apple's phone, this one is also largely bogus.

This person wants a phone that's less than 8mm thick, with a high resolution screen, high quality camera, holes for speakers, a hole for a charger, smooth and tight tolerances all the way around, etc., that can mostly be taken under-water. (I regularly forget I have my iPhone in my pocket when I get in the pool and never once put it in a bed of rice.). Then it's surprising that it has to be fixed or disassembled with machinery to ensure that it correctly seals, doesn't break, bend, or warp during disassembly or assembly? Or that maybe it requires some degree of training to develop the confidence to use correctly?

Could Apple design a phone that can be repaired at home with a hair dryer, plastic spudger, gasket kit, and a set of jeweler's screw drivers? Could Apple design a phone with an easily replaceable battery? Could it work with any PoS battery you order off Ali express because the Chinese knock-offs on Amazon are too expensive? Absolutely. It just wouldn't be 7mm this, largely water tight, non-exploding, etc. etc. And wouldn't be supported by the manufacturer for 5+ years. You would have something like my Pine phone. I can do anything I want to my Pine phone and that's what makes it cool. It's just not my "daily driver."

I like my iPhone. After learning how to make some of my own electronic stuff I recognize the engineering that goes into it a little better. I'll continue to use my Xr until Apple stops updating it, which based on their track record, will likely be around 2024. At that point I'll get an iPhone whatever. I'm hoping it's sealed even tighter, better screen, camera, etc. The USB-C would be nice, but not anything that I stress over. In fact, it would be nice if it were even more sealed up by only wireless charging.

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

#278

Post by ineedasername »

I know the 70lb of equipment seems extreme here, but the push to make phones smaller, lighter, water tight, etc. means there's no easy way around thale problem of getting these phones open.

If people were given general instructed about a heatgun and given wedges and such to pry up the screen... It would be a disaster. I don't think you can make sleek flag ship phones the way customers want without making their repair somewhat specialized and requiring specialized precision tools.

Of course the way Apple has done all this doesn't show a real commitment to right-to-repair. Of course they just want people to buy a new device, or at least pay a premium for Apple repair. But what would real commitment to right to repair look like? Probably replacement parts that aren't sold for a profit (I suppose a reasonable markup is fine) but also not requiring genuine parts. A car warranty isn't invalid if you use non manufacturer parts. Apple could publish specs and have a reasonable certification process for parts providers. They could still sell the full toolkits to anyone who wants to buy them so repair shops would have access to purpose-built tools to make their own repairs more reliable. I'm sure there's more they could do too.

They aren't really committed to this, but I think people have to recognize that device repair especially for flagships is no longer reasonably within reach for end user consumers withoitnrelevant experience. The best google-fu in the world isn't going to fill in for a lack of specialized tools and experience when a small mistake means a failed repair and broken phone.

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

#279

Post by thebruce87m »

chinathrow wrote: post #27
ezconnect wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The battery has DRM now as stated on the article.

This shit has to stop.

The opposite in fact. As someone who buys second hand phones I want to know which parts are genuine and which aren’t.

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

#280

Post by perryizgr8 »

wfhordie wrote: post #93

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 lon…

> Apple can’t win here.

They can, very easily. Just don't be hostile to your users when designing the phone. Look at Nokia circa 2005.

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