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

#331

Post by sokoloff » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:28 PM UTC

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #307

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…

I view this differently. This article is documenting a process people are surely curious about. But the costly deposit and multiple heavy pelican cases of supplies show just how deep the hole Apple has dug for themselves really is. Apple is so anti-repair they have no provisions for a reasonable at home process. You must realize that a $1200 deposit alone means this process is out of reach of many people. Meanwhile I…

You have a storage bin holding old smartphones with readily replaceable batteries.

That suggests to me that readily replaceable batteries isn't anywhere near the entire story in terms of keeping phones out the landfill (or in your case, a storage bin).

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

#332

Post by b3morales » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:28 PM UTC

bob29 wrote: post #304

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No; we live in the world of engineering and business compromises where wishes are not, in fact, horses.

>No You aren't disagreeing with me. The claim is that we live in the best world possible , not the best world imaginable . The compromises you mention are necessary due to the underlying reality of resource scarcity. We may act to change our environment in many ways but can not violate the laws of the universe.

This expansion just makes the claim into a truism with no useful information. It's the same shape as a No True Scotsman reply.

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

#333

Post by dylan604 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:31 PM UTC

asveikau wrote: post #267

dylan604 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The normal repair fee of $69 covers the $5 battery and the install fees. So the remaining $64 dollars does not seem exorbantly high on paying someone their wage of manually removing/installing all of those screws and doing so without damaging everything plus some fees for overhead of operating the business. Sure, with a different design for user replaceable batteries all of that would be moot, but with the current de…

But in this case the user is charged $69 to repair it themselves.

So if that's the case, then it looks like the labor for the replacement is free when having Apple do it.

Everyone keeps talking about it being a $5 battery, but where can you get the battery for $5? If it costs Apple $5, then you're dreaming if you think Apple is going to ever sell for that. Nobody sells at cost and stays in business.

Also, you're forgetting about it being a $69 kit. It's the $5 battery and $64 dollars of kit.

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

#334

Post by madeofpalk » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:32 PM UTC

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #307

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…

I view this differently. This article is documenting a process people are surely curious about. But the costly deposit and multiple heavy pelican cases of supplies show just how deep the hole Apple has dug for themselves really is. Apple is so anti-repair they have no provisions for a reasonable at home process. You must realize that a $1200 deposit alone means this process is out of reach of many people. Meanwhile I…

> show just how deep the hole Apple has dug for themselves really is

I guess it shows this hole to the public, but Apple's know this the whole time. They scale out in-store iPhone repair to 500 stores around the world where they have low-paid retail workers performing the repairs.

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

#335

Post by nneonneo » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:32 PM UTC

Teever wrote: post #173

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…

Sympathy for Apple or not, the issue is that this proposed solution by Apple obviously isn't scalable. So if the solution the problem isn't scalable, is it really a solution? And if Apple, a company renowned for their uncanny ability to identify novel, game-changing solutions to problems produces this as their 'solution' can you honestly say that they gave it their all on this one? Apple can't win here if they don't…

They’ll get to find out if it’s scalable with this iteration of their repair program. It’s quite likely that only a small fraction of people will be interested in self-service repair, but if that assumption turns out to be false Apple would have to design another iteration of the process to improve accessibility.

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

#336

Post by b3morales » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:33 PM UTC

flomo wrote: post #308

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's somewhat a quirk of your displacement taxes resulting in tiny engines. When the choice is between a CVT or automatic that has to be dragged kicking and screaming into the upper RPM ranges (because how else are you gonna get acceptable performance out of a tiny engine) and a clutch pedal many people choose the clutch pedal.

Yep, I used to be a manual fanatic, but I realized it's only 'fun' when the engine is slightly underpowered. On a typical modern car sold in USA you'd practically have to take it to a racetrack.

A stick on unpaved hill and mountain roads is still fun too.

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

#337

Post by raisedbyninjas » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:37 PM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #174

earthbee wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or they and other phone manufacturers could just stop building phones that are purposefully difficult to disassemble or repair.

Apple isn’t making these design choices to inhibit repairs. The advanced sealing techniques are used for real benefits like water resistance and reduced size, which are a much bigger priority for the average consumer than being able to replace batteries at home.

Waterproof phones with replaceable batteries exist.

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

#338

Post by hatware » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:37 PM UTC

turbinerneiter wrote: post #219

Reading this article and the comments here makes me quite sad. 1. The repair kit described here is not mandatory for anyone to rent to be able to buy the parts. You can just buy the parts alone and use whatever tools you want. If you attempt your own repair, you should use the simple ifixit style tools, and understand the higher risk of damage you are taking. 2. The kit described in the article seems very decent for…

I think you have grossly underestimated how propaganda against right to repair legislation has colored your perception.

That is what's sad. We used to fully own the devices we buy, now look at us.

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

#339

Post by hatware » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:38 PM UTC

fartcannon wrote: post #59

srvmshr wrote: post #13

If made to fulfill the word of the law without actually having to follow it in spirit, this would be my modus operandi too. By designing $1200 deposit, $49 rental & two Pelican suitcases of tools and manuals, while keeping the battery replacement price same at $69 (what you'd normally pay in total at Store), they have entirely disincentivized self-repair without actually breaking any law. Masterstroke /s

I have never understood this kind of compliance. The hordes that buy their disposable garbage aren't going to care, they've shown repeatedly that they're insensitive to, sometimes even aggressive towards their own autonomy. So why do this? Just to _waste_ more? It's so petulant.

You can thank the finance and legal departments for their lack of creativity.

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

#340

Post by tallanvor » Sat, May 21, 2022, 4:39 PM UTC

msrenee wrote: post #324

greenglass wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

O-rings are known to fail.

Do o-rings have a dramatically high failure rate that I don't know about? It can dry rot or otherwise break down, but as a seal on the back of a phone, I've found them 100% reliable.

I assume they're referring to the Challenger explosion (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disas...), although it's a pretty poor comparison.