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

#371

Post by cycomanic » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:17 PM UTC

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.

Looking at what cars people buy, fun and prestige seem huge contributers to purchasing decision. Otherwise there is really no way to explain how SUVs are the best selling cars and how a significant portion of buyers opts for way overpowered cars.

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

#372

Post by tastyfreeze » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:18 PM UTC

kd913 wrote: post #323

starky wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reality is that with the way devices are designed to be IP rated and as compact as possible, your only option is these fancy PSA adhesives. There is a direct disagreement between what a consumer wants in their device and making it easy to repair, especially since most people don't expect to repair the device they are buying.

Uhh are we all kind of forgetting the Samsung S5? A phone with ip67 rating, a microsd card slot, headphone jack and removable battery? Yea I am calling nonsense on this being an engineering limitation.

I have an xCover FieldPro from Samsung because it is one of two devices they make that are waterproof with a removable battery. It is marketed as a device for first responders and is built with field use in mind. It even comes with a spare battery.

I decided after my S4 Active battery died and I broke the screen trying to replace it that I wouldn't buy a phone without a removable battery. Not easy to find anymore. I did have to sacrifice Qi charging. But the xCover phones have pogo pin charging docks that suited my nightstand charging needs.

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

#373

Post by B1FF_PSUVM » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:19 PM UTC

So, 50 bucks for renting an 80 pound workstation (worth 1200 bucks), for one week, with shipping included?

Doesn't seem bad.

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

#374

Post by realusername » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:20 PM UTC

macinjosh wrote: post #196

Aeolun wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the EU is generally better at designing it’s regulations to avoid exactly this problem. Probably something to the extend of “tools to repair must be found in any general DIY store”.

> I think the EU is generally better at designing it’s regulations to avoid exactly this problem. The 73rd cookie banner I've closed today begs to differ.

That one is the fault of the site owners though

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

#375

Post by hermitdev » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:20 PM UTC

mlyle wrote: post #287

nicoburns wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it was, say $40 more or even $100 and was marketed as being repairable, I bet a lot of people would buy it. They would after all be actually likely to get that money back over the lifetime of the phone, and it’s much more environmentally friendly. This isn’t a case of “market doesn’t want it”, this is a case of Apple don’t want to offer that choice because they make money off of the repairs.

> If it was, say $40 more or even $100 and was marketed as being repairable, I bet a lot of people would buy it. Not all the costs are denominated in dollars. You want a small phone with little wasted volume and waterproofness, you're using adhesive everywhere. There's not room for O-ring seals and flanges and fittings. My phone being small makes it more practical. My phone being waterproof makes it less likely to ne…

My old Samsung Galaxy S4 was water proof and had a removable battery. At least, it was waterproof enough to be able to answer a call in the shower, if need be. I never fully submerged the phone, but casual exposure to water was absolutely fine. Oh, and it had O-rings around the edge of the battery cover. It was a pretty great phone. Its downfall was being too thin. It didn't fit great in my pocket and it ended up getting bent when I sat down. Didn't break the phone, but was enough to leave aermanent bend in the phone about 3/4 of an inch from the top and a little bit of delamination in the one corner. Even with the bend, I kept the phone for quite a while before it finally met its demise falling out of a coat pocket onto asphalt exiting a car.

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

#376

Post by cycomanic » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:20 PM UTC

smugma wrote: post #202

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…

This is a largely a U.S. specific thing. In Europe, manual transmission is still commonly available. If you want a high-end-ish car with a manual in the US, there’s the Golf R.

The irony being that it's the other way around for trucks, where most Europeans have automatic transmission systems while quite a few US ones run on manual.

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

#377

Post by sigmar » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:20 PM UTC

ynniv wrote: post #146

Do you want it to be certified waterproof, or do you want it to be easy to open? When they were easy to open, a blue moisture indicator meant your warranty was void. Now you can fetch it from the bottom of the pool and still get AppleCare to replace that scratched screen. As another thread pointed out, this is a kit for independent repair shops. Right to Repair has always been about supporting local specialty shops.…

>As another thread pointed out, this is a kit for independent repair shops.

Nope, this "Self-Service Repair" program is explicitly for Apple customers and not repair shops. "For customers with experience in the complexities of repairing electronic devices, we created the Self Service Repair program" You can see tables comparing "Self-Service Repair" to "Independent Repair Providers " and "Apple Authorized Service Providers" in their press releases on this topic. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2022/04/apples-self-service-r...

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

#378

Post by salawat » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:22 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #331

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

You are correct. without datasheets, you have no way to even approach reprogramming a computer system. Those datasheets, schemata, and documentation are some of the closest, most tightly held trade secrets in the tech world.

Increasingly, the world has gotten away from "sell thing to owner to own" to "sell hook for revenue extraction from User". part of which has also increasingly been "be the unofficial or unnoticed arm of power by keeping inconvenient things hard to acquire as determined by the parties in power". Say... industrial equipment without backdoors.

Until I can load my own firmware/microcode, it ain't mine yet. I'd love to have a cobbled together group of heterogenous computing devices just for the novelty.

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

#379

Post by kllrnohj » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:24 PM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #347

madeofpalk wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

And it's a great service, too. You pay $50 and wait a few minutes. You get a new, genuine OEM battery with a warranty that extends the life of your phone indefinitely. The right-to-repair people have just lost contact with reality. This is the way people want it to work. It is a great product experience.

Right-to-repair in no way prevents or hampers Apple's ability to offer that service. If people want the current state, they can continue to pay for it. Right to repair offers strictly more options and choice, it doesn't remove anything

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

#380

Post by salawat » Sat, May 21, 2022, 5:26 PM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #347

madeofpalk wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

And it's a great service, too. You pay $50 and wait a few minutes. You get a new, genuine OEM battery with a warranty that extends the life of your phone indefinitely. The right-to-repair people have just lost contact with reality. This is the way people want it to work. It is a great product experience.

They have not. You're being disingenuous. After all, battery replacements became a big deal after Apple started OTA updating and throttling performance to hide the battery degradation instead of being up front about the need for eventual replacement.