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

#431

Post by simonh » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:08 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…

There have been constant complaints that Apple doesn’t make its repair and maintenance equipment and parts available for others to use. Now that they do, it turns out they use extremely high quality professional tools to do near-factory quality work. So fine, here you are, you can get all the exact same stuff Apple uses. You win.

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

#432

Post by paulryanrogers » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:09 PM UTC

ctbeiser wrote: post #423

paulryanrogers wrote: post #401

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intent is less important when we're burning the world for blue bubbles, cheaper waterproofing, and a few millimeters thinner. If iphones had to be priced with externalities included (via regulation) I suspect they'd get user replaceable batteries shortly there after.

I suspect that of all the things burning the world, it's mostly oil and cars. iPhones are unusually useful, but they're not unusually resource intensive.

Just because something is worse doesn't mean we should ignore the problems of the first.

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

#433

Post by bonestamp2 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:14 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…

> Apple is so anti-repair they have no provisions for a reasonable at home process.

Just because they don't prioritize their designs for at home repair, doesn't mean they're anti-repair. Clearly they're not anti-repair if they're voluntarily making their tooling available for repairs.

I can't really blame them for prioritizing design over repairability. At least for now, repairability doesn't sell a lot of phones -- the number of people who want to repair their own phone is so small, and I say that as someone who has repaired a couple iPhones in the past.

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

#434

Post by mdoms » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:19 PM UTC

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #129

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”.

> Probably something to the extend of “tools to repair must be found in any general DIY store”. Does everyone realize how insanely bad this would be for phone progress? If we’re forcing manufacturers to avoid specialty adhesives and tooling, the overall quality and size of phones would be greatly compromised. I understand a lot of HN commenters will say they don’t care if their phones are twice as big and not waterpr…

No post body was provided.

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

#435

Post by bombela » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:21 PM UTC

jeffbee wrote: post #349

MereInterest wrote: post #319

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But just like tires, if you insist on doing the work yourself, you’re going to need some special equipment. That is not a constant of the universe, and is entirely dependent on the design. A long time ago, I had a Palm Treo 650. The removable back cover didn't require any tools to remove, after which the battery could be popped out. I could carry spare batteries with me and swap them out as needed. Does this change…

And if you dropped a Treo the battery cover stood a 100% chance of popping off and the battery would land 100 meters away in a bush or down a sewer grate. Terrible misfeature.

but the screen wasn't cracked though...

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

#436

Post by mlyle » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:23 PM UTC

Dylan16807 wrote: post #422

mlyle wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Galaxy S4: 136.60 x 69.80 x 7.90mm -- 75.3 cm^3 -- 68 cm^2 screen, volume to screen area ratio 1.10 cm. IP67, 1m 30 minutes (AKA don't really immerse this-- even if you drop it in a puddle it may not be OK). iPhone 13 Mini: 131.5 x 64.2 x 7.65mm -- 64.6 cm^3 -- 72 cm^2 screen, volume to screen area ratio 0.9 cm. IP68, maximum depth 6m 30 minutes (AKA brief immersion in depths of less than a couple meters is OK). Ther…

There are bezels on the top and bottom because the S4 came out in 2013, not because of the waterproofing method. IP67 is enough for me, and I will happily trade .3mm of thickness for a removable battery. Not that we should assume that IP68 has to be sacrificed. There aren't a lot of comparison points on that specific attribute. A Galaxy Xcover Pro is bulky but that's because it's much more ruggedized in general.

> There are bezels on the top and bottom because the S4 came out in 2013, not because of the waterproofing method.

There are bezels on the top and bottom because older phones were less volume efficient than they are today-- something that is enabled by the use of adhesive.

> IP67 is enough for me, and I will happily trade .3mm of thickness for a removable battery.

OK, but, I believe the penalty would be significantly more than .3mm, and most people won't.

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

#437

Post by 2OEH8eoCRo0 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:24 PM UTC

> The single most frustrating part of this process, after using Apple’s genuine parts and Apple’s genuine tools, was that my iPhone didn’t recognize the genuine battery as genuine. “Unknown Part,” flashed a warning. Apparently, that’s the case for almost all of these parts: you’re expected to dial up Apple’s third-party logistics company after the repair so they can validate the part for you. That’s a process that involves having an entirely separate computer and a Wi-Fi connection since you have to reboot your iPhone into diagnostics mode and give the company remote control. Which, of course, defeats a bunch of the reasons you’d repair your own device at home!

Yikes

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

#438

Post by lovich » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:27 PM UTC

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…

Are they dead common for consumers? I wouldn’t be surprised that business owner tooling they needed to run, that’s outside the budget for most consumers

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

#439

Post by mikestew » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:29 PM UTC

paulryanrogers wrote: post #432

ctbeiser wrote: post #423

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that of all the things burning the world, it's mostly oil and cars. iPhones are unusually useful, but they're not unusually resource intensive.

Just because something is worse doesn't mean we should ignore the problems of the first.

If you've ever heard someone talk about frying fish, and how they have bigger ones that need frying, they're probably speaking metaphorically.

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

#440

Post by zenexer » Sat, May 21, 2022, 7:30 PM UTC

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #137

zenexer wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least some of these tools are name brand. For example, the torque screwdrivers are Wera Kraftform Micro ESD pre-set torque screwdrivers. Apple sells them cheaper than anyone else, as far as I can tell—which is quite curious. Surely if you ordered them in bulk you could beat Apple’s prices, but you can’t order a single set of the same screwdrivers for less than what Apple is charging. I’m also told this is the exac…

> but does it really need to be for a one-off home repair? Again: cue the "Apple provided me with second-class tools that are NOT the ones they used in store and I broke my iPhone" story. Manufacturers can't possibly satisfy "right to repair" if every single person gets to decide how they want to do the repair, how much compromise they're prepared to take in terms of likely outcome and so on.

> Again: cue the "Apple provided me with second-class tools that are NOT the ones they used in store and I broke my iPhone" story.

Oh, I’m not complaining about the tools. If they didn’t have an ass-backwards policy that could be construed as preventing you from using the tools on anything other than an approved Apple product, I’d have a rental kit shipped to me and just pay the security deposit. Sure, I could buy the tools outright, but then I wouldn’t get the cool cases, and the policy still seems to imply the tools are only to be used for Apple products.

Again, this is great for repair shops. These are great tools at reasonable prices that are meant to last. But y’know what would be even better? Making a battery that you can replace with a fingernail.