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

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

#481

Post by least »

saiya-jin wrote: post #476
js2 wrote: post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a trade-off. I am someone who repairs my own stuff. I've repaired my fridge, my dishwasher, my oven, my microwave, my garage door openers, my 1998 Jeep Cherokee, and on and on. 99% of people do NOT do this. I've replaced the batteries in multiple first generation iPhone SEs. I'll never replace a battery again in an iPhone, nor do I ever desire too. The phones have become too hard to open, but in return, Apple of…

Sorry for my french but this is all a bit of bullshit. I have some old sport watch that I open with a cent coin, it is completely waterproof as it was 10 years ago (so seals work), its whole sealing part is tiny and doesn't interfere with design/size/weight/price. If one wanted to manufacture top of the class phone with removable battery, it would be entirely possible. But since we all know revenue is not anymore pri…

If you can open up your watch with a coin then obviously the design is affected by this being something you can do. Saying that it doesn't interfere with design, size, weight, or price is disingenuous. Of course it does. It might influence those things positively or negatively, but it absolutely is affected.

If you have to put in a mechanism to easily remove a battery from a phone then how wouldn't that affect literally all of those factors? What sort of properties would this entail and what would be suitably easy to remove? That answer is different depending on the person. Some people perhaps just want the back to slide off, which would probably require a plastic back. You could add a hinged door, but that would certainly add to its thickness and affect the design. You'd also need to have a way to interface the battery to the phone. Phones that had easily replaceable batteries had contacts built into the phone and the battery that were sufficiently large as to make it nearly impossible for someone to fuck up the installation of a new one. This obviously added weight and thickness to the phone.

I'd love to hear how you'd engineer it to be just like a phone without an easily removable battery without affecting the criteria you listed.

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

#482

Post by Robin_Message »

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #302
smugma wrote: post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Europe is just lagging the U.S. ... if you look at the take rates for transmissions, more automatics than manuals are now sold in the U.K, and mainland Europe is not far behind.

Those rates are skewed by electric and hybrid cars though. Diesel and petrol cars are still majority manual in the UK.

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

#483

Post by paulryanrogers »

losvedir wrote: post #454
paulryanrogers wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering that batteries still only last about a day and Apple led this shift to non-user-swappable batteries they still deserve some blame for landfill culture. Most of their efforts around repair appear to be the minimum anyone motivated by new sales would do once faced with looming regulation. Even if at cost the extreme sophistication and complexity of such tools reinforces the point that these devices aren't r…

> Considering that batteries still only last about a day and Apple led this shift to non-user-swappable batteries they still deserve some blame for landfill culture. I disagree. I think you're conflating home user repairability with longevity of the device. Just because the user can't repair it at home doesn't mean it goes in the garbage. More realistically a broken phone will be traded in, Apple will repair it, and…

Apple is in a class of their own in some ways, so until they offer a repairable one I don't think a fair comparison can be made.

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

#484

Post by leokennis »

gambiting wrote: post #399
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 completely disagree with you. I think the author is right - requiring people to put a $1200 deposit down to rent some tools and sending them 40kg of stuff just to replace the battery is insane and clearly done to discourage repairs, the fact that you have to call their specialists to validate the battery at the end is just a cherry on top of this rotten cake - it's just done to stave off legislators ruling that app…

If you read the article, the 40kg of equipment are clearly needed to do the repair.

So now you’re demanding Apple ships you a light bundle of small tools that do the same as that 40kg of tools or otherwise it’s just a “token effort”?

Or you want Apple to design a phone that you could safely repair using only a few small tools? That’s fine too. In that case I’ll just sit here waiting for all the bitching from HN about their new repairable iPhone that is prone to water damage, has shit battery life and creaks when you hold it.

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

#485

Post by srvmshr »

jeroenhd wrote: post #11

It's so silly that modern phones (from all manufacturers, really) need these giant kits (or hacks like microwaving a jelly sock) just to replace the single part that wears down. I still have my first Android phone. It contains a battery you can pop out after removing the back cover. Replaceable batteries used to be the norm! Now we need suction cups, hot air stations and professional guides to replace the part, becau…

> I still have my first Android phone. It contains a battery you can pop out after removing the back cover. Replaceable batteries used to be the norm!

> If Apple actually cared about repairing phones, they'd design better phones.

They do make excellent phones. No doubt about it. I think the end claim is tad contrived: If you (and millions similar) are willing to let go of IP68 dust & waterproofing, willing to work with cheaper melamine casing, and plastic screens, I am sure Apple will have no argument to back up its high ground of why they need specialist repair tools & services. What you desire is a state of the art smartphone, with gloss, finish & every working bell & whistle. What you demand for is a Nokia 3200 (which incidentally wasn't too behind in evolution).

This protocol exists because the devices are sophisticated. And they ship this hulk with the assumption you are at Level 0. I can only imagine good faith on Apple if they empowered local technicians to handle such repairs instead of this elaborate stunt to prove their point on self-servicing.

Repairability is much different topic from build sophistication. Lets not mix up these two. Apple's approach to prove its point is labored. What we probably eventually want is iOS devices to be easily serviceable by ourselves (if well equipped) or via locally available technicians, instead of entering their marbled ecosystem. Eventually we will reach some middle ground. But it is crucial to understand that self-repair isn't everyone's cup of tea and a corporation cannot keep a supply chain for the 1-5% customers who dabble with this hobby

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

#486

Post by pdoege »

paulryanrogers wrote: post #474
nemothekid wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Or Apple devices are also a tech fashion statement, so their loyal consumers will put up with everything Apple changes. This argument is tired; it doesn't explain why every other manufacturer on the planet has also gone down this route. It's just an argument that helps nerds feel good (those other guys aren't real techies , like me, they only care about fashion ).

Leading fashion brands have network effects and it can create something like Stockholm syndrome to those who buy into it. Other manufacturers often follow leading brands for prestige, or because people become accustomed, not always because the direction is objectively better when accounting for costs to future generations.

No, it's because Apple phones have margin. They make money. Their competitors desperately want to make money.

They make their money selling phones wholesale into retailing supply chains. One of the rules of those supply chains is that the OEM eats the costs of early returns.

So they removed every widget that they possibly could and then glued everything down so that it could not possibly come loose, be dropped, wedged etc. during the warranty period.

Battery doors, headphone jacks, you name it. All gone.

End customers don't seem to care. Phones with swappable batteries, headphone jacks, etc. exist. They don't sell well in high margin markets.

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

#487

Post by dTal »

mmastrac wrote: post #171
dTal wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Swappable with the aid of a screwdriver != detachable

My fairphone battery is removable with no screwdrivers whatsoever.

Of course, I was obviously unclear. My point was it is also possible to design a phone which is waterproof, thin etc and also has a battery which is replaceable with a screwdriver. There is a wide margin between "field swappable battery" (which I do actually like, but accept it comes with some compromise) and glued shut like iPhones are. My (unpopular) comment was merely an attempt to point out the false dichotomy; you don't need to buy a FairPhone just to avoid this practice - my Unihertz Titan, an obscure Chinese phone with IP67 waterproofing, has four magnificently large philips-head screws up the edges.

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

#488

Post by thebruce87m »

orf wrote: post #38

That's 35kg to fix a 31 gram battery for anyone else confused.

I’m not sure why the weight matters. The factory that made the battery was many tons, but if that’s what’s needed then that’s what’s needed.

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

#489

Post by Gigachad »

londons_explore wrote: post #366
Gigachad wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s because a lot of them are genuine batteries which have either been stolen from factories, second hand from other phones, or have had the id ripped from a genuine battery. The thing is there is very little drm here. There is no complex crypto chip on the battery. The battery just says “my id is 36382” and the phone goes “that’s not the id I expect”. Which makes it impossible for fraudulent parts to replicate sinc…

Surely this is easy for an unofficial battery to replicate... You just have a step during installation where you put the new and old batteries face to face briefly so the data lines touch, and the new battery can read the old batteries ID and memorize it?

There were some devices that would let you copy the ID over but they fell out of popularity / couldn't keep up. Just not worth it for a low margin item I guess.

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

#490

Post by cheshire_cat »

lupire wrote: post #98
cheshire_cat wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Agreed - I'm not sure why we assume that a modern smartphone is designed to be completely taken apart and reassembled with a standard toolkit. The point is that they chose to do it that way because it makes them more money, not because their technology is too advanced to let the user easily change their battery. If companies designed their product in a way that you can exchange parts that often break (batteries) an…

It's $100 for 3 more years of battery. If you can't handle that, buy a slightly cheaper phone or a refurb. The alternative id far worse -- phones that get thrown away after a year or two because they don't get OS updates or they just break.

Just because most Android phones don't get OS updates doesn't mean we couldn't do better. On the Google and on the Apple side of things.

I hope that a mix of regulations and more sustainable Linux phones actually becoming usable as daily drivers will eventually improve the situation..

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