Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#571

Post by jquery » Wed, Sep 21, 2022, 3:51 PM UTC

kramerger wrote: post #478

simondotau wrote: post #469

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine if, after criticising the panel gaps on a Tesla, a representative from Lego points out that Lego cars don't have this problem and that Lego has a steadfast commitment to precise tolerances. As someone who uses (and is continually appreciative of) multiple AirGradient-derived devices throughout my house, my immediate reaction was one of confusion given how monstrously incomparable your product is to an iPhone.…

> Apple devices weren't made difficult to repair because Apple actively despised repairers. IIRC the front panel uses DRM to stop unauthorized screen replacement.

No, it’s to make stolen iPhones worthless.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#572

Post by jquery » Wed, Sep 21, 2022, 3:53 PM UTC

kramerger wrote: post #504

simondotau wrote: post #497

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My opinion of this dismissive attitude towards security, were I to express it with sufficient honesty, would probably get me banned from Hacker News. It is the hardware equivalent of “only people with something to hide need encryption”.

But this doesn't add any real security because it addresses a made up threat scenario. If people with that kind of resources are out to get you, they can simply lift your fingerprints from elsewhere. A transparent tape on the home button would probably be enough.

It makes my phone much less attractive to thieves would would strip it and resell the parts.

Maybe that isn’t so important to you, but it’s a very practical concern for many people.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#573

Post by jquery » Wed, Sep 21, 2022, 3:56 PM UTC

_V_ wrote: post #506

threeseed wrote: post #491

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is to make the device secure for users who are Apple's highest priority. It's amazing to me that developers, resellers etc seem to forget this.

Please explain to me how pairing a screen, vibration motor and battery to the motherboard keeps me secure... I'd understand faceid (which is paired of course), sure. But not these. I really have a strong feeling that some folks have Stockholm syndrome or something.

It makes your phone a much less ripe target for thieves who sell it for parts. Depending on where you live, this might greatly increase your personal security.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#574

Post by jquery » Wed, Sep 21, 2022, 4:13 PM UTC

vanderZwan wrote: post #568

wmeredith wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also found the tone of that article annoying. The author is talking about repairing one of the–if not the– most advanced things ever mass-assembled. No shit, it's not easy.

And yet Fairphone manages without being significantly simpler in features.

To be fair, wouldn’t an iPhone from 5 years ago not be “significantly simpler” in features?

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#575

Post by jquery » Wed, Sep 21, 2022, 5:00 PM UTC

_V_ wrote: post #507

sfvegandude wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is the negative impact to users of the hardware DRM? I am only familiar with a dialogue box that warns users that a specific part might not be authentic. I have also read about issues with those parts not performing correctly with software updates. Are there instances of DRM’d hardware being totally unsupported, or just not available at all? If so, what parts?

For example swapped LCD will disable truetone and in iPhone 14 reportedly auto brightness. Battery will lock out "battery health". Rear facing camera will glitch out (I think it will not do video and it will reduce framerate dramatically) and front camera will not work correctly at all. All accompanied with constant nagging about non-genuine parts - regardless if you use parts from another iPhone (100% genuine).

It’s just “find my iPhone” extended to individual parts to reduce theft. If you own the other iPhone you will have no problem getting rid of the “unauthorized parts” screen.

Reducing iPhone theft is an extremely worthy goal, especially for people who live in high theft countries.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#576

Post by eropple » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 2:18 AM UTC

sennight wrote: post #259

eropple wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you play AAA games or mobile games, sure, you're plagued by them. I don't play either. The games I do play don't have much in the way of that sort of thing at all. And I think they're more fun games besides.

I don't understand your point, which effectively seems to be "not all games!" This is actually a zero sum scenario, games that are pay-to-win would have been something else had the concept not been popularized. Even games that are completely structured around these gambling mechanics... no, they wouldn't necessarily be different games in an alternate reality - they'd just be a different use of the dev's time. So mayb…

> I don't understand your point, which effectively seems to be "not all games!"

It's more "capitalism dot txt is a thing, yes, but you're opting in."

Which you can totally do. I am saying that this is a venue where you don't have to.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#577

Post by vanderZwan » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 6:21 AM UTC

jquery wrote: post #574

vanderZwan wrote: post #568

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet Fairphone manages without being significantly simpler in features.

To be fair, wouldn’t an iPhone from 5 years ago not be “significantly simpler” in features?

It's not like iPhones from five years ago were easy to repair. And definitely not as easily as Fairphones.

edit: wait, are we agreeing or not? I'm not entirely sure what you're arguing

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#578

Post by fennecfoxy » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 9:21 AM UTC

Ahaha. Apple only changes stuff when they can jump on a bandwagon to make money.

First privacy/security, which they didn't give a crap about until they realised it was marketable.

Now right to repair, which they also didn't give a crap about and often went out of their way to prevent. Suddenly public awareness has increased and it's not become a marketable feature. So not surprising that Apple has jumped on it.

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#579

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 9:22 AM UTC

fennecfoxy wrote: post #578

Ahaha. Apple only changes stuff when they can jump on a bandwagon to make money. First privacy/security, which they didn't give a crap about until they realised it was marketable. Now right to repair, which they also didn't give a crap about and often went out of their way to prevent. Suddenly public awareness has increased and it's not become a marketable feature. So not surprising that Apple has jumped on it.

[deleted]

Re: Apple’s iPhone 14 Redesign for Repair

#580

Post by actionablefiber » Thu, Sep 22, 2022, 12:37 PM UTC

rTX5CMRXIfFG wrote: post #102

actionablefiber wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are substantial externalities to commercializing products that cannot be repaired. Fantastic amounts of non-biodegradable waste, overconsumption of nonrenewable material resources, and of course financial loss to consumers and opportunity cost to the secondary market. "Just choose not to buy the product" is only sensible if choosing not to buy the product fully insulates you from the effects of its existence. R…

Couldn’t recyclability and repairability be mutually independent, though? It sounds possible to me that a product that is not highly repairable could still be highly recyclable just because its shattered parts can still be reprocessed into new products.

Repairability and reusability precede recyclability in effectiveness. Anything you can take to a shop to swap a broken part, or list on a secondary market as a "fixer upper phone" beat out whatever Apple's internal recycling process does.