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Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

arstechnica.com

31–40 of 164 posts

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Avoidant as I am of Apple's ecosystem, I can only imagine the "security" justification for serializing a display panel. Covert exfiltration of sensitive information from password managers and such? They're a more valuable target for theft the more parts that can be "cleanly" sold.

Are ipad thieving gangs really breaking down and on selling stolen components?

Discouraging chop shops for phones seems silly, but 3rd party repair shops have major incentive to find cheaper components. Compare the history of car stereos vs catalytic converter thefts.

I support the right to repair, but there are real issues that should be addressed. Steps like stamping catalytic converters with the cars VIN really can help.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently it is not. The reddit thread has an ex Apple employee who runs repair shops in Germany. He says if you just change the serial number of a iPad screen(using specialised hardware) in existing iPad this issue will appear. This seems to indicate that it’s intentionally done by Apple. Other option is that Apple bakes in calibration details of all possible serial numbers in every iPad sold which doesn’t sound li…

Serial numbers encode production-specific parameters. We don’t yet know how to produce uniform displays batch to batch. Running Toyota engine code on a Subaru will produce glitches without requiring any conspiracy.

But realistically this would mean I couldn't use an iPad with it's pen without connecting it to the internet first. I mean how would Apple bake every calibration for every display into all devices, even ones it hasn't even produced yet?

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#33
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could it be something like this: At software level iOS registers some calibration data (after some factory calibration) tied to that specific serial number (as calibration makes sense only for that specific instance of the panel anyway) so when serial number changes iOS can't find calibration data on device and continues uncalibrated instead of trying to use calibrations for another-serial screen (from the OS perspec…

Yeah I think this is most likely. Then when you change the serial you're using the calibration data for the wrong screen, but most of the time you're lucky and the two screens behave close enough that an average user doesn't notice.

Probably for touch the effects are negligible as the accuracy needed for touch is much more coarse compared to accuracy needed for Apple Pencil drawing. So if calibration is perfecting things at Apple Pencil-level accuracy, it should already be below the threshold of touch-based highest acceptable margin of error anyway.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#34
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My god, the narrative. "Apple is doing this just to fuck with users, fuck apple" etc over and over despite zero evidence as to their intention here. One sane person comes up with the more likely explanation: > That implies to me the calibration is unique to each screen and a proper repair has a calibration setup step? And someone just dismisses that perfectly logical explanation completely out of hand, declaring 'all…

> you just can’t win This is correct. On the internet you really can’t win because it’s not a debate, or even a conversation with another individual. You’re talking to an anonymous mob of unknown size and composition.

[deleted]

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My god, the narrative. "Apple is doing this just to fuck with users, fuck apple" etc over and over despite zero evidence as to their intention here. One sane person comes up with the more likely explanation: > That implies to me the calibration is unique to each screen and a proper repair has a calibration setup step? And someone just dismisses that perfectly logical explanation completely out of hand, declaring 'all…

> [USB-C is a connector] literally designed to break just like every USB connector before it. Do you have any evidence USB-C is literally designed to break? That seems like an extraordinary claim to me.

They don't. But they're "so tired of people ..."

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#36
post #2

Note: I slightly edited the title for accuracy. In particular, it appears "third-party replacement screens" doesn't refer to third-party-manufactured screens, but merely replacements performed by third parties using genuine Apple screens. And we simply know that they don't draw straight lines, not that they "can't". More reading: https://www.reddit.com/r/gadgets/comments/15cxwaa/apple_penc...

My god, the narrative. "Apple is doing this just to fuck with users, fuck apple" etc over and over despite zero evidence as to their intention here. One sane person comes up with the more likely explanation: > That implies to me the calibration is unique to each screen and a proper repair has a calibration setup step? And someone just dismisses that perfectly logical explanation completely out of hand, declaring 'all…

I feel like you’ve very succinctly identified the exact problems I have with every tech site when it comes to Apple news.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#37
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are ipad thieving gangs really breaking down and on selling stolen components?

If you make Apple devices totally worthless to thieves, you discourage theft. Make them bricks which can't even be harvested for parts. That's the goal apparently, and it makes sense.

This.

As a user I'm okay with using only authorized components if it makes theft virtually impractical as there wouldn't be much to use even if the device is stolen.

It will give me more peace of mind as no one will have the incentive to steal an iPad anymore.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My god, the narrative. "Apple is doing this just to fuck with users, fuck apple" etc over and over despite zero evidence as to their intention here. One sane person comes up with the more likely explanation: > That implies to me the calibration is unique to each screen and a proper repair has a calibration setup step? And someone just dismisses that perfectly logical explanation completely out of hand, declaring 'all…

> I am so tired of people who interpret Apple's actions purely as anti-consumer fuckery. Even to this day, people still claim that "apple made people's phones slow down as they got older, so they would have to buy new ones" despite it being widely covered that Apple, like other phone manufacturers, slows down the CPU when they detect the battery's internal resistance rising to prevent brownouts so that the phone is u…

>> *Plenty of Android handsets just randomly start crashing as the battery's internal resistance goes up.* I had one. A Google Nexus 6.

> What they did was chase thinness and so they didn't include an adequate power source for the processor they were using.

Your comment might apply to Apple, but an iPhone was hardly the only handset that crashed as the battery stopped being able to keep up under load.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#39
post #14

Avoidant as I am of Apple's ecosystem, I can only imagine the "security" justification for serializing a display panel. Covert exfiltration of sensitive information from password managers and such? At any rate, I continue to be unamused by how difficult it is for normal people to service their own Apple devices.

For displays I imagine the reason is more reputation and experience - normally just about every apple product has a factory calibrated display, but that promise can be broken (intentionally or not) on the used market. It’s nice to have a means of checking whether a display is legit other than eyeballing it That being said, I can’t think of a reason for blocking correct pencil functionality. It doesn’t seem like somet…

It might actually need calibration.

And if it does it would damage the reputation of Apple's products (iPad and Pencil) as they won't work accurately and will glitch, creating a subpar experience which Apple would obviously not want to be associated with their products.

Re: Apple Pencils don’t draw straight on replaced iPad screens

#40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Serial numbers encode production-specific parameters. We don’t yet know how to produce uniform displays batch to batch. Running Toyota engine code on a Subaru will produce glitches without requiring any conspiracy.

But realistically this would mean I couldn't use an iPad with it's pen without connecting it to the internet first. I mean how would Apple bake every calibration for every display into all devices, even ones it hasn't even produced yet?

Because the screen was on the device when it was calibrated.
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