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You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

nytimes.com

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Re: You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

#31

Post by tekchip »

cameronh90 wrote: post #12
emmet wrote: post #7

Anecdotal, but back in those "good old days" when you could get a screen replaced in 5 mins like this article said, on the three occasions I did this I ended up with the worst cheap Chinese knock off screens I have ever seen, the last time I ended up spending even more to get a genuine one. Hard to avoid this with small businesses when they need to make the enough of a margin at those cheaper retail prices. I'm sure…

One of the reasons I switched to iPhone was that Google only does their repairs here through third parties. Even though it was with official parts, the repair quality was never great and it often needed to be manually calibrated or go in for another repair to fix the things they broke in the first repair. My experience (YMMV!) with AppleCare has always been stellar.

YMMV indeed. How does it go for folks who buy a device second hand, beyond apple care, perhaps because they can't afford Apple's first hand prices. No one is saying Apple shouldn't provide Apple care or first rate service within coverage. This is about a broader picture. As noted in the article Apple knows how long Apple care extends for any given device, and if components have been replaced. It would be fairly easy for them (and their gobs of money) to perhaps do something equitable like disable the replaced parts warnings once a device leaves apple care. IMO they shouldn't display those at all but in the interest of equity and compromise I'd settle for removal after Apple has self selected not to "care" about the device anymore.

Re: You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

#34

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

vasdae wrote: post #20
ozyschmozy wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How often does phone theft actually happen? I keep hearing this argument but in my ~15 years of owning non-apple phones and laptops, I've never had one stolen, or heard of anyone getting theirs stolen. Have I just been very lucky?

The answer depends on the country or even the city you live in or visit. In some places walking around with a $1000 phone is extremely dangerous to your life.

That seems surprising to me, when surely there's no easy way to steal a phone (iPhone or Android) and not have it completely locked and unusable. I would imagine that cars are eminently more desirable a target to steal as they're often left unattended for hours/days at the side of the road and they're typically worth far more than $1k. It's also relatively easy to attack a car waiting at traffic lights, over-power the driver and have access to the car and the keys, if the actual vehicle is required rather than just selling the parts.

Re: You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

#35

Post by vasdae »

ndsipa_pomu wrote: post #34
vasdae wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The answer depends on the country or even the city you live in or visit. In some places walking around with a $1000 phone is extremely dangerous to your life.

That seems surprising to me, when surely there's no easy way to steal a phone (iPhone or Android) and not have it completely locked and unusable. I would imagine that cars are eminently more desirable a target to steal as they're often left unattended for hours/days at the side of the road and they're typically worth far more than $1k. It's also relatively easy to attack a car waiting at traffic lights, over-power th…

Pickpocketing is quick and easy, sometimes not even a crime, and even though phones are locked, you can sell the Android phone for pieces. That's not the case for the iphone.

Re: You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

#36

Post by cianmm »

ozyschmozy wrote: post #18
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #4

This control severely limits the utility of stolen iPhones, which is a good thing for me as an iPhone owner. There are other phones that consumers can choose that don’t have this pairing. But this pairing of parts is one of the reasons people choose and iPhone.

How often does phone theft actually happen? I keep hearing this argument but in my ~15 years of owning non-apple phones and laptops, I've never had one stolen, or heard of anyone getting theirs stolen. Have I just been very lucky?

I’m in Dublin, Ireland. It is not common, but not uncommon. Kids and teenagers zip around high-footfall areas in the city centre (such as our financial district) on escooters and electric bikes, and literally grab the phones out of your hand as you’re using them. Minimal violence because they know they’d likely lose, but still pretty traumatic and the Gardaí (our police force) are two swamped in everything else to do a thing about it.

I know four people it’s happened to in two years, all four of them women.

Re: You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

#37

Post by emmet »

ponorin wrote: post #17
emmet wrote: post #7

Anecdotal, but back in those "good old days" when you could get a screen replaced in 5 mins like this article said, on the three occasions I did this I ended up with the worst cheap Chinese knock off screens I have ever seen, the last time I ended up spending even more to get a genuine one. Hard to avoid this with small businesses when they need to make the enough of a margin at those cheaper retail prices. I'm sure…

in your case you got screwed up bc you got a bad part, but you're saying your solution to that is to screw everyone by disallowing even genuine parts for repair not blessed by apple?

Didn't say that! Just that my past experience with 3rd party repair has been poor

Re: You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

#39

Post by JCharante »

ozyschmozy wrote: post #18
RcouF1uZ4gsC wrote: post #4

This control severely limits the utility of stolen iPhones, which is a good thing for me as an iPhone owner. There are other phones that consumers can choose that don’t have this pairing. But this pairing of parts is one of the reasons people choose and iPhone.

How often does phone theft actually happen? I keep hearing this argument but in my ~15 years of owning non-apple phones and laptops, I've never had one stolen, or heard of anyone getting theirs stolen. Have I just been very lucky?

My gf at the time had her phone stolen 2 years ago. Thought she forgot it at a cafe but after watching cctv someone took it out of her jacket like in a movie. Some coffeeshop employees will have their phones charging behind the counter but within customer reach and sometimes people steal the phones (happened to a close friend).

Re: You Paid $1k for an iPhone, but Apple Still Controls It

#40

Post by Aeolun »

cameronh90 wrote: post #24
dotnet00 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is such an absurd excuse. The competing android devices are not exactly known for being a more popular target for theft. This is just a copout pushed by Apple to justify obviously bad practices, and due to their reality distortion field, you guys eat it up.

That’s just because the thieves don’t consider the android devices worth stealing. London sadly has an ongoing problem with phone snatchers and pickpockets, so on two occasions I’ve seen them nick an Android. In the first case, they just chucked it on the floor a few metres further down the road. On the second, the guy loudly shouted “what the fuck is this shit?” as he cycled down the road and threw it into a canal.

I’m not quite sure what they expect if they snatch an Apple device? It’d just turn into a brick in a few minutes/hours?
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