Apple now strives to design and build products that last as long as possible

Post by grzm » Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 1:18 PM UTC

badpun wrote: post #86

grzm wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

iOS support has steadily increased over time. "[iOS 12] covers five previous generations of iPhones, stretching back to the iPhone 5S." https://www.fastcompany.com/90237242/take-apples-advice-dont... Yes, as hardware improves and the OS and applications take advantage of this hardware, newer applications may run slower on older hardware. I'm not aware of any phone manufacturer or OS for which this isn't true. AFAIK,…

It shows that sustainability is not even an afterthought. Everybody is ok with throwing away perfectly working devices (i.e. devices that were blazing fast just a couple years ago and now, with some crippling os updates, take 10 seconds to open a PDF) just because they're 3-5 years old. Let's see if Apple really does change their policy on this. For premium, very expensive phones, it would be reasonable for them to b…

Post by lloeki » Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 1:20 PM UTC

pariahHN wrote: post #31

Pamar wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not necessarily disagree about the fact that batteries should be easily replaceable. On the other hand, I do not think that Apple's motivation was pure greed: if you make the battery an easily replaceable part you also need to encase it in a shell, and make it robust enough that even untrained users can safely handle these. This means that you have to make it bigger (externally) sacrificing actual internal volum…

The Galaxy S5 (and previous models) has a removable back (just needs a fingernail) that gives access to the battery (which also requires only a fingernail). These batteries are not so incredibly hazardous that they need a shell - I've opened up other devices with bonded batteries and their battery packs are not so much easier to damage that an "untrained user" is at risk of severe injury. The battery cells are design…

Post by basch » Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 1:27 PM UTC

janlaureys wrote: post #35

sokoloff wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How easy is it for end-users to replace the battery in that off-warranty 5S? Oh. I see. I did it in about 45 minutes the first time, and could do another in 20-30 minutes pretty easily. It's now a 5-year old phone. 10 minutes labor per year is OK in my book. How easy is it for end-users to replace the clutch in that off-warranty Civic? For that matter, how many people even change their own brakes (one of the easies…

The 5 series and SE phones are pretty easy to repair indeed. I've replaced a screen and battery with no experience, a few tools from ifixit and a youtube video without much hassle. It's gone pretty downhill from there with the iphone 6. Especially because the screens are much more intricate.

Post by the_solenoid » Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 1:31 PM UTC

beloch wrote: post #12

You know what helps products last longer and reduces waste at the same time? Repairability . The repairability of apple products is so poor that even Apple can't fix most of their own products without replacing surprisingly large portions of any given Apple device. End user repairability has been utterly neglected. Disassembly is frequently impossible without causing damage, and components such as batteries are frequ…

Post by basch » Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 1:35 PM UTC

mrpopo wrote: post #89

kgermino wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[1] badly misrepresents what happened. Throttling peak performance when the battery can’t deliver enough power for it helps people use the phone longer. It’s almost the opposite of planned obsolescence. The alternative is people’s phone shuts down randomly, which is definitely more likely to push them into replacing it. It also is fixed after the battery is replaced. Unless you mean that the battery gettin old is pla…

Throttling performance pushes people into replacing their phone just as much as a worn battery. Probably even more so, since a phone shutting down rapidly and randomly is much more symptomatic of a worn battery, and might entice people to replace the battery instead of the entire phone. A battery getting old is not planned obsolescence. A hard-to-replace battery is. Apple is a pioneer in that area.