Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#111

Post by maccard » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 1:51 PM UTC

yholio wrote: post #59

maccard wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved from apple to android a few years ago, hoping the grass would be greener. I hoped I was leaving behind a locked in ecosystem with hard to repair devices for a more open ecosystem where competition would improve quality. Android is a fat mess, with flagship phones from premium manufacturers being incompatible with various OS features, and devices from different manufacturers being incompatible in ways that nev…

The Android ecosystem is great for low cost devices. I have a 5 year old Samsung that still serves me great for what I need it: quick web searches, mapping and Waze, communication etc. The screen is cracked in 200 pieces, I literally stepped on it on multiple occasions, the power button has fallen off but I figured I don't really need it anyway except the rare cases where I leave it to discharge completely. Otherwise…

Does your 5 year old samsung still get security updates?

Based on my experience using one of those for development, I'd rather not have a phone than rely on one of those daily.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#112

Post by Digory » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 1:52 PM UTC

maccard wrote: post #106

VBprogrammer wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's probably faux pas to mention it in the current environment but my Huawei has easily been the best phone I've ever owned, it's nearly 2 years old and as good as the day I bought it.

Yep, my partner has a P20 and I'm much happier using that than my pixel 3. Unfortunately they don't do google services on their new devices which my employer mandates on their devices for 2fa, so my choices are carry two smartphones, or don't use huawei. Similarly my bank(s) don't support huawei phones last time I checked.

I bought a Xiaomi burner for an asian trip a few years ago. Seemed competently done, and the international versions allowed Google.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#113

Post by ericpauley » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 1:54 PM UTC

maccard wrote: post #52

whytaka wrote: post #35

Not too long ago, I went to the Apple store to get my MacBook Pro looked at for a faulty key and degraded trackpad. As I had a Genius diagnose the issue, the screen brightness of my iPhone 7 had dropped nearly completely. While it was true that the glass of the screen had cracked due to a fall, the phone had operated just fine for many months since. The Genius told me it was likely a display issue while I told him it…

I moved from apple to android a few years ago, hoping the grass would be greener. I hoped I was leaving behind a locked in ecosystem with hard to repair devices for a more open ecosystem where competition would improve quality. Android is a fat mess, with flagship phones from premium manufacturers being incompatible with various OS features, and devices from different manufacturers being incompatible in ways that nev…

I also had google refuse to repair a Pixel 3 under warranty, claiming it must be drop damage. I had every pixel before and, while the hardware was full of issues, google was always willing to fix them. It was this instance of them refusing to honor their warranty that finally pushed me from buying any more Pixel phones. While I’ve had no fewer hardware issues on apple devices (my 2017 mbp has had nearly everything but the case replaced for defects), at least apple honored their warranty.

I can’t believe that after 5 google phones/tablets they were willing to lose a customer over a minor hardware problem.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#114

Post by maccard » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 1:58 PM UTC

davidy123 wrote: post #109

maccard wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We'll I'm claiming that my pixel 3 is _in_ warranty, and google are claiming £300 for a replacement (not $300 sorry, that was a typo). The phone is less than two years old, but I don't know what recourse I have. > Sure, some companies, like Samsung, try to offer some exclusive features. Just avoid them. If your advice is to ignore the largest manufacturer and manufacturers of the most high end devices, that says a lo…

Vendor discretion whether something is in warranty is a pain point, I've seen people bitten from all vendors. If they don't respond to pressure (for example, finding other people with the same problem for a united voice), it might be a minor problem. If you don't want to take it apart yourself (don't blame you) you could find a local authorized dealer who could hopefully fix it for not much money. I wish they would j…

Yep it's awful, and something that is only solved by stricter warranty enforcement's. My (anecdotal) experience with apple warranties is the opposite - replacement device shipped that day and the courier picked up my broken one at the same time. Of course, I'm sure this was a one off, but it definitely left me feeling better.

Understand re; samsung, but as a consumer I don't want to spend weeks researching compatibility between all of the devices I own/plan on purchasing. Another example; I bought a sony bravia TV which runs android TV. Android tv advertised that it supports dvr recording features. Except sony force you to use another third party app "youvirw" which they ship an outdated version of which doesn't work with androids flavor of live recording.

Unfortunately this is rife across the android world; watches incompatible with payments, stock launchers that are incompatible with android OS features, the list goes on and on. And the issue is that all of these are sold as "android" devices, and it's not until you're knee deep in the ecosystem that you realise that it's all just lipstick on a pig.

Mt experience with the manufacturer-alternative apps is that in some cases their existence stops the alternative from working correctly (samsung knox vs android work profiles, fitbit pay vs google pay, huawei photos vs google photos),which just sucks. And you can only know about these issues if you research the compatibility of every app you want to use with your planned device...

And understand re; cheap devices, the comment thread is deep here!

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#115

Post by justinclift » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 2:06 PM UTC

ericpauley wrote: post #113

maccard wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved from apple to android a few years ago, hoping the grass would be greener. I hoped I was leaving behind a locked in ecosystem with hard to repair devices for a more open ecosystem where competition would improve quality. Android is a fat mess, with flagship phones from premium manufacturers being incompatible with various OS features, and devices from different manufacturers being incompatible in ways that nev…

I also had google refuse to repair a Pixel 3 under warranty, claiming it must be drop damage. I had every pixel before and, while the hardware was full of issues, google was always willing to fix them. It was this instance of them refusing to honor their warranty that finally pushed me from buying any more Pixel phones. While I’ve had no fewer hardware issues on apple devices (my 2017 mbp has had nearly everything bu…

It's always worth bearing in mind that Google literally doesn't care.

If you're not someone who can directly generate significant bad PR for them, you effectively don't exist.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#116

Post by vaccinator » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 2:06 PM UTC

ece wrote: post #103

vaccinator wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did they still make you pay for the $200 for the screen? I wish I could get a phone with plain Linux but I don't think that my carrier (Comcast Mobile) supports any of them. I once used an unsupported phone, and the 4G would work for only a few minutes after a reboot (so it probably is an artificial problem).

This seems curious, any unlocked phone regardless of OS should work on any network. Tech support should be able to help you with connection issues, and if not, I would try a different carrier.

Yes it should but it doesn't... a new carrier would probably be the easiest option.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#117

Post by davidy123 » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 2:18 PM UTC

maccard wrote: post #114

davidy123 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Vendor discretion whether something is in warranty is a pain point, I've seen people bitten from all vendors. If they don't respond to pressure (for example, finding other people with the same problem for a united voice), it might be a minor problem. If you don't want to take it apart yourself (don't blame you) you could find a local authorized dealer who could hopefully fix it for not much money. I wish they would j…

Yep it's awful, and something that is only solved by stricter warranty enforcement's. My (anecdotal) experience with apple warranties is the opposite - replacement device shipped that day and the courier picked up my broken one at the same time. Of course, I'm sure this was a one off, but it definitely left me feeling better. Understand re; samsung, but as a consumer I don't want to spend weeks researching compatibil…

I have a bad habit of constantly editing my replies (I think it helps me to think of how other people would read it after I've saved it). I tried to address your point about too much competition within Android in a later edit; that basically Android is a world unto itself, with multiple major players trying to distinguish themselves.

While Google tries to address this by centralizing everything to their services app (which is a nice Open Source solution since it can be swapped; we'll see what happens with Huawei), some vendors still want to claim their turf. I thought that has been getting better, but for the past few years I've found it best to buy Google's version of whichever product, and have been very happy with them (perhaps since I've become more conservative, the crazy pace of innovation lives on in the mainstream Android world, with Apple waiting to see what's sticks before they include it).

I don't "blame" people for buying iPhone, it's certainly a safe choice, but even though I'm not that demanding I just find iPhones to be too limiting (that is partially a Raskin vs Englebart thing). Oh yeah, and Google's on-device AI features are actually useful. However, in the long run Apple is developing a vast closed world akin to a monopoly that will create problems (and if I hear that cheesy default ring tone again or see another film/tv person pull out an Apple device which are the minority in use, I'm going to lose it).

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#118

Post by ashleyn » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 2:38 PM UTC

groundCode wrote: post #68

maccard wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I moved from apple to android a few years ago, hoping the grass would be greener. I hoped I was leaving behind a locked in ecosystem with hard to repair devices for a more open ecosystem where competition would improve quality. Android is a fat mess, with flagship phones from premium manufacturers being incompatible with various OS features, and devices from different manufacturers being incompatible in ways that nev…

The question is, do any of us actually need the flagship devices? The android phones I’ve bought for family members on the budget end of the spectrum seem to last just as long as the flagships and have decent enough feature sets for pretty much everything from what I can see. Granted none of us play a lot of games and we are more of the holiday snaps than artists when it comes to photos.

On Android at least, a LOT of the non-flagship devices stop getting security updates anywhere from 6 months to a year after release.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#119

Post by ryukafalz » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 2:44 PM UTC

e_proxus wrote: post #81

nbzso wrote: post #53

I hate to repeat my self but this articles keep piling up. Vote with your money first, then if you have a way search legislative measures. They will never stop to search a way to profit more. This is just a beginning. Fully closed macs are coming. I don't care anymore for iPhones, my professional problem is with apple desktops and laptops. If we follow Apple logic in near future I will have to Jailbreak my personal c…

There aren’t many (if any) realistic options. It basically boils down to Apple, Android or some extremely niche third party special phone (Fairphone etc.) which are mostly Android anyway. So either you pay Apple for premium hardware and software quality but loose out on repairability. Or you get Android which is a potential or actual privacy nightmare. Or you get an obscure other phone which is less supported and usu…

> Or you get an obscure other phone which is less supported and usually not as good value for money.

This is self-reinforcing though; non-iOS/Android phones aren’t going to be more widely supported unless people start buying them.

Re: Is This the End of the Repairable iPhone?

#120

Post by deniska » Sat, Oct 31, 2020, 2:59 PM UTC

sudhirj wrote: post #75

Since no one else seems to be doing so, I’ll do devil’s advocate: this is a really good idea. The last thing I want with an expensive phone is to give it in for repair and find it’s been stripped for parts and replaced with low quality knockoffs. Apple doing this makes me more confident giving it in for repair, because I know that when I get my phone back all the parts in it are still real. There are enough horror st…

Apple effectively disallowed repair even if a shop uses genuine parts from another identical phone. The only thing you can now be confident in is that nobody will be able to fix your phone.