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Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

theverge.com

181–190 of 558 posts

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill and exactly what is wrong with the current state of self repairs. Never mind the DRM on the battery so that the phone won’t recognize even a genuine battery as genuine without involving the 3PL to marry the parts together… It shouldn’t be so complicated. If it makes the phone one…

> You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill You know people were swapping batteries long before this was available, right? And that you don’t have to rent the official factory tools? Apple did a great thing by providing this option at a loss to themselves. The fact that people are rushing to criticize the move suggests m…

Completely made up and false conundrum.

You can design devices that are easy to repair and still waterproof and sleek.

This is a made up target-conflict that is easily resolved by any trained industrial designer and engineer.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#182

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple can trivially comply with Right To Repair by just selling parts, documentation and any software needed to pair new parts. ... which they do! It's $69.00 for the iPhone 13 mini battery or $70.99 for the kit which also includes a replacement display adhesive and a set of spare security screws. In both cases, you can get $24.15 credit when you return your old battery. You don't have to get the toolkit; you can p…

It's designed to make the process complicated and financially risky. That is the malicious part.

What? Let me get this clear: Apple provides no tools - you are OK with this. Apple provides optional tools, which are the ones they use - this "make[s] the process complicated and financially risky".

Is that what you are saying? Can you walk me through your logic because it's escaping me.

Objectively, it is a risky process to do without the right tools based on feedback from people who have actually done it on a regular basis; ref. the poster upthread here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31457776

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#183

Apple can’t win here. If they had sent the sleek, easy to carry tools this author asked for, the author would complain about the pathetic tools they are providing. Really disappointed in The Verge on this article. Could have been a cool piece about the specific tech that Apple provides, but instead it’s framed so disingenuously that I come away not feeling particularly good about right to repair in general. It no lon…

No post body was provided.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apple can trivially comply with Right To Repair by just selling parts, documentation and any software needed to pair new parts. ... which they do! It's $69.00 for the iPhone 13 mini battery or $70.99 for the kit which also includes a replacement display adhesive and a set of spare security screws. In both cases, you can get $24.15 credit when you return your old battery. You don't have to get the toolkit; you can p…

It's designed to make the process complicated and financially risky. That is the malicious part.

My problem with this process is that it's a low-volume, just-in-time system where you have to order the part, do the repair and send back your old part in a limited timeframe otherwise you are overcharged, not to mention the final step of having Apple support pair the new part to your phone to disable the warnings.

It's unnecessarily annoying and admin-heavy. Compare that to just buying a handful of batteries and keeping them "just in case" so you can then do the repair in your own time as needed. I currently do that but have to use grey-market parts as Apple won't sell them to me without the aforementioned restrictions.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill You know people were swapping batteries long before this was available, right? And that you don’t have to rent the official factory tools? Apple did a great thing by providing this option at a loss to themselves. The fact that people are rushing to criticize the move suggests m…

What people want is a low cost third party shop to replace batteries

People have had that for years (including a sub-$100 device to copy the TrueTone ID for the screen and battery info for the battery).

Every small mall I can think of had a kiosk that would do it in an hour while you shopped. (Eastern MA, US.)

I’m just a consumer and have replaced 3 iPhone batteries myself and am doing a 4th later today.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Apple had instead shipped batteries with instructions for pure DIY repair, we’d be reading an article about “I tried to replace my iPhone battery but I destroyed my iPhone in the process” Is that happening with cars? Because you can trivially walk up to any dealership and buy brake parts. > It’s standard practice for manufacturers to cite specific manufacturer tools Normal, cross-manufacturer tools (aka wrenches…

> Is that happening with cars? Because you can trivially walk up to any dealership and buy brake parts. What is your point here? You can just buy the parts trivially from Apple too.

Not trivially - see my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31458161

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or consumers could stop buying phones that can’t be easily disassembled or repaired.

Consumers don't know any better. Someone has to explain the problem to them first.

Ah, the old "let me tell you what you want" ... arrogant much?

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill and exactly what is wrong with the current state of self repairs. Never mind the DRM on the battery so that the phone won’t recognize even a genuine battery as genuine without involving the 3PL to marry the parts together… It shouldn’t be so complicated. If it makes the phone one…

> You have to admit that requiring 79 lbs of equipment, a 1200$ deposit, and so much effort just to swap a friggin’ battery is a tad overkill You know people were swapping batteries long before this was available, right? And that you don’t have to rent the official factory tools? Apple did a great thing by providing this option at a loss to themselves. The fact that people are rushing to criticize the move suggests m…

>You know people were swapping batteries long before this was available, right?

Ah, yes. That's the way it's always been done, let's not rock the boat, shall we?

>And that you don’t have to rent the official factory tools?

Wouldn't it be nice if the official mfg'er was a bit more helpful for some subsets of it's customers, though?

>Apple did a great thing by providing this option at a loss to themselves.

Praise Apple, how generous of them! Their profits have really been struggling and they didn't have to take this loss, but they did. Stellar folk.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#189
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've been waterproofing watches for almost 100 years. If Apple cared, it's absolutely possible.

If you find a way to run a phone off a watch battery you will make a lot of $$$

The point is not to run off a watch battery. The point is that you can open and close a watch without affecting its waterproofing rating.

Re: Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery

#190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If Apple had instead shipped batteries with instructions for pure DIY repair, we’d be reading an article about “I tried to replace my iPhone battery but I destroyed my iPhone in the process” Is that happening with cars? Because you can trivially walk up to any dealership and buy brake parts. > It’s standard practice for manufacturers to cite specific manufacturer tools Normal, cross-manufacturer tools (aka wrenches…

Serializing parts is another issue, but the author of the original article hardly mentions it or cares. The article, for what it states, is unnecessarily naïve about basic logistics.

> Apple cracked down on unauthorized repairs by throwing warnings or even disabling features if you repair phones with non-“genuine” parts, though it walked some of that back after an outcry. And it put together a contract for indie repair shops that was reportedly so invasive, many refused to sign it.

From the article.

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