Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1.1-Ounce Battery • Hacker News Board

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

#201

Post by dudeinjapan » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:32 PM UTC

wfhordie wrote: post #93

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…

Totally agree. If Apple is paying to ship everything and the kitchen sink both ways, then cool! I have repaired of my iPhones for myself, friends, and family with the dinky $50 kits you can get on Amazon, and man I'd love to have the "one-armed bandit" shown in the article. (Imagine the look of horror on my dad's face when after sealing up his iPhone and testing it I said "Wow, I actually managed not to brick it this time!")

For better or worse, Apple clearly didn't design the iPhone with consumer repairability in mind. We can debate to what degree this is intentional evil vs. design/cost necessity, but at least its cool that they're shipping their repair workbench as bulk as it may be.

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

#202

Post by smugma » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:33 PM UTC

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #148

newsclues wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I will pay more for a device that is designed to be repaired.

... and when there's enough of you for this to represent an actual, realistic target market you will then find someone who will sell you one. Personally, my perspective on this is that it's a lot like the kind of complaining that gets a lot of play in the motoring press about the disappearance of the manual transmission (like Car and Driver's "Save the Manuals" thing). Lots of people will claim they would like the ch…

This is a largely a U.S. specific thing. In Europe, manual transmission is still commonly available.

If you want a high-end-ish car with a manual in the US, there’s the Golf R.

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

#203

Post by smugma » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:33 PM UTC

mostertoaster wrote: post #194

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

... and when there's enough of you for this to represent an actual, realistic target market you will then find someone who will sell you one. Personally, my perspective on this is that it's a lot like the kind of complaining that gets a lot of play in the motoring press about the disappearance of the manual transmission (like Car and Driver's "Save the Manuals" thing). Lots of people will claim they would like the ch…

I would definitely buy a manual if I could. Just more fun to drive. I think Honda civic’s lowest model might still have one. Not sure of anything else.

Golf R

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

#204

Post by bob29 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:33 PM UTC

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #148

newsclues wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I will pay more for a device that is designed to be repaired.

... and when there's enough of you for this to represent an actual, realistic target market you will then find someone who will sell you one. Personally, my perspective on this is that it's a lot like the kind of complaining that gets a lot of play in the motoring press about the disappearance of the manual transmission (like Car and Driver's "Save the Manuals" thing). Lots of people will claim they would like the ch…

So actually we live in the best world possible[1] with the best technology possible. If it were possible to make a better iPHone, someone would have made it, but the fact that it doesn't exist means its either not possible or not good to have a removable battery on an iphone.

[1] according to this book i read in highschool, it was called Candide

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

#205

Post by lr1970 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:35 PM UTC

ornornor wrote: post #123

wfhordie wrote: post #93

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…

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…

> It shouldn’t be so complicated. If it makes the phone one mm thicker but you can swap the battery easily without requiring all this equipment, why aren’t we there yet?

Because a non-replaceable battery is a great marketing tool. Dying battery (every three years or sooner) is a powerful force making a customer consider their options including buying a new phone. This alone makes companies design their products deliberately introducing friction to the repair process (even if it their own repair process). Marketing allure is just too tempting to pass by.

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

#206

Post by raverbashing » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:35 PM UTC

wfhordie wrote: post #93

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…

Completely agree

They got two suitcases of top of the line tools for iPhone repair. Make use of it

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

#207

Post by NovemberWhiskey » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

Nextgrid wrote: post #184

mmastrac wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 kee…

I mean, I don't even know what to say, how often do you think consumers are having to replace the batteries in their phones? The idea that people would keep stock on hand is just beyond absurd.

Returning cores for a price rebate is a totally standard industry practice. You apparently get 18 days to initiate the return and Apple gives you a free return label.

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

#208

Post by sokoloff » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

Nextgrid wrote: post #186

NovemberWhiskey wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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

Your complaint seems to center around the idea that you don’t want to eat a ~$25 core charge to have standing by on the shelf a replacement battery, which is a part that degrades over a period around 20x slower than ground shipping.

As a consumer, why not just order the battery when your battery is down to 80-85% health and it’s about to be convenient to spend a half-hour of quality time with your phone? As repair shop, Apple has already undercut your price to use official supply chain parts, so you’re likely already using the branded batteries and the $100 bootleg part programmer.

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

#209

Post by kurupt213 » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:36 PM UTC

wfhordie wrote: post #93

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…

I think apple did win, and the author is manufacturing outrage. Apple loaned him a professional setup to repair his phone. That is completely in line with the Apple customer experience, and gives insight into why they resisted home repair so long.

Apple doesn’t take shortcuts on their hardware. They have a design/experience expectation. Flimsy tools, eyeballing alignment, cheap 3rd party replacement parts. These are all things that significantly increase the likely of degraded quality/experience after a layperson’s self repair.

I think there’s a healthy medium somewhere, but for now, apple expects home repair to done at the same level of service they would do. I’d rather error on the side of quality and robustness myself.

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

#210

Post by Nextgrid » Sat, May 21, 2022, 2:37 PM UTC

sokoloff wrote: post #180

nicoburns wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If it was, say $40 more or even $100 and was marketed as being repairable, I bet a lot of people would buy it. They would after all be actually likely to get that money back over the lifetime of the phone, and it’s much more environmentally friendly. This isn’t a case of “market doesn’t want it”, this is a case of Apple don’t want to offer that choice because they make money off of the repairs.

I can’t see how Apple can make a net profit on the repair itself at $69 for modern phones, so the profit motive/outcome must come from tilting people towards replacing a phone with a trade-in credit. There is a sliver of the market who would rather replace their own battery on a 30 month old phone. There is a gigantic wedge of the market who looks forward to their battery dying so they can get the swankiest new phone…

The repair is not $69. That one is purely for battery replacement in an otherwise-intact phone.

Screen replacements are more expensive, but the worst is actually damage that's neither the screen nor the battery - for example just a scratch on the housing or a cracked back glass are actually the most expensive options (even though said housing on eBay is around 20 bucks).

Similarly, water damage can usually be fixed by just cleaning the board and replacing a few mainboard components - that's something Apple will outright not do (good luck if you have valuable data on the device), and yet there's clearly a business there as both Louis Rossmann and Jessa Jones (from iPad Rehab) have been able to build profitable businesses on it.