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- cross-posted to:
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[ifixit] We Are Retroactively Dropping the iPhone’s Repairability Score::We need to have a serious chat about iPhone repairability. We judged the phones of yesteryear by how easy they were to take apart—screws, glues, how hard it was…
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“Why don’t you buy Apple products?”
Me: Gestures broadly at this:
Ever the innovators, Apple introduced a new dimension to repair that our scorecard simply didn’t account for: namely, that you could take a highly repairable design like the iPhone 14, install a genuine Apple replacement screen or battery, and then… it fails to work. Following the correct procedure was no longer enough.
Today, you need one more thing: a software handshake, using Apple’s System Configuration tool. It contacts Apple’s servers to “authenticate” the repair, then “pairs” the new part to your system so it works as expected. Of course, it can only authenticate if Apple knows about your repair in advance, because you gave them the exact serial number of your iPhone, and they’ve pre-matched it to a display or battery. This is only possible if you buy the screen or battery directly from Apple. Forget harvesting parts—which is a huge part of most independent repair and recycling businesses. It’s also impossible to pair any aftermarket parts—which means only Apple-authorized repairs can truly restore the device to full functionality.
It contacts Apple’s servers to “authenticate” the repair, then “pairs” the new part to your system so it works as expected.
Mmmm… DRM for your replacement parts for over $1,200 devices that you already paid for. That’s what this society needs.
Well at least now we get to feel the same way John Deere customers feel
I can understand Apple refusing to do repairs under warranty, or even invalidating a warranty, if someone has broken their phone after digging around inside without knowing what they are doing, but bricking a phone the person owns through a software lock is absolutely insane and stinks of attempts at service capture and fighting right to repair laws.
Yet another reason I’ll never give them a penny.
Fairphone gang rise up!
I can’t even imagine that. Modifying your device DOES NOT void your warranty. The burden of proof is on the manufacturer to prove that the modification caused the failure.
In EU, there’s a separate warranty on software and hardware.
I just wish that I could justify the cost. I love the idea, and the execution, but I am not paying over ~$250 for a phone when that lower mid range works more than well enough for me.
Completely understandable.
The way I often describe it is if I was wanting to buy a mid-range phone with the technical specs of a fairphone, I’d buy something cheaper with the same specs.
But if I’m happy to spend over £600 on a phone - which imo is absolutely at the luxury end of pricing - then I’m looking more at overal quality, and the combination of repairability, fair(er) sourced materials, etc, makes it better.
However why anyone would spend a grand plus on a phone is absolutely beyond me.
For a lot of people, their phone is the most useful and frequently used device they encounter in their day. Forking over a lot of money for a luxury version is less insane when seen from that context.
Yep, spend your money where you spend your time. This applies to basically everything.
I’m also a big believer in investing in quality items for anything that touches your body all the time—clothes, chairs, sheets. It is one of the most effective strategies I know for self care.
This hardware DRM shit is just plain evil. Was considering an Iphone next year for the first time, but going to nope right out of there.
That score of 4 is still very high… I feel, it should be closer to 1…
If you looked at the scoring then you wouldnt spout such nonsense.
Mate, don’t get your knickers in a twist… You’re getting riled up over nothing here…
The iPhone 14 getting a repairability score of 4 shouldn’t affect you or your life… Neither should some random person online thinking it deserves a much lower score…
It doesn’t? Why are you dunning krugering?
for now, we are only rescoring the iPhone 14. We are not retroactively rescoring earlier iPhones at this time. If we did, their scores would also likely decline.
I don’t get it. They finally recognized that the score does not reflect reality, leads to wasted money and frustration, and then they don’t apply there newfound insight to products already affected? To me that seems somewhat dishonest.
Seems to me that it took a huge amount of time and resources to reach the new score, and I’m guessing they don’t have the budget to do the same for every model
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I’m not doubting this is true given the source, but there are phone repair shops all over my town that repair cracked iPhone screens all the time. How do they make that business work if they have to register something like a screen replacement?
- It’s not talking about screens
- Those people are licensed and using parts directly from Apple, which Apple allows
Read the damned post.
Why do people care about Apple’s repairability? If you don’t like that your phone is unrepairable - don’t buy it?
Because I love iPhones and iOs, I just wish the ones making them weren’t such asses with their customers.
