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…
[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…
And consumers “punish” Apple for these unrepairable devices by buying new iphones in record numbers.
Until consumers hurt Apple in the ONE place it cares - it’s pocketbook - hope is lost on changing them.
But consumers are like lemmings. We see this in pre-orders for videogames and folks who proudly are buying the latest crop of obnoxiously priced videocards, or in the car industry where some consumers paying way over sticker just so they can have the latest new model.
And then we wonder why companies seem to have us bent over.
They’re actually quite easily repairable, with the right tools and knowledge. I quite enjoyed working on them while I worked in that industry. You don’t need all the heavy tools Apple send you as part of their odd program, you can use a regular spudge to get the phone open, IPA to dissolve the adhesives, and there are third party suppliers from which you can source parts.
And if you don’t want to go through all of that, that’s entirely understandable. That’s why you can also go to third-party repair shops that have these tools and supplies to be able to perform these repairs.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to criticize these things and Apple proper without stretching the truth. “Unrepairable” is not an applicable term here.
Edit: you’ll have to forgive me. I’m used to people in my life bitching that the things they don’t understand being “unrepairable”, everything from smartphones to Volkswagens, when in reality it just requires some know-how and the right tools. The VIN locking is new to me, and it’s really shitty.
Everything is bundled, and you have to choose the bundle that works the best for you. For many people, that’s Apple devices.
I’ve owned Apple laptops for the last 10 years or so, because I find that they work for my needs. Do I wish they’d open source (or at least document) their non-standard hardware choices, so that their hardware would have easy Linux compatibility? Sure, that’d be nice.
But in the meantime, I like their trackpads, their audio hardware can’t be beat (at least on MacOS, I wish we could get this stuff working right in Linux), and I like their HiDPI displays, low-power CPUs/GPUs, and form factor. Yes, I have to trade off a lot of things to get here. But going with another device would involve other tradeoffs. So I think Apple is worth the tradeoffs for my laptops, not worth the tradeoffs for a phone (although every year I get more and more dissatisfied by the Android offerings).
When other consumers don’t weight the same tradeoffs the same way you do, it’s not because they’re “lemmings” or whatever.
I’m all for breaking up some of these bundles by law (requiring greater interoperability/repair, etc.). But until they do, consumers will need to make their decisions in the circumstances that exist, not the ones that they wish existed.
I just don’t understand why people buy every new model or even every other model. It always seems to be people that can’t actually afford to purchase them outright and put them on payment plans. It’s stupid. I’m rocking an 11 even though I can afford to go buy a new 14 cash. I’ll probably upgrade to the 15 because I really want a better camera. I could probably rock this 11 for a few more years. Works just fine although there are some small aesthetic blemishes on my current device.
A few years ago it was major safety upgrades for me. I do agree generally that buying new just because is not a good thing. In the next few years though I suspect it’s going to be a gas cost thing with a large switch to electrics. (Where I live the cost of gas has risen 60 cents in the last 2 months against a national average increase of 10 cents.)
Asian makes and models have always gotten great gas mileage to begin with though, especially within the last thirty years. Hybrids for the most part have only brought good gas mileage to american manufacturers, but even then the Asian ones are still better than this.
That being said though, there’s no real evidence that hybrids are significantly better for the environment considering many drivers still use combustion for propulsion along with the fact that the electricity in the battery tends to be charged on coal power.
Electric cars are the future, but the state of electric cars right now are a serious mess due to manufacturer greed.
I got the 2nd iPhone, then the 5, got a 6 plus used, then got an SE2, gave that to my daughter, now I’m rocking a 12. This 12 was a gift from a friend or I wouldn’t be using it.
I won’t upgrade until I absolutely have to.
I honestly just genuinely prefer iOS to android.
And then their computers. If you were using a Mac with system 7, you can use a Mac today. Old folks suffer with change. Every new windows they move stuff around and make it impossible for old people (like my poor uncle who is still looking for “my computer” constantly).
My daily driver is Linux, but I love MacOS as well. I still use my 2012 power mac to record music because it’s what I know and love. If I needed to do more I’d get a newer used Mac.
Some people just like how it works and the fact that it’s been consistent for decades.
Your two options are a repair ability nightmare with worrying privacy problems, and another repairability nightmare that may be slightly more repairable but is still a nightmare. Oh, and it is a privacy hellhole. The Fairphone is great, though, & seems to check all boxes
I really wanted to use the Fairphone to replace my old model, but unfortunately eOS doesn’t play well with the corporate apps I need to run for a daily driver phone. I tried Lineage just to see what I could do with it and had similar issues, all due to Google “security”. Not at all unexpected but I was hoping I could work around it all. Ended up having to send it back at the end of my return window and settle on having all my data harvested on a phone that while not as bad as Apple isn’t super easy to get parts for or get into the thing (Zenfone 10). Which sucks.
Maybe when I don’t need to rely on work stuff in my personal phone I can find a solution here, but until then I’m just the loud annoying guy yelling at clouds.
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And consumers “punish” Apple for these unrepairable devices by buying new iphones in record numbers.
Until consumers hurt Apple in the ONE place it cares - it’s pocketbook - hope is lost on changing them.
But consumers are like lemmings. We see this in pre-orders for videogames and folks who proudly are buying the latest crop of obnoxiously priced videocards, or in the car industry where some consumers paying way over sticker just so they can have the latest new model.
And then we wonder why companies seem to have us bent over.
They’re actually quite easily repairable, with the right tools and knowledge. I quite enjoyed working on them while I worked in that industry. You don’t need all the heavy tools Apple send you as part of their odd program, you can use a regular spudge to get the phone open, IPA to dissolve the adhesives, and there are third party suppliers from which you can source parts.
And if you don’t want to go through all of that, that’s entirely understandable. That’s why you can also go to third-party repair shops that have these tools and supplies to be able to perform these repairs.
There are plenty of legitimate reasons to criticize these things and Apple proper without stretching the truth. “Unrepairable” is not an applicable term here.
Edit: you’ll have to forgive me. I’m used to people in my life bitching that the things they don’t understand being “unrepairable”, everything from smartphones to Volkswagens, when in reality it just requires some know-how and the right tools. The VIN locking is new to me, and it’s really shitty.
Did you read the article?
Everything is bundled, and you have to choose the bundle that works the best for you. For many people, that’s Apple devices.
I’ve owned Apple laptops for the last 10 years or so, because I find that they work for my needs. Do I wish they’d open source (or at least document) their non-standard hardware choices, so that their hardware would have easy Linux compatibility? Sure, that’d be nice.
But in the meantime, I like their trackpads, their audio hardware can’t be beat (at least on MacOS, I wish we could get this stuff working right in Linux), and I like their HiDPI displays, low-power CPUs/GPUs, and form factor. Yes, I have to trade off a lot of things to get here. But going with another device would involve other tradeoffs. So I think Apple is worth the tradeoffs for my laptops, not worth the tradeoffs for a phone (although every year I get more and more dissatisfied by the Android offerings).
When other consumers don’t weight the same tradeoffs the same way you do, it’s not because they’re “lemmings” or whatever.
I’m all for breaking up some of these bundles by law (requiring greater interoperability/repair, etc.). But until they do, consumers will need to make their decisions in the circumstances that exist, not the ones that they wish existed.
I just don’t understand why people buy every new model or even every other model. It always seems to be people that can’t actually afford to purchase them outright and put them on payment plans. It’s stupid. I’m rocking an 11 even though I can afford to go buy a new 14 cash. I’ll probably upgrade to the 15 because I really want a better camera. I could probably rock this 11 for a few more years. Works just fine although there are some small aesthetic blemishes on my current device.
It’s the new keeping up with the Joneses. We can’t afford houses or new cars so what’s next?
To be fair, I’d have no idea why you’d want a brand new car anyways. They are inferior to older cars and just help with creating more waste.
A few years ago it was major safety upgrades for me. I do agree generally that buying new just because is not a good thing. In the next few years though I suspect it’s going to be a gas cost thing with a large switch to electrics. (Where I live the cost of gas has risen 60 cents in the last 2 months against a national average increase of 10 cents.)
Asian makes and models have always gotten great gas mileage to begin with though, especially within the last thirty years. Hybrids for the most part have only brought good gas mileage to american manufacturers, but even then the Asian ones are still better than this.
That being said though, there’s no real evidence that hybrids are significantly better for the environment considering many drivers still use combustion for propulsion along with the fact that the electricity in the battery tends to be charged on coal power.
Electric cars are the future, but the state of electric cars right now are a serious mess due to manufacturer greed.
Oh yeah I’m not going to pretend electrics are perfect. Just that it’s going to go that way.
apple people buy every new phone because they have massive FOMO and don’t want to be “shamed” by appearing poor by having an “old” phone.
Apple has created a cult of weirdos obsessed with spending thousands in service of their company for imaginary status and clout.
That might be true for some.
I genuinely just love iOS.
I got the 2nd iPhone, then the 5, got a 6 plus used, then got an SE2, gave that to my daughter, now I’m rocking a 12. This 12 was a gift from a friend or I wouldn’t be using it.
I won’t upgrade until I absolutely have to.
I honestly just genuinely prefer iOS to android.
And then their computers. If you were using a Mac with system 7, you can use a Mac today. Old folks suffer with change. Every new windows they move stuff around and make it impossible for old people (like my poor uncle who is still looking for “my computer” constantly).
My daily driver is Linux, but I love MacOS as well. I still use my 2012 power mac to record music because it’s what I know and love. If I needed to do more I’d get a newer used Mac.
Some people just like how it works and the fact that it’s been consistent for decades.
Your two options are a repair ability nightmare with worrying privacy problems, and another repairability nightmare that may be slightly more repairable but is still a nightmare. Oh, and it is a privacy hellhole. The Fairphone is great, though, & seems to check all boxes
I really wanted to use the Fairphone to replace my old model, but unfortunately eOS doesn’t play well with the corporate apps I need to run for a daily driver phone. I tried Lineage just to see what I could do with it and had similar issues, all due to Google “security”. Not at all unexpected but I was hoping I could work around it all. Ended up having to send it back at the end of my return window and settle on having all my data harvested on a phone that while not as bad as Apple isn’t super easy to get parts for or get into the thing (Zenfone 10). Which sucks.
Maybe when I don’t need to rely on work stuff in my personal phone I can find a solution here, but until then I’m just the loud annoying guy yelling at clouds.
Curious what kind of apps can’t you run? Are we talking 2FA apps? Banking apps? NFC stuff?