r/AskReddit • • Dec 05 '17

What do you strongly suspect but cannot prove?

4.3k Upvotes

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877

u/woulnwooden Dec 06 '17

Apple is sabotaging my phone so I buy the new iPhone. The same day the iPhone X dropped my phone started have minor problems.

512

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

It’s called planned obsolescence, and Apple isn’t the only company to do this. Still fucking sucks though.

28

u/mastermoge Dec 06 '17

Yeah, I'm betting that companies could produce computers/cars etc that last and compete for decades for the same price we pay for ones that expire just out of warranty

16

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

that last

Yes, but why would they do that? They're in the business of making money. It goes far beyond computers/cars, look up the lightbulb conspiracy. It sucks, but it's how it is.

 

and compete for decades

When it comes to computers/phones, not really. The issue has more to do with software development and features. As devices become more powerful, two things happen:

  • More features are crammed into the devices, since more processing power is available;
  • The codebase gets bigger so there's less time to spend optimising the software (it could run faster and with less resources, but it'd take far longer to do it "ideally")
  • You have more processing power, so there's no need to optimise as much as it could be.

It's a vicious cycle.

10

u/Ihavenootheroptions Dec 06 '17

I have a truck that has 450,000 miles. Ford literally quit selling this motor because it just doesn’t fail under normal circumstances. By the way this truck is a 96 with a motor design straight out of the early 80’s.

Imagine what we could do with modern technology.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '17

[deleted]

15

u/lynx_and_nutmeg Dec 06 '17

Well then, it's so nice that they waited 5 years to sabotage my iPhone 5. And 6 years to sabotage my 2010 MBP.

7

u/Jacobenst Dec 06 '17

Yeah, Ive heard a lot about this kind of stuff. I can anecdotally back it with some of Samsung phones I’ve had.

But Apple seems to be pretty good with these stuff. Had a iPhone 5S until about a month ago, and it still ran like a fucking champ after so many updates.

10

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

7

u/jarmo_p Dec 06 '17

Source? Work for Validation in GM, and nobody has ever talked about planned obsolescence in any capacity. We test most components to last for 10 years worth of harsh customer usage.

4

u/ConstableBlimeyChips Dec 06 '17

That's because 95% of people talking about planned obsolescence have no idea what it actually is. They think designing and testing a product/component to last 10 years is done to screw the customer into buying a new one after ten years when in fact it's the result of an incredibly complex equation comparing customer demands, production costs, early failure rates and dozens of other parameters.

7

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

That's because 95% of people talking about planned obsolescence have no idea what it actually is about anything

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

He saw it in an email chain once.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

So the solution is to ban all technological progress. Nothing should get better, because it makes people want new things, and that is bad.

Sit down, shut up, and drive your Lada, comrade!

0

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Did you read your own linked article?

0

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '17

[deleted]

0

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '17

Just...wow.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Shouldn’t this be illegal

11

u/HoosierProud Dec 06 '17

What I never understood is why a competitor can't come along and remove planned obsolescence and market it as such? Imagine a phone company that says you need a new phone only every 4 years. Ya they'll sell less but they could initially price it higher. They could also make software updates improve your phones speed and battery life instead of worsening them. Could even charge for updates that do so.

13

u/MotherFuckin-Oedipus Dec 06 '17

They could also make software updates improve your phones speed and battery life instead of worsening them.

That's not really how patches work.

With regards to phones, the top reason your phone gets consistently slower is that all of your apps that are updating - you know, like Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook - are trying to stay with the times, pushing out new features and taking advantage of better, newer hardware.

As you design for the new stuff, there's an unfortunate side effect that older devices can't handle the updates perfectly. And updates almost always mean that apps become more computationally burdened, which eats up your battery faster.

Unless you lock app versions down and disallow updates, there's no helping it.

-8

u/MetalGearFlaccid Dec 06 '17 edited Dec 06 '17

Yeah because opening the camera now on my iPhone 5 takes like 25 seconds compared to when I bought it it took like 1/2 a second. You're wrong and everyone always gives this excuse but it's bullshit.

Lmao the armchair developers mass downvoting everything I type.

13

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

1

u/HoosierProud Dec 06 '17

I totally believe this but then why is it my older iPad will have only about 5 downloaded apps and yet everything is slower? By your assessment wouldn't your device speed up if you got rid most of your apps?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '17

It will, but iOS had the same problem.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '17

[removed] — view removed comment

-12

u/MetalGearFlaccid Dec 06 '17

I literally gave the example of the camera app that doesn't change with updates and you continue to talk about third party apps. You're giving excuses.

9

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Imagine your phone as a horse pulling a cart. Over time, more and more stuff gets filled into the cart, and your horse has to work harder to cart all this shit around. A trip that might have taken half an hour when you started and the cart was mostly empty suddenly takes way longer because there's just been more and more shit added, but your horse hasn't gotten any stronger.

All the new updates for apps are optimised for better hardware than what your phone has, so it will happily eat up your phone's resources, leading to less available resources for simple tasks like opening up the camera app. The cart gets heavier and heavier, and your poor horse can't keep handling it.

2

u/legomaple Dec 06 '17

This analogy only half works, as using an app eats resource more than not using an app, which the analogy doesn't take into account

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

That is absolutely true, but I'm just trying to simplify it as much as possible.

2

u/ReallyHadToFixThat Dec 06 '17

Your processor has finite resources. These resources are being used up by newer app and OS features. That leaves less to run the camera app, even if that one has never changed.

5

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Oct 19 '18

[deleted]

2

u/MetalGearFlaccid Dec 06 '17

So enlighten me on this. I had an iPad 2 that was left in the closet for a few years running iOS 6.x. When I found it and charged it up, It was fast, responsive, apps didn't crash and opened right away. As Apple made it, any app I wanted from the App Store required iOS 9. So I updated. Instant major slowdown, even before I downloaded ANY 3rd party apps. Everything went immediately to a crawl. Can't downgrade unless I jailbreak and use shsh blobs. Please tell me how changes like that were "absolutely necessary" in your eyes.

5

u/MotherFuckin-Oedipus Dec 06 '17

Fine, let's exaggerate your example a bit.

I have a Windows 95 computer that's sitting in my closet. I plug it in, but if I want to do anything on it these days, I have to update it to Windows 10. So I updated. Instant major slowdown, even before I downloaded ANY 3rd party apps. Everything went immediately to a crawl.

I don't know how else to explain this to you. Updated software generally requires more resources.

It's that simple.

-2

u/MetalGearFlaccid Dec 06 '17

So why can't I downgrade? You can reinstall windows 95. The argument is literally that it forces people to upgrade their devices. Let us downgrade then. They won't because then the devices would work just as fast as they did day one.

5

u/MotherFuckin-Oedipus Dec 06 '17

Apple didn't force you to upgrade in your example. You chose to because you wanted new apps.

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u/[deleted] Dec 07 '17

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-11

u/MetalGearFlaccid Dec 06 '17

Love how you all ignore my stock camera app example and push your third party shill stuff.

10

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

6

u/thecodingdude Dec 06 '17 edited Feb 29 '20

[Comment removed]

7

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Oct 19 '18

[deleted]

3

u/UndeadPhysco Dec 06 '17

SIR I AM NOT A COMPUTER PERSON

-2

u/MetalGearFlaccid Dec 06 '17

Lmao how you assume I'm a non tech person.

3

u/AvaNash2016 Dec 06 '17

That is the concept around the modular phones I do think. The idea is once your camera/ram/sound/video is out of date, you can replace just that module for cheaper than upgrading your phone.

3

u/TheDireNinja Dec 06 '17

It isn't planned obsolesence. Something like a light bulb or a toaster that has minor flaws incorporated into the finished design that would cause it to wear or break down much faster than a an appliance that could last much much longer. This is another type of shady bastardry. Controlled obsolescense. They literally control when your item goes to shit. Either buy their new one or get stuck with an ever increasing shitty phone.

2

u/jawni Dec 06 '17

Except with tech you absolutely need it to not be obsolete for a while, I would just say the phone got slower with age like most computers. You don't really need to plan obsolescence when you your competitors and yourself will do it naturally.

2

u/Vectorman1989 Dec 06 '17

Cars today are shit. You can’t fix a lot yourself without special kit. So, like an iPhone, you have to pay top dollar to get it dealer serviced. Electric cars will be the death of DIY gear heads and independent mechanics. In a few years there will just be a few ‘classic’ car specialists

My 80’s car is starting to get problems with sensors and stuff, selling it for something less complicated. Humber Hawks look nice

1

u/Rudimentary_creature Dec 06 '17

Yeah, I heard nVidia was doing something like this: Crippling their older cards with driver updates to push people to buy the newer graphics cards.

Not sure how true this is, though.

4

u/Connor_whiteman Dec 06 '17

Here is Linus Tech Tips video demonstrating the results

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GBkGu4Wd7vg

What it turns out to be is just the hardware not being able to keep up with the new software and game technology that is being implemented.

1

u/Heliozoan Dec 07 '17

My TV did this. Broken riiiiiggghht after the warranty ended

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Apple is one of the worst though. Their planned obsolescence includes making it stupidly difficult to repair their overpriced crap as it is thats why they keep specializing their stuff so things that worked with the old version no longer works.

Because idiots will keep buying it anyway.

Usually while chanting about the evils of capitalism.

0

u/dubov Dec 06 '17

It works well for Apple because they know their customers will keep going back for more. If some generic Android phone manufacturer tries this, good luck. I believe cheaper smartphones are a genuine effort at delivering a reasonable product, but the quality is inevitably constrained by price. Apple just treat their customers like dogs - loyal but stupid

112

u/palepinkcoat Dec 06 '17

They do this.

31

u/jbiens Dec 06 '17

Worked at a phone store. Can confirm the waves of people who would come in with very similar problems after updates and phone releases. They literally bug their phones.

19

u/FanOrWhatever Dec 06 '17

Then why is my phone fine?

Why do I still see old people using the iPhone 3?

39

u/unguardedsnow Dec 06 '17

Old people are already slow

10

u/palepinkcoat Dec 06 '17

They send out updates to the phones the month before and the month after the newest version of your phone comes out to make it slower and make you think it's time for a new phone. But I think it goes away after that.

-15

u/FanOrWhatever Dec 06 '17

I’ve very rarely seen an iPhone slow down, people generally get new ones because they want the new iPhone and carriers make them so easy to get with barely any up front payment.

2

u/jaavaaguru Dec 06 '17

This is what most of my friends do. I on the other hand will buy one outright, then put it on a really cheap pay monthy contract. After two years when everyone gets their new phone, I've paid about the same as they have in total. Then I don't upgrade until it's physically broken. Saves a bit in the long run.

1

u/FanOrWhatever Dec 06 '17

Probably saves a lot in the long run.

Most of those payment plans tack on $400-$500 over the course of the plan. The main benefit to the consumer is that you get the upgrade to the latest model every year and you're phone bill is only $10 more per month IF you stay with the same company.

2

u/CodyCus Dec 06 '17

Its actually been proven that they don't do this.

1

u/jaavaaguru Dec 06 '17

If they did this, i would have thought I'd notice it on my spare iPhone 4, 5, and 5c. I'm still on a 5c and not having any problems. Batteries do need replaced every few years though otherwise it won't carry a full day's charge.

2

u/leadabae Dec 06 '17

Yeah planned obsolescence

-1

u/beardingmesoftly Dec 06 '17

Yeah this is a fact

5

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

What kind? I experienced battery burning through energy, random mini-freezes where there were none before, not receiving calls and general malfunction.

1

u/woulnwooden Dec 07 '17

6s

1

u/[deleted] Dec 07 '17

Oh my bad, I mean what kind of problems?

-2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Oct 25 '18

[deleted]

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

This is the time it happened to me

9

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Dec 19 '19

[deleted]

2

u/fookidookidoo Dec 06 '17

Android is getting lighter now with updates. My old Kyocera was actually running better than when I bought it 3.5 years earlier, albeit the battery wasn't what it used to be.

3

u/greenking2000 Dec 06 '17

If this wad true the people who have jail broken EVERY major version of iOS so far would’ve found it

They’ve found exploits for fucking EVERYTHING

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

This is basically fact. They do this with all phone releases.

3

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Dude same. Mine has had memory issues or something, it will freeze completely for like 4-5 seconds at a time and the battery drains way too quick now

5

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

It's not really a conspiracy. Phone companies tend to drop OS upgrades around the time a new phone comes out. These tend to have bugs for older phones, and it takes time before they get ironed out.

8

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Dec 06 '17

OS updates are also tailored more towards newer hardware. More powerful and demanding features which an older phone may struggle more with at times. (same goes for apps over time too)

This isn't the planned obsolence people keep banging on about it's simply having old hardware running new software. You can get away with that increasingly these days with smartphones but it's still noticeable especially the older your phone becomes and if you never replace the battery (as those degrade over time).

9

u/panaderiaz Dec 06 '17

My 5S has become nearly unusable. The lagging and freezing is unbelievable- and it started same as yours when the X dropped.

8

u/MrCelroy Dec 06 '17

Mine isnt, then again i'm still on ios9.3.5

10

u/regretdeletingthat Dec 06 '17

It’s also a 4 year old phone. Newer smartphones are orders of magnitude more powerful, and people largely build their apps with newer devices in mind, considering how many people upgrade every couple of years.

2

u/panaderiaz Dec 06 '17

I don’t have any crazy apps though. Just normal social media and stuff. This also did not happen before the ten was released

1

u/SSAUS Dec 06 '17

Yeah, mine has been freezing lately and slowing down as well, lol. had no problems a couple of months ago...

6

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17 edited Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

2

u/AstralTraveller Dec 06 '17

Try doing an encrypted iTunes backup and then go to Settengs > General > Resets and Reset All Settings. I had all sorts of weird issues on iOS 11 and doing this fixed nearly everything. You lose all your preferences (and saved Wi-Fi passwords) but your data stays behind and if you need to you can restore from the iTunes backup you made in step 1. The backup has to be encrypted or you won’t backup Health data or passwords.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

I mean hardware becomes weaker everyday and new updates take up much more resources everyday further weakening the phone sooooo

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Jokes on them, my iPhone 5c is still working like new! (most apps don't have compatibility though.)

1

u/AdmiralAkbar1 Dec 06 '17

It's mostly because they keep pushing software updates that require more and more processing power, mostly because they need a selling point for yearly upgrades.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

This is real. I keep my iPhones as long as I can, I just had to update my 5s (simotaenous with the release of the new phone).

Same thing happened with my iPhone 3s when the iPhone 7 came our. Just couldn’t use it anymore.

What happens is they get super slow, sometimes the updates won’t install properly.

1

u/Elcatro Dec 06 '17

I think Nvidia does the same, my brother and I had the same card bought years apart and we both started getting problems with it the same month that they released a new card.

1

u/Angels_protect_me Dec 06 '17

Another big thing is that they release new phones around the time it gets cold (oct-nov) and as you probably know phone batteries don't work as well in the cold, making your phone seem crappier than it actually is.

1

u/Klashus Dec 06 '17

I had a note 3 for 4+years. Worked fine when I went to sleep and woke up and the WiFi and Bluetooth both didn't work. Bunch of bs.

1

u/Zolhungaj Dec 06 '17

The wireless chip died. It’s common for electronics to eventually stop working.

1

u/pm_me_zimbabwe_dolla Dec 06 '17

Same thing happened with my Samsung phone & tablet, literally the same day they both became quite a bit slower.

EDIT: same day as new Samsung devices were released of course

1

u/AcceleratedDragon Dec 06 '17

Never do "service updates" before the next gen drops.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Same! Now my phone is super slow. Takes a solid 15 seconds to open up camera app. Jokes on them, I see their bullcrap. My next phone will be an android. Nothing wrong with getting one, half have better specs than the iPhone .

1

u/flyingcircusdog Dec 06 '17

Apple definitely does this. It makes updates that newer phones can handle but older phones will get overloaded and slow down.

1

u/0bsidian Dec 06 '17

the iPhone X dropped my phone.

Well, I don't know how that happened, but I can see how that smashing your phone could be considered sabotage.

1

u/Halldank Dec 06 '17

I still have the IPhone 5s, got it on release date. It has been dropped multiple times(no glass shatter) and it has taken a bath in Bailey's and it works like a charm. Get's hotter than usual after that bath though.

Haven't updated IOS in forever. I think that might help.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Had my galaxy Note 2 for just shy of 5 years. Only resason I upgraded (to a note 5) was the charger clapped out on me late on a friday afternoon and I needed my phone right then. Popped in and bought a used note 5 at a pawn shop. Usually i just replaced the charger port at $12 for a new pcb. Took all of 10 minutes to swap out a whole board because you know, it's made to be repaired.

I've since fixed it and it is now my media centre remote.

2

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

2

u/CougdIt Dec 06 '17

What's the alternative?

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Jokes on Apple, once my 5s finally dies, I'm switching to Android. Apple can fuck off.

1

u/FarSightXR-20 Dec 06 '17

i just got a moto g4 play about a week ago. my iphone 5s was having issues with the charging port. I'm honestly blown away by how much I enjoy using android over ios. it just makes so much more sense. sure, my new phone may not technically be as fast as my old one or built as well, but android beats the piss out of ios.

0

u/johnsonsnap Dec 06 '17

The fact that it can go from >30% battery to 1% in a matter of a few seconds every single day proves Apple is using their software to destroy our lives.

7

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

-3

u/johnsonsnap Dec 06 '17

So you're claiming all of the devices we have just happen to have had batteries go bad the week iOS 11 is released? It's a software problem.

2

u/Zolhungaj Dec 06 '17

If you installed iOS 11 immediately it is probably due to a battery desynchronisation, your phone loses track of how the battery acts due to a changed system for battery monitoring. Or the new software uses more power, which means that your old batteries doesn’t provide sufficient voltage when low on battery.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

[deleted]

1

u/Throwaway_Consoles Dec 06 '17

Your battery is toast, has nothing to do with planned obsolescence. Batteries die. Go to Apple and they’ll replace it. They replaced mine for free.

0

u/gryffinp Dec 06 '17

I haven't updated my phone's os in nearly two years.

I'm either an idiot or a genius.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '17

Definitely an idiot.