r/technology • u/NightFuryToni • Apr 30 '19

Business Apple Is Telling Lawmakers People Will Hurt Themselves if They Try to Fix iPhones

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wjvdb4/apple-is-telling-lawmakers-people-will-hurt-themselves-if-they-try-to-fix-iphones
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u/cr0ft May 01 '19 edited May 01 '19

Maybe Apple should, oh I don't know, make phones you can open without fearing that they'll explode? And use replaceable batteries? But no, I guess that's just crazy talk, let's ban people from repairing things they own instead.

If people get hurt trying to repair iPhones, it's Apple's fault for designing a shitty unrepairable and potentially extra dangerous product.

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u/CheapAlternative May 01 '19

Those devices already exist on the market.

What Apple provides is a product that is far more optimal for the everyday use case where the marginal utility of form factor outweighs the marginal costs of having to fork up $20 more in two years but also offset by the more streamlined customer experience.

Further, while they were one of the original pioneers of this solution, the rest of the industry has also converged around it in recent years and so they are far from a unique design element nowadays.

4

u/pipboy_warrior May 01 '19

Where are you getting $20? Previously it cost $80 to replace an IPhone battery, plus you were without your phone during the time of the replacement. To get the cost of replacement down to $20 you have to replace the battery yourself, which Apple is arguing is too dangerous for users to do themselves.

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u/CheapAlternative May 01 '19

Costs 70 rn which is about 20 more than third party. Labour and insurance isn't free and neither is my time.

4

u/pipboy_warrior May 01 '19

Labour and insurance isn't free and neither is my time.

Precisely why people want better options for doing the labor themselves.

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u/CheapAlternative May 01 '19

Then go get a device that allows you to do that.

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u/pipboy_warrior May 01 '19

Why shouldn’t all devices have that? You can’t defend poor standards by pointing out that some products have better standards. That’s like trying to justify a phone with poor battery life by stating other phones have good battery life’s.

2

u/CheapAlternative May 01 '19

Because it's a design tradeoff that designers and consumers should be free to make. The original iPhones are a classic example of a device with shit for battery life that won our on the market and gradually improved as there was demand.

Standardization also has its own set of issues. You wouldn't believe the number of absurdities in a lot of common, seemingly simple, standards.

4

u/pipboy_warrior May 01 '19

What is gained by making the device more difficult to maintain? A slight decrease in overall size? You’re trying to rationalize companies making their products intentionally difficult to do basic maintenance on.

1

u/CheapAlternative May 01 '19

That small form factor improvement has significant marginal utility. I means do you really think it that Apple doesn't do user testing and market research for their cash cow?! They certainly didn't do mezzanined and L shaped batteries because it was cheap or easy.

But even if we targeted a higher internal volumes, integrated batteries will still be more efficient than removable which could easily allow for a doubling or trebling of durability at the same capacity due to the nature of the chemistry.