Adobe Issues Premiere Pro Fix for Bug That Caused Blown-Out MacBook Pro Speakers

[kingtj]

Technically, yes. But the VALUE in "Right to repair" comes from individuals retaining the option to service a product themselves if they're capable, or allowing independent repair shops to perform the service work at reasonable prices.

A company isn't going to run afoul of any law if they decide to build a whole product so practically nothing on it is feasible to service without buying an entire (costly) assembly. But it's still a clear decision to undermine the VALUE of having repairs done to it .... especially when it's obvious the company went out of its way to integrate all the components in that manner.

The Microsoft Surface Pro is a good example. The whole screen is literally glued down on it. You can unscrew a couple of small Torx screws to take the kickstand off the back of one, but you won't get inside it without a heat gun and a lot of careful prying. Microsoft could easily comply with the letter of the law on Right to Repair by promising they'd sell anyone the internal logic boards or screen assemblies or replacement kickstands, and they'd allow other shops to work on them. BUT .... how much good would it do when people go in to get a blown speaker or non-working webcam fixed and get quoted about $100 less than the cost of a whole new Surface Pro?

“Right to repair” doesn’t mean “easily repairable.” It means the parts must be made available and you have to be allowed to have it repaired by someone other than the manufacturer. I’m aware of no laws that say that the design of the device has to be such that each piece is individually socketed for easy replacement.

 

[cmaier]

Technically, yes. But the VALUE in "Right to repair" comes from individuals retaining the option to service a product themselves if they're capable, or allowing independent repair shops to perform the service work at reasonable prices.

A company isn't going to run afoul of any law if they decide to build a whole product so practically nothing on it is feasible to service without buying an entire (costly) assembly. But it's still a clear decision to undermine the VALUE of having repairs done to it .... especially when it's obvious the company went out of its way to integrate all the components in that manner.

The Microsoft Surface Pro is a good example. The whole screen is literally glued down on it. You can unscrew a couple of small Torx screws to take the kickstand off the back of one, but you won't get inside it without a heat gun and a lot of careful prying. Microsoft could easily comply with the letter of the law on Right to Repair by promising they'd sell anyone the internal logic boards or screen assemblies or replacement kickstands, and they'd allow other shops to work on them. BUT .... how much good would it do when people go in to get a blown speaker or non-working webcam fixed and get quoted about $100 less than the cost of a whole new Surface Pro?

Well that’s my point. The law doesn’t require it. You argue that this robs the device of “value.” But value is quantifiable, and it seems perfectly fair to me that, essentially, Apple is charging $X for a device that maybe isn’t easy to repair, instead of $X+$Y for a device that is. And the consumer can always judge whether the price of an object is sufficiently low in light of the perceived value of the object.

To say that Apple or anyone else needs to sell things at a price you want and also design it in a way that is easily repairable seems wrong. You can vote with your wallet, but the government shouldn’t be dictating how things are designed (at least not for this purpose, where the market will take care of it. If people really care about repairs, someone will make a device that can be easily repaired).

 

[joannast]

Of course it's not Adobe issue only! It happens to me using Firefox. Got my Macbook (15, 2018) fixed three times because of that. Now decided to stop using it as a browser but I'm more than afraid when it happens again. I'm feeling hopeless and disappointed so so much having bought 3000+ USD computer unable to work properly. Any ideas on what can I do besides constantly replacing parts on warranty during next 10 months? And what's next?

 

[shamino]

In the old Amiga days there was a bug that would move the Floppy to Track "-1" and unable to recover.
That was in the 80s, and I cannot recall the details.

I remember this. And I remember saying at the time that it is a bad hardware design that such a thing should be possible. It shouldn't be possible for software to move a drive's head to a place where it comes off of its mountings. The hardware should have stops installed such that the motor simply can't go there.

Whatever the bug was, it’s apple’s fault if sending bad data to the DAC can cause the speakers to blow.

Absolutely. And keep in mind that the speakers are almost certainly not connected directly to the output of the DAC. I can all but guarantee that there is a power amplifier of some kind in between, where the gain is software controllable.

That amplifier should be tuned for the speakers so it can't send speaker-damaging levels. Or the speakers should be tuned to be able to accept the maximum voltages produced by the amplifier. In addition to whatever software controls (OS, apps, etc.) that may also be a part of the system.

Many music studios use active speakers. They only have a power amp, with no volume control. The volume is controlled by varying the level of output from your audio interface, which is often done by a software monitor controller. If that software fails and send out full volume, there is actually no way to turn down the active speakers.

I’ve since incorporated a passive monitor controller between my audio interface and active speakers for that exact reason, to limit the levels coming out of my audio interface if there is a software failure. But many many people don’t have that extra piece of equipment, which is really only being required if the software fails.

This is not a fair comparison. You are describing an external system where there is a well-known possibility of damage from overloaded signals. And you describe the need to install a limiter in order to prevent this kind of damage.

But inside a Mac laptop, it's a different story. Apple designed the speakers. Apple designed the power amplifier. Apple designed the DAC circuitry generating the source signal. And there is no possible way for a user to install additional equipment (like a limiter) anywhere in that chain. Therefore it must be Apple's responsibility to install whatever circuitry is necessary to ensure that hardware damage can not result from software-generated audio.