Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
You make a great case for apple/the industry to build more modular parts.
That’s nothing new.

They can start from battery, do something like Nokia to let user change their battery.

And customer can choose the parts that fit to their needs, and $$, either original Apple or China OEM 3rd party.

This is stupid
 
You make a great case for apple/the industry to build more modular parts.
When parts are still parts, it is not a products and they cannot work until they are a complete products.

Modular doesn’t save cost, but it will increase the production cost too. By a lot.

Another best easy way, force Apple to open up their supplier to all customers! And let us choose which parts i want from which suppliers. Let us become the supplier’s customer, not Apple. I can choose Huawei modular part tho, then after assembling by Samsung, i ask Apple to install the iOS.

What do you think?
 
I’m sure the world is ok, driving to an apple store isn’t gonna cause the world to end, I won’t get into it as it’s not the forum for it; but I don’t buy it and don’t believe it; the world is fine driving isn’t the issue and a few people not driving isn’t gonna change the world, and having smaller parcels isn’t gonna change the carbon so so lol
Side note reply: automobility accounts for 1/5 of all GHG emissions. Therefore it definitely is changing the world negatively – in the way we currently implemented it.

Core reply: Your argument doesn't regard that you personally aren't the only person in the world negatively affecting the environment. In fact it is the entirety of all humans. It is so obvious that it somewhat feels stupid to write it explicitly. This means that it is meaningless whether just a single human action has a measurable effect on the environment. Since we more or less follow common patterns in organized societies, single actions do scale. And therefore the most effective leverage we can have is by institutionalized change, e.g. political regulation, economic action (as Apple does here for example) etc. pp. because that predicts the patterns/lays out the options of the sum of individual behavoir and its effects on the environment.


Regarding my initally stated question and the described cognitive effects, I don't expect you to change your mind immediately – if at all.
But my message for you personally: the comforting point of most sustainability initiatives is: most people won't miss any meaningful comfort and satisfaction of their needs since most spheres of our lives will be transformed to more sustainable default options. All of our doing is driven by our needs. Don't confuse currently existing and your chosen solutions with your actual rooting needs which different solutions are just answers to. In the future, you will still be able to work, travel, consume, relax, be entertained and so on. Just with different implementations than today. Let science do the research and political advisory, politics do the required reasonable amount of regulation and outdated companies and products will vanish and more modern will replace them and with them new employment and wealth will be in place.

There are tons of well working solutions already ready to be applied, a lot of further research going on, growing agendas and globally concerted action – even the biggest polluters from China have officially declared to transform their most environmentally negative sectors to green ones.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Why you are so confident apple will recycle it properly? According to news solely from apple?
Yes. And honestly, the flat-out assumption that all organizations must necessarily be lying with regard to any statement that has anything to do with "doing the right thing" is just paranoid and counterproductive (and frankly a pseudo-critical side-effect of The Orange Anus' "fake news" idiocy). Criticality is not the same as assuming everything you read is simply untrue. Criticality is about looking at where power lies and how stakeholders are incentivized to wield it. In this case, there isn't a huge amount to gain for Apple just throwing away old parts. There are already active programs of "landfill mining" in several places around the globe, and what they're most interested in recovering are resources found in discarded electronics (phones in particular). Apple can recover significant value from failed or traded-in parts, so the incentive is in favour of recycling, not against it. I was pleasantly surprised by the trade-in value they offered me for my 2019 16" MBP, for example. Further, since they can recycle in extremely large volumes, the upside is probably pretty significant.

And of course they also have more to lose than some small repair shop, in terms of public perception, if they don't recycle properly. Everybody wants to take down Apple, so they're incentivized to be quite careful.

I do understand the argument about extending the useful life of people's devices. But that's a different issue that has more to do with repairability, in general, than it does with who does the repair. And they do seem to be making some steps toward more repairable machines with the new MBPs, so there's hope that things will improve.
 
Another best easy way, force Apple to open up their supplier to all customers!

What do you think?
I think Apple has a history of trying to block all but 'genuine' apple parts. As much as a third party manufacturer might complain.

I'd also bet there will be an added layer of scrutiny to ensure no replacement parts from government 'banned' 3rd parties (Huawei) make their way into devices.
 
Last edited:
Really? How many Apple products have you repaired? I'm guessing its not many by your ignorance. Just not sure where the arrogance comes from. I could cite plenty of examples of things Apple could easily do differently to make their devices more repairable without compromising on the overall quality or end user experience. Can you back up your "straight from the Apple Koolaid book" assertion?
Again, the more you make these claims, the more ridiculous you look.
 
Too many comments to read here, but has anyone tried to replace a battery or display in the current iPhones? It's impossible unless you have gone through hours of training, have the proper tools and many days of experience shadowing and being shadowed by geniuses. The good thing about Apple doing it is that if they mess up, they'll get you a new phone instead. What will the average self-service repair guy do???
I can tell you that the probability of someone out there breaking something in their phone is about 99%.
This definitely make a case for parts to be easily replaceable but - another statistic - I bet that 99% of customers will not want to pay more for a bigger phone - or less battery life - for Apple to make this happen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xiaojohn
This is a lost to American.

Think who will produce the parts? Do you know this will encourage the counterfeit parts and less quality part flood into market?

A good example will be the iPhone OLED glass.

Now China “Hua Qiang Bei” can legally fix your iPhone and this is the best news ever for them.

I am really not sure this is much of a loss for Americans. Cheap parts from China already flood the market and it is perfectly legal to fix your device with those cheap parts. It is also perfectly legal to take your iPhone/Mac to a repair shop, who will fix your device using those cheap parts.

The key is all about liability/warranty. Apple will not support products repaired anywhere other than at authorized service facility. Apple also does not allow authorized service facilities to use those cheaper parts. So in that respect, I don't think anything will change.

What this will allow, is for individuals or non-authorized service facilities to gain access to genuine Apple parts. So for people who want to repair their device, and are happy to accept the liability/don't care about Apple's warranty/support, they now have access to good parts instead of having to use the cheap parts.

If anything this is a loss to cheap part sellers, since now more people will be able to choose genuine Apple parts for their device.
 
As a legally licensed engineer, complete with PhD, I can add, I will be happy to help education you (since you mentioned that you don't know).

Apple could easily use less/no glue and use more screws and modular parts in nearly the same form factor with the same performance and integrity, if they wanted to make things easier to repair. And no a screw being "common" is not at all subjective (if you don't know, Apple likes to design new and unique screws for their devices, which no one else uses).

These facts are, also, essentially common knowledge at this point...as it has been well pointed out by industry experts over the last half decade or so.

PS. From Apple's perspective, the downside to using screws and modular parts is that they increase production costs and they increase user repairability. In some very specific and rather rare cases, they might also change device dimensions ever so slightly.
For being an engineer you don't know much about engineering.
And your other statements are mostly just wrong.

Many portable devices from almost all manufacturers use glue now, that is common engineering practice and has been for many years. It is superior to there fastening methods when build compact devices that need to be sturdy.

Your BS state "if you don't know, Apple likes to design new and unique screws for their devices" is just that: BS.
They used Torx early, already in 1984 on the first Mac, maybe earlier on e.g. the Lisa. As did most other builders of real hardware of any kind, including industrial machinery, cars, etc, as Torx is superior to most other common kinds. But of course some PC idiots that still haven't left the 50's started to whine, and still do. Apart from Torx, they have used Phillips and maybe Pozidrive. An "engineer" calling that "new and unique screws" should not be called an engineer.
A few years ago they wanted even smaller screws, and then Torx just get to small to not break, the 6 wings get to small, you need fewer wings, and they went for pentalobe. So did, and does, Samsung, for example. "Design new and unique screws"? A real engineer would know this.

Then you come with the fantastic "These facts are, also, essentially common knowledge at this point...as it has been well pointed out by industry experts over the last half decade or so." which is just utter BS too in every way.

Also, you didn't explain what a "better gasket" is. Maybe because you were just pulling it out from your behind?

How can you be so wrong in a single post? Fantastic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Xiaojohn
Holy moly this is crazy from Apple, I would have never expected them to do something like this!

As someone who loves to tinker and fix things myself, this is a godsend!
 
I'm containing my excitement until the thing actually launches. If it is anything like the Independent Repair Provider program, it will be pretty useless.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SpotOnT
Because the vast majority of customers that break their device aren’t capable of repairing on their own (nor do they want to). They want to get their device fixed as cheaply as reasonably possible (with parts up to the OEM standard) and as quickly as possible even if the device is no longer officially supported by the OEM.

This is a win for an infinitesimal subset of people: Apple customers that want to repair on their own with a compatible device that Apple chooses to provide parts for. Everyone else (which includes customers of other companies) are still outta luck. This is what Right to Repair seeks to address, it’s not just people whining at Apple specifically.
Price isn’t really part of the discussion in RtR, even though cheaper is obviously better. It’s more about the availability of parts/tools, ease of disassembly. Independent repair shops would be able to order the same parts consumers can, and they can mark it up as needed for cost of labor. The existence of this program would also presumably mean that Apple would have less of a profit incentive to glue/solder everything down, which would make non-OEM parts easier to use as well.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: zakarhino
So I wonder if a non-AASP/PSP creates an account, how many repairs till apple bans them.

For my business, had enough computers for our staff, with all the USB-C model repairs we would send in, after ~10 apple would let us mail in, but they would just mail it back stating they cannot fix it, it must go to an actual apple store.... At that point, I would just drive to the Apple store with 5-10 laptops for the business, and the store would check them in, say the repair is done, and nothing was fixed. So they blacklisted us. Each time we would use another employees info after the business address/ card was blacklisted. After ~100 of these back and forths, blacklisted every ~10 or so, I said **** apple, were going PC!
 
How about the software side of it? Apple pair the screen and the motherboard together, and need GSX account to modify it. I suppose they will make it possible for end users??
 
Please cite plenty of examples.

Lets start with the big one: Batteries. It would be neither difficult nor detrimental to make them removable. At the very least they don't need to use such strong adhesives to keep them in place. In many recent MacBooks you have to use toluene to get them out without creasing them which can make them prone to explosive failure. It would actually be much safer and environmentally friendly to not glue these in place. Less chemicals (glue and solvents), less risk to technicians and customers, less risk of damaging expensive, dangerous and potentially toxic items.

More glue: Apple glues glass to the front of LCD panels routinely in all iMacs and MacBooks of the last ten years or so. Plus all iPhones and some iPads. The glass is there to protect the screen from dirt and damage but if the glass gets cracked or chipped, you have to replace the whole expensive unit. Sometimes hundreds of dollars/pounds to fix £0 worth of glass. In the case of MacBooks, you typically have to replace the entire lid along with it. Because more glue.

It looks like they've finally relented with the keyboards on the newest MacBook Pros but all the previous unibody MacBooks have keyboards riveted into the top case. Thats an expensive piece of laser cut, aircraft grade aluminium that has to be replaced any time someone spills on their keyboard.
Additionally they've made the charging cable separate from the power brick at long last but they could clearly have done so 20+ years ago and saved a lot of expensive, plastic-encased transformers from landfill just because of frayed rubber.

ng often uses all the same screws throughout a device. Sony only uses one or two different ones in Playstations. Apple uses numerous screws of different types and sizes. Most iPhones have three different screw heads and half a dozen or more different lengths. These are frequently not made precisely enough to discern by measuring in my experience so they could clearly be much more uniform without compromising anything. Its just added complication and labour requirement to every job. Car manufacturers have an excuse for this. If cars are too easy to take apart, people will steal your engine from the street. Its not really a problem with devices that can be swiped whole with one hand.

There was a MacBook Pro or two circa 2010 I think where the LVDS display cable was a reversible connector that could fit in the socket either way up but if you put it in upside down, it would burn out a component on the motherboard within a minute or so. And that in turn would burn out the display assembly. That was a genius move.

Can you think of a good reason beyond naked profiteering that Apple couldn't manage to install a micro SD card slot in the iPhone and iPad? I can't.

Every MacBook Pro since the first one has had one or more cables that connect to the logic board in silly places that are awkward to route cleanly, get stuck underneath other components, too short, too long, are needlessly fragile etc. None of that is necessary with a bit more thought into the designs. Or just the choices of cables.

The more recent MacBooks have these odd clips holding the bottom cases on. They require some force to undo and would be highly off-putting to an amateur. The original Mac Mini made a truly disconcerting noise when you cracked it open with a couple of sharpened putty knives. Those were custom (and very expensive) tools that AASPs had to order from Apple's parts system. Unless you made your own by visiting B&Q and using a grindstone. If memory serves they expensive. I think we shaved the zero off the end with our home made versions. Sounds almost as if they went really far out of their way to make those difficult to repair doesn't it?

The aluminium Mac Minis require a tool to yank the logic board out of the case. That one can be done with some stiff wire but its sort of like removing a single DIN car stereo from the dashboard.

Logic boards in Power Mac G5s. What a pain those were. Compared the the G3 and G4 which were genuinely easy. Even once you took everything else out they were still awkward. Huge and very little room to manoeuvre. Even worse to get back in. Thank goodness they were so well made. I don't think I ever saw more than a couple of those actually fail. The Power supplies weren't fun either. Those could easily have been built to just slide out after undoing 4 or 5 screws. You were supposed to remove the heatsinks, there was a plate on top with several screws in it at awkward angles, the cables were horrible to deal with. Just a PITA.

This'll do for now. I'm sure theres many, many more.

When you've worked on enough of these devices, its impossible to conclude that Apple spends much time designing them to be easier to repair. Its equally apparent they have spent time deliberately making them more difficult.
 
So I wonder if a non-AASP/PSP creates an account, how many repairs till apple bans them.

For my business, had enough computers for our staff, with all the USB-C model repairs we would send in, after ~10 apple would let us mail in, but they would just mail it back stating they cannot fix it, it must go to an actual apple store.... At that point, I would just drive to the Apple store with 5-10 laptops for the business, and the store would check them in, say the repair is done, and nothing was fixed. So they blacklisted us. Each time we would use another employees info after the business address/ card was blacklisted. After ~100 of these back and forths, blacklisted every ~10 or so, I said **** apple, were going PC!

This sounds weird to me. Every machine has its own coverage. Apple usually knows who buys them all anyway. Most businesses would buy them all on the same account and theres no way they would punish anyone for buying lots. They never used to care about more than the serial number if it was under warranty or REP cover.
 
  • Like
Reactions: szw-mapple fan
How about the software side of it? Apple pair the screen and the motherboard together, and need GSX account to modify it. I suppose they will make it possible for end users??
I expect they'll pre configure the part before shipping. Or remove that restriction.
 
So I wonder if a non-AASP/PSP creates an account, how many repairs till apple bans them.

For my business, had enough computers for our staff, with all the USB-C model repairs we would send in, after ~10 apple would let us mail in, but they would just mail it back stating they cannot fix it, it must go to an actual apple store.... At that point, I would just drive to the Apple store with 5-10 laptops for the business, and the store would check them in, say the repair is done, and nothing was fixed. So they blacklisted us. Each time we would use another employees info after the business address/ card was blacklisted. After ~100 of these back and forths, blacklisted every ~10 or so, I said **** apple, were going PC!
It sounds like you were using the regular repair service for individual consumers to repair a large amount of machines for a business instead of using their dedicated business channel for purchase/repairs/deployment. No wonder they blacklisted you. It looks suspicious if a single customer (and later different individuals from the same address) is constantly coming in for repairs for a large number of machines. Apple probably thought you were an illegitimate repair shop or dealing with stolen goods.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.