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Apple Fights Proposed Right to Repair Legislation With Warnings of Consumer Harm

My MacBook Pro power adapter overnight overheated, the case cracked open from something expanding, something oozed out, there was a burning plastic smell—and Apple wasn't concerned with my safety then.

I called them and the first rep I spoke to said, it's out of warranty and that was it.

I worked in AppleCare a long while ago so I know their policy is to elevate to tier 2 for any safety issues and go through a checklist of questions and to capture the part for engineering to look at.

I felt like I was walking them through the process, and that they were reluctant and uninterested at every step.

I sent it in and they told me someone would contact me to let me know what they found. I called for updates and no one ever returned my calls with any substantive information. Just a link to a web page on their environmental responsibility.

I have a new power adapter and it still gets crazy hot. I don't know how they can ship these. I mean it's hot to the point it would burn a small child—it would burn me if I held it for too long. If I use my computer in bed and have to plug in the power, I have to put the power adapter on a ceramic plate to absorb the heat.

But when it comes to lithium ion batteries, that's not something I would mess with when they're glued in and you need a heat gun to pry them out.

I would agree they're probably dangerous to work on but only because of the way they've engineered their products to basically be disposable products. Apple clearly states on their web-site that batteries are considered "consumable" parts, and yet they're sealed and glued in. Not everyone wants to mail their devices in to Apple for a week to swap out a battery when it used to be so easy to just buy one of the shelf and swap it. In fact, Apple used to lead the market with hot-swappable batteries in their laptops.
 
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heov said:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-36-million-iphones-shipped-q1-2019.2179816/

There's a report for 30% yoy
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Yes, but its an estimate (ie a made up number) by a 3rd party who has no direct visibility of what anyone sold.

Apple was actually the last vendor to report their actual sell though numbers (for years), and they stopped doing this recently.

Back when Apple did report actual numbers, one of the "so what's" from them was Gartner, Canalys, etc "estimates" were frequently way off what Apple actually sold. So historically, they've been super rubbery and often out by 25% ish.

So specifically, Apple repots iPhone revenue $, but not unit numbers. What they report has to be factually correct as its an SEC regulated document. No such penalty for error exists for a 3rd party "study".

For the unit numbers in that 3rd party report to be correct, the average selling price across all iPhone models would have had to increase by >20% from December 18 quarter to the current quarter. That kind of fluctuation is highly unlikely in such a short timeframe, and all the same phone models being available in both quarters and no big changes in supply. ie the third party report likely was JMSU (again)
 
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Ridiculous nonsense. I'm so tired of Apple going this direction with their products. If I'm gonna spend $1100 on a phone ( I did!) Then I should also be able to repair it and keep it working as long as I see fit. I have yet to be "harmed" by the hundreds of iPhones I've repaired.

Out of all the moves Apple has taken to stop repairs the iPhone 7/8 home button has me the most frustrated.
 
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replacing a battery shouldn't take an "apple genius' to do.

replacing small components isn't rocket science, but all the glue is just ridiculously. Apple is purposely wanting to make it difficult to repair so that people buy new phones and increase their 38% margin.

The perfect example for me of Tim's greed is Apple keyboards. Just disgusting that keys are so prone to failure and so difficult to replace. That's just a kick in the balls to customers. I feel sorry for those who don't live near a major city, it's like Apple is giving them the extra finger
 
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Makes me want to keep using stuff that’s repairable- and works...

No danger of flexgate here- and the best laptop keyboard ever made.
3aae0cdab0f32b10f333bd9f4c70670a.jpg
259eb3172f37cfcd1f3f9f3d8f99362c.jpg
 
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T
Rogifan said:
I have Apple Care. Last week I dropped my XS and cracked the screen. In less than 2 hours I was out of an Apple Store with the screen replaced. Cost me $30 + tax.

The only people who care about this are the very tiny percentage of DIYers out there.
Click to expand...

How much did you pay for AppleCare? What if you could take it to a repair shop that would repair it with OEM parts and charge less than the price of AppleCare + deductible?

This is much more important than a “very tiny percentage of DIYers”.
 
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We know what Apple's priorities are, but the proposal is bad. Consumers know what they're buying, so just let them choose alternatives if they don't like Apple's lack of repairability. Or they can buy the insurance.
 
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ScreenSavers said:
So I guess you're saying you like the 2016-2018 MacBook Pro display and keyboard issues? Can't even remove your own laptop key...
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I hate the keyboard for other reasons, just that it sucks even when it works right. But if it didn't suck, sure, I'd buy it anyway. My 2015 MBP isn't very repairable either. Still such a great laptop that it's worth.
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ScreenSavers said:
Makes me want to keep using stuff that’s repairable- and works...

No danger of flexgate here- and the best laptop keyboard ever made.
Click to expand...
No offense, but my dad had that laptop, and it was a disaster, mainly because it got so hot. Though his was '07 or '06, I think. And it does have a danger of bending.
 
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The only real issue with repair is getting real parts. I've replaced plenty of screens, and the quality is inconsistent. Batteries are straightforward, as are most other parts.

I mean, there's nothing to stop you from replacing stuff on your own except for your own skills (or lack thereof). Why is this legislation required?

Oh, and yeah, I've accidentally punctured a battery before. L-ion fires are no fun.
 
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Yeah, and I really think the majority of people on this forum talking about repairing their own stuff — we are a VERY small minority... just like the amount of people who fix their own cars. The people fixing their own iPhones are gonna do it regardless of this bill...

kildraik said:
I think the bigger problem is in ethical disposal of serviced parts, especially batteries.

Right-to-repair will also only increase price, since Apple won’t receive serviced parts back to recycle.

It’s a lose-lose. Apple certainly wouldn’t lower any prices on any replacement parts, and would likely charge a premium for toolkits and materials such as adhesives, fresh screws, and literature, not to mention voiding the warranty due to ESD safety issues and unknown variables that would affect manufacturer warrantability.

The only thing that would be a positive impact would be that folks would not have to walk into an Apple store, should they live far from one.
Click to expand...
 
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Screw you, Apple. I am sick of appliances, cars, and other things LIKE APPLE PRODUCTS that I can't repair easily.

I want a removable battery and a clamshell iPhone. Both are possible, right? Apple still has the best security, (most) easy to use GUIs/apps, and I love their stance on privacy. But that's about it.

Tim Cook and Jony Ive killed the revolution. Steve Jobs has to be spinning in his grave on a daily basis.
 
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heov said:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/apple-36-million-iphones-shipped-q1-2019.2179816/

There's a report for 30% yoy
Click to expand...
That is fiction, speculation.

The real revenue data says 17%. Unit sales are unknown, but ASPs are likely unchanged.
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robertcoogan said:
Screw you, Apple. I am sick of appliances, cars, and other things LIKE APPLE PRODUCTS that I can't repair easily.

I want a removable battery and a clamshell iPhone. Both are possible, right? Apple still has the best security, (most) easy to use GUIs/apps, and I love their stance on privacy. But that's about it.

Tim Cook and Jony Ive killed the revolution. Steve Jobs has to be spinning in his grave on a daily basis.
Click to expand...
That’s nonsense. List all the great hardware available you can repair from other companies.
 
fairuz said:
I hate the keyboard for other reasons, just that it sucks even when it works right. But if it didn't suck, sure, I'd buy it anyway. My 2015 MBP isn't very repairable either. Still such a great laptop that it's worth.
[doublepost=1556679520][/doublepost]
No offense, but my dad had that laptop, and it was a disaster, mainly because it got so hot. Though his was '07 or '06, I think. And it does have a danger of bending.
Click to expand...

But yet I have a big pile of them. Because they are repairable.
 
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