You are comparing and contrasting
a) the complexity of moving a transmission over vs. a cellphone battery
b) the safety implications of an improper maintenance on a 2000 lbs metal box that moves at 75 MPH vs. iPhone battery install
Damn.
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Apple on iPhone Battery Locking Issue: We Want to Make Sure Battery Replacement is Done Properly
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You are comparing and contrasting
a) the complexity of moving a transmission over vs. a cellphone battery
b) the safety implications of an improper maintenance on a 2000 lbs metal box that moves at 75 MPH vs. iPhone battery install
Damn.
So how others Apple report back to health across tens of millions of batteries reliably how do I know the health metric of each battery and the quality and specs of each battery, they can’t. Every battery will vary as we seen some people will have a brand-new iPhone and the battery will drop quite quickly others it will hardly drop at all over a period of six months to a year.
Every battery varies so that’s just not the reason, it’s solely so every part of the supply and repair chain remains within apples purview of ask giving them the maximum amount of profit even once the device is sold. There is no reason why An iPhone battery taken out of a brand-new iPhone put into another brand-new iPhone of the same kind needs to be amended by software to remove a warning, just like the service light on a car because the garage wants to make the Optimum amount of money with after sales parts when there are perfectly good garages that can do the work at lower cost than the OEM without compromising any safety whatsoever. We are straight back into Apples beancounter territory again.
$6.50 x 3 = $19.50 seems fair, not 15x the price.
https://technology.ihs.com/606680/i...-smaller-iphone-x-ihs-markit-teardown-reveals
I think you’re right. Those who have the money to spend will spend it and get the battery repaired as needed. Those who don’t have the money to spend OR just want to do it themselves, can do as needed to their own devices OR to the devices of those that want them to do this for them.
The only difference is a tag that essentially infers “May not be done as well as Apple or one of their certified agents would have done”. Whether it’s true or not, it’s an indicator that the person performed the battery replacement is “not as good as” Apple. Psychologically, that’s gotta tick people off.
In addition, as someone mentioned, if some are used to making good money by replacing batteries before reselling theif old phone, now that resale value is likely to decrease.
Ifixit, Apple, the folks doing repairs, everyone’s just looking out for their bottom line and are irritated at it potentially being altered.
I'm sorry to say but Apple is NOT looking out for anyone's well being with this policy. Battery health monitoring should be a system for the consumers information only and not a tool to control behavior. If you choose to install an expensive or cheap battery into your phone then that should be your choice and not penalised by Apple. All battery health software does is measure things like energy when full, time to discharge and charge, number of cycles, changes in these numbers over time etc. This tool shouldn't be blocked just because the manufacturer didn't get a cut of the repair. Accepting Apples increasingly anti consumer decisions by blindly believing the company line that it's for your own good is foolhardy at best. Apple won't do anything that hurts their bottom line unless they have to. That definitely includes bogus policies such as this.
The summary states that swapping batteries from a genuine iPhone to another genuine iPhone shows the special message. You need some software tool to enable the battery health stats.
They're vastly different, but I think the safety implications of the battery on a device charging by my bed, and my children's beds, each night as we sleep are also huge.
Sure, that's true, but if Apple were to begin offering genuine repair parts, tools, and manuals, iFixit would have a serious and possibly fatal challenge to its current business model.
Way to miss the point. BMW does this to prevent the use of stolen parts on other vehicles, which is a very big problem. It’s not done for safety reasons. They also do it with their engine computer (DME) which is super easy to swap (easier than an iPhone battery) along with various other modules in their cars.
One of the benefits of this is it discourages the use of parts from stolen iPhones. However, Apple is being generous compared to BMW as your iPhone still functions normally, minus battery health.
This is relevant because of all the industries where people would be interested in Right to Repair (and repair shops want access to manufacturer specific information to conduct repairs), automotive is the biggest. There have been numerous lawsuits over the years and settlements made that have us in our current position regarding vehicles and Right to Repair. And despite the huge progress made, manufacturers are still within their rights to restrict information/tools/parts for certain areas. This allows BMW to disable transmissions that have been swapped, for example. Or allows BMW to keep secret certain information related to security.
This is why I laugh at people who think Right to Repair somehow gives them 100% unrestricted access to any parts, documentation or tools (including software) to repair their devices. Not gonna happen, and you only need to look at automotive for numerous examples.
Do you know anything about supply chains? When Apple (or anyone) gets a component made they will have a very detailed set of specifications that component has to meet along with tests it must pass. The manufacturer would perform checks on random samples to ensure the components are meeting Apples specifications. Apple would also do their own tests on random samples to verify the manufacturer is meeting their standards.
The difference between a lithium battery that goes into an iPhone vs one that goes into a $39 feature phone would be the specifications each company has asked for. And I guarantee you the specs Apple has called for will be substantially higher than the company building that $39 phone. Likewise the specs of a battery Samsung requested for the Note 10 would also be substantially higher than that $39 phone.
Welcome to capitalism, my friend. Doing anything else would be a breach of Apple's corporate responsibility. If you think every manufacturer should be looking out for everyone else's well being, good luck with that because that company won't be around long in our economy. In this case, the phone still works fine, just one bit of information about battery health is no longer available. Such a 1st world problem.
If I needed authorized service, the nearest AASP to me is two hours away and the nearest Apple Store is over three hours away. I'm far from alone in that obtaining authorized service is not nearly as convenient as Apple’s press release implies in the United States and certainly globally. Not only does it take a significant amount of time to go there, get service, and come back, but people who aren’t comfortable financially may have issues with taking off work or just having the money to travel.
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I think all Apple needs to do to protect themselves in this situation (if they are truly worried about legal issues arising from botched installations or non-Apple parts) is display a message something like this when a user replaces the battery on their own (whether an OEM part or third party battery):
"Warning. The replacement battery in this iPhone was not installed by an authorized Apple technician. You can still view the battery information, however the data may not be accurate and cannot be relied upon. If you click 'Ok' you agree to release Apple from any liability arising from improperly installed or faulty batteries".
There, it's a win-win situation. The user gets their battery stat info and Apple can still be the 'good guy' by not being jerks and revoking battery information if it is available. I don't think Apple is truly worried about safety issues from amateur installations, if that was the case they would just prevent the iPhone from running (maybe cause an immediate shutdown after iOS is booted). I think they are worried about legal liabilities arising from faulty battery stats, although it'd be hard to imagine someone getting litigious over that (but in this day and age, you never know).
"Warning. The replacement battery in this iPhone was not installed by an authorized Apple technician. You can still view the battery information, however the data may not be accurate and cannot be relied upon. If you click 'Ok' you agree to release Apple from any liability arising from improperly installed or faulty batteries".
There, it's a win-win situation. The user gets their battery stat info and Apple can still be the 'good guy' by not being jerks and revoking battery information if it is available. I don't think Apple is truly worried about safety issues from amateur installations, if that was the case they would just prevent the iPhone from running (maybe cause an immediate shutdown after iOS is booted). I think they are worried about legal liabilities arising from faulty battery stats, although it'd be hard to imagine someone getting litigious over that (but in this day and age, you never know).
- This is a business decision and much less to do with safety. It will definitely encourage many to buy a new phone.
- "1,800 Apple authorized service providers across the United States" - more iPhones are sold outside the US, and services centres are alot less common.
- Does this affect the battery charging rate and capacity in any way? If not, would that be a new 'feature' in the future? Apple could easily implement this in the name of safety.
- Today it maybe only disabling battery health status, but it's a baby step in locking down your phone even more. People tend to rationalise each baby step easily, but fail to recognise the impact of cumulative baby steps over a longer period, but by then its too late to roll it back.
So happy i pre order note 10 so done with the iphone i had since the 1st gen.apple is not the same since steve jobs
Well we are as to spend 1k on a phone, so can't blame them. Also, their PRs go inline with that, kindergarten level.
Well, when what Apple “wishes” violates the antitrust laws, isn’t it worth discussing?Apple wishes to ensure that battery replacements in a device they designed and made are carried out by authorised repairers. Quick...to the keyboards! Rah rah rah! Rabble rabble rabble! The Sky is falling down etc. etc. etc.
There are no BMW tyres. There are tyres RECOMMENDED by BMW. The ones that are on from the factory, but they are not BMW’s Tyres.
Try this. Have an Indy mechanic Put OEM parts on your car and then take it to the dealer to warranty the work because the Indy shop used OEM parts.
See if they do.
That is NOT what they’re doing at all. If all they did was give a warning that the battery is not original, this would not be a story at all. But again, that is NOT at all what they’re doing.
What they ARE doing is misleading people into thinking their phones are broken, and need “service,” when both the phone and the battery are perfectly fine and safe and capable of reporting battery health (at least as capable as the phone with the original battery).
Why are they doing this? The safety nonsense is pure B.S. if they were truly worried about safety, they’d do what you falsely claimed they are doing, or they’d lock the phone if an improper battery is installed.
What they are doing confuses customers and causes them to take their phones to Apple Stores, and pay Apple’s above-market prices, to replace a battery that functions perfectly, is safe, and is capable of reporting health. And what they are also doing is sowing distrust among consumers for third-party servicers who charge market level prices and take away Apple’s ability to charge above-market prices.
Apple has done a lot of things that appear anti-competitive recently, but this one is about as transparent as it comes.
Bull.
- The person who replaced the battery themselves and gets this message will know EXACTLY what it means.
- The person who gets their battery replaced by some independent repair shop and sees this message after picking up their iPhone will also know EXACTLY what it means.
- If the repair shop replaces their battery and DOESN’T tell the customer then the repair shop is the one misleading their customer.
Why on earth would Apple be held liable, or have headlines written about them, if a bad battery, that it didn’t sell, install, manufacture, facilitate, or even authorize, blew up? That’s not how liability works.
It’s like saying that BMW should be held liable and criticized by the press because my car blew up when I left a case of dynamite in the trunk in the hot sun.