Apple on Right to Repair: We Want Customers to Be Confident Their Products Will Be 'Repaired Safely and Correctly'

[baryon]

Here at Apple, we want to make sure that no one, not even us, can repair your computer. That way, we can make sure that you have to buy a new one every time it fails. Because believe us, it will fail. The battery, the GPU, the screen cable, the keyboard, the screen coating... yep, all of that will fail, maybe even several times a year. We might cover it under warranty if you're lucky, but trust us, eventually, you'll be out of luck.

You know what happens when a single key on the keyboard stops working? You buy a new one. No, not a new keyboard. A new computer. And you know what happens when the battery swells up inside your computer? Well, you know it! You buy a new computer. Want to get data off your dead logic board? Nope, buy a new computer.

So lately we've been putting this magical chip inside every computer we make, called the T2 chip. We love it! You know what it does, besides constantly crashing? It makes repairing your computer impossible. You see, every T2 chip is unique. You can't just replace them. We don't sell them. You can't make them. Only we can sell them, but we don't. Because, seriously, just buy a new computer. They're only like the price of a car anyway.

 

[redheeler]

I believe it. I only go to Apple now that the one time I went to an authorized Apple repair place they took days to fix my MacBook and took a while to let me know what was going on. Apparently they didn't have the part. At Apple I've never had to wait because they can do most repairs in house the same day.

This may not be the AASP's fault. I've seen reports of Apple preventing them from stocking up on certain parts.

It does depend on the repair though. Even Apple can't do the less-common ones in-store.

 

[Aetles]

This is terrible legislation and over reach.

Yes. Apple absolutely should be allowed to void warranties based on self repair.

No. Apple should never be forced to sell parts.

They aren’t running a charity.

No, they are clearly not doing it for the public good. That's why we have legislation as a counterpart. To serve us.

Do you even think companies would provide warranty if they didn't have to? I mean, they aren't running a charity.

 

[Audigy]

youtube.com/watch?v=gi9en4I-tjA

 

[jwdsail]

If I hadn’t had crappy service from “geniuses” and the Apple stores then maybe I would agree.

I go in for a battery replacement and somehow they try to tell me that my mobo is bad. I ask them to prove it. they can’t. They ask me to prove the mobo works and that the battery “is really defective” so I boot into the diagnostics tools and show them the results and then boot into my system and show the battery warning, cycle count etc.

they called in a manager over the geniuses and I repeat the exercise.

he asks how I knew to check all that.
I said, I’m an apple certified technical coordinator, associate, desktop technician, mobile technician, etc.

please replace my battery and don’t try to sell me a new motherboard, your tech was lazy and didn’t want to replace the upper part of my chassis.

they agree, then I come back at the appointed pickup time.

they ordered the battery/chassis in but didn’t do the work because ... no one knows. but I literally went through the same exercise as before. I told the manager I’ll pay you just to give me the battery/chassis so I can go home and do this myself today. He wouldn’t let me, another 3 day I want back and they were still working on it but 45 min later I did get my machine back finally.

Please let us have the option to repair our own devices. If I screw its up then I only have myself to be mad at and Apple gets to sell me an all new machine.

Tim, I’d humbly suggest that your repair people are not always more qualified to do it correctly. There was a time when I recommended Apple largely on the merits of customer service and reliability of staff. I’m not sure we are there anymore.

Amen! Seems we've had similar experiences, and we've collected the same certs over the years!

 

[Glideslope]

Apple must have missed the videos from Louis Rossmann.

I had an iPhone repaired by Apple and later ran into issues...turned out that two screws where missing.

LOL, Rossman is a freakin tool. An Apple issue is amplified to Armageddon levels with him. I’d actually prefer to watch the other “Notorious Lou” over Rossman.

 

[sracer]

Until it blows up or catches fire. Then it must be Apple’s fault and it’s time to sue.

Exactly!

Do you have any published reports of this actually happening?

 

[playtech1]

Apple should really be getting ahead of this rather than being seen to be dragged kicking and screaming to it. There's a strong environmental argument to make repairs as freely and cheaply available as possible to keep kit running rather than it being ending up in landfill. Far better a product continues to be used than is recycled.

 

[jwdsail]

Imagine if car manufacturers held this same policy.

Oh, they're trying, trust me.

I had a local stealership refuse to do any diagnosis on a car because it had a non-OEM battery (12v) in it. They refused to just grab one of their OEM batteries to run any diagnostics and said I'd have to buy one.

Took it home, found the issue myself, had a family member stop at O'Reilly's for the needed part, and was back on the road by the end of the day. Spoiler alert, the (brand new Optima) battery was NOT the issue.

 

[sracer]

LOL, Rossman is a freakin tool. An Apple issue is amplified to Armageddon levels with him. I’d actually prefer to watch the other “Notorious Lou” over Rossman.

Louis' greatest mistake is in trying to help people who don't want to be helped.

If people want to buy expensive computing devices with questionable design/manufacturing quality (and give them even more money for an extended warranty) from a company that will overcharge for repairs that is their choice.

 

[Infinite Vortex]

If one cannot repair this device in a cost effective manner which is in relation to the original cost of the device as new then it is no different to not being able to repair one's device at all. 'Repaired Safely and Correctly'… how is an unrepaired device, especially one with a battery (basically all of them), either safe or correct?

 

[dannyyankou]

I’m not buying what Apple is using as a defense here. They have for years made policies and restrictions which put many in independent Apple retail and repair out of business. Many companies which were the lifeblood of macusers when Apple was a much smaller company.

People need to be able to get repairs and restrictions on parts and people need to have a right to repair

This. When I replaced my hard drive and ram several years ago on my 2012 MacBook Pro, it was less expensive and extended the life of my Mac. That’s money Apple is losing out on.

 

[guspasho]

“We want to make sure our customers always have confidence their products will be repaired safely and correctly, and in a way that supports recycling.”

The best way to do that is by giving customers the ability to do it themselves.

 

[Baymowe335]

Sure sure mate, you don't have to believe, just be a good consumer and believe in Apple who forgot how to make good keyboards just in half year, making problematic screens, and so on... I'm not just reading this, i'm affected by these issues, and getting really f****ng tired of them.
[doublepost=1565192176][/doublepost]

They can, and they're doing it wrong too many times... And no, they just want to keep the money, and gives you the same faulty designs as other brands.

Nothing like an anecdotal story to refute industry facts.

 

[Spock]

Here at Apple, we want to make sure that no one, not even us, can repair your computer. That way, we can make sure that you have to buy a new one every time it fails. Because believe us, it will fail. The battery, the GPU, the screen cable, the keyboard, the screen coating... yep, all of that will fail, maybe even several times a year. We might cover it under warranty if you're lucky, but trust us, eventually, you'll be out of luck.

You know what happens when a single key on the keyboard stops working? You buy a new one. No, not a new keyboard. A new computer. And you know what happens when the battery swells up inside your computer? Well, you know it! You buy a new computer. Want to get data off your dead logic board? Nope, buy a new computer.

So lately we've been putting this magical chip inside every computer we make, called the T2 chip. We love it! You know what it does, besides constantly crashing? It makes repairing your computer impossible. You see, every T2 chip is unique. You can't just replace them. We don't sell them. You can't make them. Only we can sell them, but we don't. Because, seriously, just buy a new computer. They're only like the price of a car anyway.

That T2 chip scares me a little, I think it’s only beginning for Apple to start telling us what we can and can’t do with our computers not only with hardware but with software as well. I’m okay with a certain level of walled garden for an iPad or an iPhone but certainly not on my Mac and I think the T2 chip can do a lot more than Apple let’s on. Mac App Store only MacOS is coming, it’s just a matter of time and the T2 chip will keep it that way.

 

[XXPP]

Here at Apple, we want to make sure that no one, not even us, can repair your computer. That way, we can make sure that you have to buy a new one every time it fails. Because believe us, it will fail. The battery, the GPU, the screen cable, the keyboard, the screen coating... yep, all of that will fail, maybe even several times a year. We might cover it under warranty if you're lucky, but trust us, eventually, you'll be out of luck.

You know what happens when a single key on the keyboard stops working? You buy a new one. No, not a new keyboard. A new computer. And you know what happens when the battery swells up inside your computer? Well, you know it! You buy a new computer. Want to get data off your dead logic board? Nope, buy a new computer.

So lately we've been putting this magical chip inside every computer we make, called the T2 chip. We love it! You know what it does, besides constantly crashing? It makes repairing your computer impossible. You see, every T2 chip is unique. You can't just replace them. We don't sell them. You can't make them. Only we can sell them, but we don't. Because, seriously, just buy a new computer. They're only like the price of a car anyway.

That's what you wrote, is about Microsoft Surface, especially Surface Laptop. In MBP you can replace the battery or the keyboard. Why lie?

 

[mikethemartian]

In a statement, an Apple spokesperson told Axios that Apple's goal is to ensure its products are "repaired safely and correctly,"

One way to do that would be to make simple repairs like replacing the battery, memory and drive trivially easy to do by the end user.

 

[Defthand]

Louis Rossmann is about as far away as you can possibly get for an objective opinion about Apple.

As are you, fanboy.

 

[Merode]

A business owner with a $20K Mac Pro shouldn't bet their business-critical workstation on a random guy who does it for $100. Us mere mortals with our $250 iPod touch, maybe?

I'll just leave it here:

Also, this guy is genuine Apple fanboy, so if he had such experience.. are you going to trust them your 20k machine? I'd honestly rather trust it to Louis Rossman.

 

[Defthand]

That T2 chip scares me a little, I think it’s only beginning for Apple to start telling us what we can and can’t do with our computers not only with hardware but with software as well. I’m okay with a certain level of walled garden for an iPad or an iPhone but certainly not on my Mac and I think the T2 chip can do a lot more than Apple let’s on. Mac App Store only MacOS is coming, it’s just a matter of time and the T2 chip will keep it that way.

Your concerns are warranted. There's no compelling reason to subject consumers to its "protections". If Apple wants to offer added assurances for enterprise, the T2 should be a feature of an enterprise-centric Mac.

 

[jwdsail]

So we should go for the lowest common denominator? I prefer to move things in a better direction. Maybe car repairs should be limited when it comes to brakes etc.

ROFLMHWPCAO

Let me tell you a story.

My dad took his car in to his preferred dealership for a brake fluid flush.

He asked me to replace the rotors and pads.

When you replace brake pads, they're thicker than the old ones, so you end up pushing the caliper pistons back, pushing brake fluid back into the master cylinder reservoir.

The fluid was dark.

No, in case you're wondering, that shouldn't happen on a supposedly freshly (days ago) flushed brake system.*

So, the dealership, that you are assuming would be more trustworthy/competent than say... me ... failed.

My dad called to complain, and was told that it would take up to three flushes for the fluid to not be dark.

That, is pure and total ... BS.

I ordered some Castrol SRF and did it myself. Guess what? The fluid is clear.

What you are proposing above, is nonsense.


*Yes, typically one would flush the system *after* replacing the pads. My father and I couldn't get our schedulesand the dealer appointment schedule to work in a way that allowed that before he was going on a trip, so he had attempted to get the system flushed days before I performed the rotor and pad replacement. On the flip side, had we waited until after I replaced the pads for him to go the the dealer for service, we may have never known that the car still had old fluid in the system instead of new.

 

[Hieveryone]

I would have to agree with Tim on this. Nobody wants bad repairs to happen and the more problems being caused.

Sometimes it's better just to trust Apple because I believe they'll do better than a lot of other "experts" who try to fix Apple products.

The only thing Tim can do is lower the price of repairs. So if someone goes in with a water spill, they can help them out without charging too much.

It's the high prices, in part, that make customers want the right to repair I think.

 

[macjoshua]

I agree. Does anyone actually believe it is for the consumer?

If the reason of the warranty claim is due to the self-repair, then I agree.

But, voiding the whole warranty just based off of something unrelated being repaired by the user is not right. It is also illegal in the US.

When you open up a Macbook, iPad or iPhone, everything is glued and soldered together these days. There's a very good chance a shoddy repair of one part could damage other parts.

 

[jwdsail]

A possible compromise, that I could be happy with, would be to require users to complete the at home training to become a Certified Technician. This (at least used to) include one year access to the training materials, service manuals, and diagnostic sw available. Then take, and pass, the Certification exam.

Apple could then allow users to purchase parts for devices they own/have registered in their name (possibly family members as well)

This would not include authorization to repair other people's computers. Would still have to go through additional hoops to become an Authorized Service Provider.

This would allow Apple to ensure that repairs were being performed at least as properly as they will be at Worst Buy, and would put the required information and tools in the hands of users who are so inclined.

As many here have pointed out, many many times, not many people have the tools or knowledge, or the want to perform repairs on pretty much anything these days. A program along these lines would enable people who want to and have those skills or at least the desire to learn those skills, to do so.

Hell, it would add to Apple's Services income, you'd think that would make Tim very happy as well.

 

[DeanL]

Yet it is Apple who once repaired my iPhone's screen but didn't put back the seal correctly; replaced the screen of my MacBook Pro and then created keyboard issues; replaced the top case with a non-functioning Touch Bar... Before finally replacing the whole machine, only for me to find out that the new computer had a defective speaker.