The reason Apple has done an about face in support of right to repair is because they now control every component in your brand new M1. That means that if you have a 2nd like product and you remove a part from a broken unit to repair the other the part stops working in the other unit until you pair the part with the special software they control. This software is only available if you buy the Apple part. It will cost you more to repair the unit in many cases than to just spend the $600 to repair the unit through Apple service. I don’t see the benefits unless you can switch out a logic board that has water damaged and take the display for instance and use it to repair a broken screen one without needing the special pairing software. Oh by the way this is for the security of the end user because every locked phone or laptop is stolen unless you can prove you own it. Gone are the days you had full control on your property that you bought. Now you only have control if you spend more money with the manufacturer and that you pass all their requirements to repair your device. The consumer and right to repair is always several steps behind what the manufacturers are selling. By the time the repair industry gets past all the locking mechanisms many units will be landfill.
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Apple Supports Right to Repair Bill in California
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As much as I like to be able to fix my own computers and swap parts, I have to sympathize with Apple on the “every locked phone or laptop is stolen unless you can prove you own it” part. I had my iPhone battery replaced a few years ago and they didn’t ask for proof of ownership, most likely because I booked the appointment through my account and was able to unlock it. As much as I wish everyone could be blindly trusted, if you can’t log into your device, then having to prove you own it seems an obvious requirement. Your earlier post about Apple not being able to find your friend’s order to prove ownership seems the weirdest part to me, and I would love to hear more details on that part, as it definitely complicates the story!
Yep and macs have become like iPhones and iPads once they become too slow you buy a new one.
I think that would be most computers now, not just Macs. I am one of those people that actually has upgraded, but most people never bothered to upgrade and just replaced, and even fewer bother now.
The Ryzen chipset seemed consistent enough that it might have made sense to drop in a new CPU, but the changes in motherboards and PCI bus made me not bother, though I did drop in more RAM. In the old days of the 1990s, I upgraded at least a couple of CPU generations with my Amiga 2000, Gateway 2000, and PowerMac 7500, but in those days the CPU was probably maximum 10% of the cost of the entire system. These days the CPU and GPU can total 90% of a system cost, and at that point, I’d rather keep the old system as a backup and buy/build a new one.
You couldn't think of a reason. That doesn't mean there never is one.
Just a short while again, there were these massive supply chain issues for example. If forced to choose between a 3 month wait or a 3rd party fix, I might go the faster route rather than be without a phone for 3 months.
What about an unsanctioned Mac Studio SSD upgrade? You buy the 256/512 version and then get a third party upgrade to 8TB for well under the apple price tag, counting on the system to last longer than the warranty period.
That is just a couple of quick examples off the top of my head.
Your two quick examples raise two quick questions off the top of my head.
Why would a third party repair shop have parts for a current (still under warranty) phone before Apple does, especially in a massive supply chain issue situation? (And if you ever do hit that scenario while under warranty, tell the vendor you want a replacement phone if they cannot fix it within a week.)
Who is doing cheap, unsanctioned Mac Studio SSD upgrades, even out of warranty?
https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/22/vin-locking/#thought-differently
"Why does Apple hate repair so much? ... They're merely sociopathically greedy."
"When California's right to repair bill was introduced, it was clear that it was gonna pass. Rather than get run over by that train, Apple got on board, supporting the legislation, which passed unanimously:
But Apple got the last laugh. Because while California's bill contains many useful clauses for the independent repair shops that keep your gadgets out of a landfill, it's a state law, and DMCA 1201 is federal. A state law can't simply legalize the conduct federal law prohibits. California's right to repair bill is a banger, but it has a weak spot: parts-pairing, the scourge of repair techs:
An iFixit bar-chart showing the rising trend to parts-pairing in iPhones.
Every generation of Apple devices does more parts-pairing than the previous one, and the current models are so infested with paired parts as to be effectively unrepairable, except by Apple. It's so bad that iFixit has dropped its repairability score for the iPhone 14 from a 7 ("recommend") to a 4 (do not recommend):"
"Why does Apple hate repair so much? ... They're merely sociopathically greedy."
"When California's right to repair bill was introduced, it was clear that it was gonna pass. Rather than get run over by that train, Apple got on board, supporting the legislation, which passed unanimously:
But Apple got the last laugh. Because while California's bill contains many useful clauses for the independent repair shops that keep your gadgets out of a landfill, it's a state law, and DMCA 1201 is federal. A state law can't simply legalize the conduct federal law prohibits. California's right to repair bill is a banger, but it has a weak spot: parts-pairing, the scourge of repair techs:
An iFixit bar-chart showing the rising trend to parts-pairing in iPhones.
Every generation of Apple devices does more parts-pairing than the previous one, and the current models are so infested with paired parts as to be effectively unrepairable, except by Apple. It's so bad that iFixit has dropped its repairability score for the iPhone 14 from a 7 ("recommend") to a 4 (do not recommend):"
and yet CA, CO, IL, others are loaded with pot shops while there is an federal laws that say no