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Apple Taking Heat for Switching to Custom Screws on iPhone 4 and Portables
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You are correct- you can open up your phone or jailbreak it because it is yours. Apple don't have to make it easy for you, they have the 'right' to use special screws if they like.
I don't like Apple's trend to becoming more and more restrictive (ironic for a company famous for a 1984-themed advert) but remember we have the 'right' to go and buy a different phone.
I love it when people talk about their rights over such trivial matters, I once heard a women in a shop say it is "my human right for you to sell this to me at that price" when she was informed an item had been incorrectly priced. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
whats illegal about opening it up, it is mine, I did pay for it. general motors doesnt replace the hood release with a lock so owners cant repair or modify their cars.
what does apple care if I want to buy a 400 dollar phone and try to turn it into a toaster because im bored....and in the process break it and want to get it repaired, and at the same time willing to pay to fix it because the breakage was my fault....
not saying im all for opening one up, because im not. its an expensive toy and i dont want to break it. but if I was the type to tinker with or repair my own stuff, I sure wouldnt want to be kept from it by someone changing something out without my permission.
Shouldn't this be illegal? If you paid for the phone, that means it and everything in it now belongs to you. When it comes down to it, Apple removing the current screws and replacing them with new ones is stealing your property. Yes, it's just $2 worth of screws, but it's the principle of the thing... If anything, when you take an iPhone in for repair, Apple needs to present customers with a document asking for permission to replace the screws. If the customer doesn't give permission, they shouldn't be allowed to change the screws
I agree. Long time Apple fan but living in an area without a local Apple store makes things like this frustrating. Why should I go without my purchase for 1-2 weeks because of a screw? If I am willing to take a shot at it myself, that is my time and expense and my choice.
Exactly. I'm still frustrated by it but I am still going to buy one. I am not so certain about being a fan of them replacing screws on previously purchased items without permission. Perhaps the person DID choose to by the phone as such and not to buy the newer style.
This is ridiculous. Not Apple changing the bolts they use in new production phones, but rather the fact that people are complaining about this. Wow.
As an automotive enthusiast I've owned more cars in the past 5 years than the average person does in their lifetime. Other than for warranty issues and TSBs the only person working on my cars is me. I have a whole pile of tools sitting around which are specific to one car. Take for instance the Haldex AWD system on my R32 - you need a Haldex wrench ($60) to do an AWD oil change required every 20k miles. Oh and the oil for it... only manufactured by Haldex. My 440 Charger - changing out balljoints you needed a tool which only one company makes and the tool is a paperweight the rest of the time. My point is every car has bolts and parts which require specialized tools - and I've never heard a car guy complain other than if its a Sunday and you can't get the tool or if the tool costs a bit.
So what comes next - people start complaining that Apple hasn't included a screw driver up until now? Should they package a soldering iron? How about a flash drive with jailbreaking tools.
Actually replacing screws during service - thats a whole 'nother thing, but it happens everyday in the car industry. (changing parts out to newer versions - which aren't what you paid for when you purchased the car but its just how it is).
As an automotive enthusiast I've owned more cars in the past 5 years than the average person does in their lifetime. Other than for warranty issues and TSBs the only person working on my cars is me. I have a whole pile of tools sitting around which are specific to one car. Take for instance the Haldex AWD system on my R32 - you need a Haldex wrench ($60) to do an AWD oil change required every 20k miles. Oh and the oil for it... only manufactured by Haldex. My 440 Charger - changing out balljoints you needed a tool which only one company makes and the tool is a paperweight the rest of the time. My point is every car has bolts and parts which require specialized tools - and I've never heard a car guy complain other than if its a Sunday and you can't get the tool or if the tool costs a bit.
So what comes next - people start complaining that Apple hasn't included a screw driver up until now? Should they package a soldering iron? How about a flash drive with jailbreaking tools.
Actually replacing screws during service - thats a whole 'nother thing, but it happens everyday in the car industry. (changing parts out to newer versions - which aren't what you paid for when you purchased the car but its just how it is).
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This article by Gizmodo is a piece of hysteria, and mindless idiocy which includes contradictions and outright falsities.
1. I'm not a modder. I've never opened up an iPhone. My phone has these screws. I tried and managed to unscrew the damn things with a random knife. Total time: a few seconds. No damage. What a bunch of unsubstantiated whining.
2. You can get the required screw driver online for $2.35. Gizmodo has a link in their follow-up article.
Yes, 'impossible' indeed. This is a non-issue. For anyone who intends on opening up their iPhones and has the expertise/knowledge to do any sort of repair, etc, these screws are going to be the least of their worries. There's a million and one ways to unscrew these with household items, even without the correct screwdriver which costs a couple bucks.
And for the rest of the iPhone owners who would never open up their phones (I estimate, 99.999% of them) this will go completely unoticed.
Desperate, false-outrage story whose sole purpose is to garner hits. I especially love the bits about people jabbering about their RIGHTS (what rights? Your rights to choose what kind of screws apple uses?) and talk of illegality. Hilarious. I don't know what kind of lifestyle some of you people have lived to have garnered this false sense of entitlement, indignation, and self-righteousness over something so asinine and irrelevant. You can still open up your iPhones, they haven't taken that ability away from you. But Apple isn't obligated to make it ultra-easy for you (which is still is).
Anyway, sorry for the interruption, carry on with the outrage, talk of legality, rights, civil liberties, the US constitution, suing Apple, or whatever the hell else gets you all off.
1. I'm not a modder. I've never opened up an iPhone. My phone has these screws. I tried and managed to unscrew the damn things with a random knife. Total time: a few seconds. No damage. What a bunch of unsubstantiated whining.
2. You can get the required screw driver online for $2.35. Gizmodo has a link in their follow-up article.
Yes, 'impossible' indeed. This is a non-issue. For anyone who intends on opening up their iPhones and has the expertise/knowledge to do any sort of repair, etc, these screws are going to be the least of their worries. There's a million and one ways to unscrew these with household items, even without the correct screwdriver which costs a couple bucks.
And for the rest of the iPhone owners who would never open up their phones (I estimate, 99.999% of them) this will go completely unoticed.
Desperate, false-outrage story whose sole purpose is to garner hits. I especially love the bits about people jabbering about their RIGHTS (what rights? Your rights to choose what kind of screws apple uses?) and talk of illegality. Hilarious. I don't know what kind of lifestyle some of you people have lived to have garnered this false sense of entitlement, indignation, and self-righteousness over something so asinine and irrelevant. You can still open up your iPhones, they haven't taken that ability away from you. But Apple isn't obligated to make it ultra-easy for you (which is still is).
Anyway, sorry for the interruption, carry on with the outrage, talk of legality, rights, civil liberties, the US constitution, suing Apple, or whatever the hell else gets you all off.
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I don't know about you, but when I buy something, it becomes my stuff.
Maybe after Jobs is gone, they'll stop with all of these sorts of silly, greedy and paranoid antics that apple is becoming famous for.
Did you visit their little iFixit web site? They are just shilling for more screw drivers to sell: http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-4-Liberation-Kit/IF182-019
Note their inflammatory "liberation" title.
Also, see their little manifesto on the left side.
Also note they say about their liberation kit "Sold as-is; no refunds or returns."
lol! These guys are manipulating the gullible, aka marketing, their own wares, and people think that they're standing with you against "the man"
Note their inflammatory "liberation" title.
Also, see their little manifesto on the left side.
Also note they say about their liberation kit "Sold as-is; no refunds or returns."
lol! These guys are manipulating the gullible, aka marketing, their own wares, and people think that they're standing with you against "the man"
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zO.M.G. thats the last straw. ive had it with apple drming everything and im goin back tu windows. fu apple
I'm sure they'll be very grateful to have you back! Hey Mr Ballmer you've got a customer, no, honestly you have... Quick, dust off the cashbox.
Misunderstanding
There is something fundamentally incorrect about iFixit's statement of this issue. When Apple services an iPhone for a hardware issue, it does not 'repair' the device. It replaces the entire device with a 'replacement unit' which could be either new or refurbished.
Therefore, it's not like they're sneaking in back, pulling out the old screws and swapping in the new ones to keep you out. They replace the entire phone, and the replacement happens to have the updated screws. Think consistency of manufacturing.
I think this changes the entire dynamic of this issue.
There is something fundamentally incorrect about iFixit's statement of this issue. When Apple services an iPhone for a hardware issue, it does not 'repair' the device. It replaces the entire device with a 'replacement unit' which could be either new or refurbished.
Therefore, it's not like they're sneaking in back, pulling out the old screws and swapping in the new ones to keep you out. They replace the entire phone, and the replacement happens to have the updated screws. Think consistency of manufacturing.
I think this changes the entire dynamic of this issue.
but if your car worked perfectly well, they didnt't charge you any extra, and you didn't even notice until another 'mechanic' trying to sell you something pointed it out...would you care?
If they do it to you, go straight to your nearest police station and complain. In the very unlikely event that the police won't throw you out, but goes to the store where the repair was done, the repair person will tell them: "We didn't assume that anyone would want these screws. Had you wanted them, all you had to do was ask for four screws" and hand over four tiny screws worth a few penny. For theft you would have to prove first that Apple had no right to keep the screws (after all, they gave you four new screws in exchange), and then you would have to prove, beyond reasonable doubt, that there was any intent to deprive you. And there is probably something in their terms that allows them to replace older items with newer items as long as they don't ask you to pay for them.
Your phone doesn't get serviced when you take it to an apple store. It gets replaced with different unit. They are not doing anything to your original phone, but tossing it in a box to become someone else refurb.
So your argument is invalid. Well yours and all the other people who think apple is replacing the screws on every iphone that gets brought in for 'service'. And by service we mean REPLACED WITH A DIFFERENT UNIT!
I suspect that a lot of companies have made these kind of little changes.
But only Apple gets the full court bitch fest all over the web. Because they are Apple and aren't allowed to do as others are.
According to the video, a big pet peeve of person that did the video is the use of the word torx or security torx instead of pentalobe.
My big pet peeve is when a person uses democracy and the right to vote as an analogy for a business decision from a company. Apple is not a democracy. It's a company.
Showing proof of apple repair certification to obtain a tool doesn't quite translate our right to vote.
If they repair, they leave the same screws in it. Chances are, they didn't repair but replaced.
My big pet peeve is when a person uses democracy and the right to vote as an analogy for a business decision from a company. Apple is not a democracy. It's a company.
Showing proof of apple repair certification to obtain a tool doesn't quite translate our right to vote.
If they repair, they leave the same screws in it. Chances are, they didn't repair but replaced.
I think I'm misunderstanding this whole issue about switching screws out. It's SOP for Apple to just give you a refurbed unit instead of actually fixing your iPhone. A refurbed phone will have the new screws, of course.
Or is someone claiming that they take your phone, switch the screws out, and then somehow fix that very same phone and give you the very same unit back?
Or is someone claiming that they take your phone, switch the screws out, and then somehow fix that very same phone and give you the very same unit back?