Germany Urges EU to Require 7 Years of Updates and Repairs for iOS Devices

[MacRumors]

Smartphone makers like Apple and Google should be required to provide security updates and spare parts for their mobile devices for at least seven years, according to new environmental responsibility proposals from the German government to the European Union (via Heise Online).

The European Commission recently proposed that mobile device manufacturers should provide software updates and spare parts for five years, with tablet spare parts available for six years. It also wants to force manufacturers to publish the prices of the spare parts and ensure they don't increase, and deliver said parts in no more than five working days.

However, Germany wants the EU to go further by demanding seven years of updates and spare parts availability. In addition, it wants manufacturers to offer spare parts at "a reasonable price," and faster delivery of spare parts, a point it wishes to discuss further with the Commission.

The German government also supports the European Commission's push to introduce ecodesign rules, including an energy label and a repairability index for smartphones and tablets. The production of the equipment accounts for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the EC, and only part of the raw materials can be recovered during recycling.

The DigitalEurope Industry Association, representing manufacturers including Apple, Samsung, and Huawei, believe the Commission's proposals go too far, and have suggested that makers provide security updates for three years and OS updates for two years.

The association also believes that it should only be required to offer replacement batteries and displays to consumers, since these parts have the highest failure rate. In contrast, components like camera sensors, microphones, and connectors "rarely fail," and therefore should not come under the mandate.

Following additional negotiations between all parties involved, the European Union plans to introduce the proposals by 2023.

Apple has often been criticized for disproportionate repair prices, such as the $79 fee to service the $99 HomePod mini, as well as arbitrary limits on repairs, such as barring repair of the iPhone 12's camera without access to Apple's proprietary cloud-linked System Configuration app.

The European Parliament last year voted to support the recommendations of the EU Committee on the "Right to Repair," including a system of mandatory labelling on consumer electronics to provide explicit information on the repairability and lifespan of products.

Article Link: Germany Urges EU to Require 7 Years of Updates and Repairs for iOS Devices

 

[Xenden]

Security, yes. Repair parts, maybe not so much. Apple could probably do it, but android makers don’t build in the same quantity that Apple does.

I really dislike the EU dictating to American companies.

 

[Moonjumper]

Apple are the only phone manufacturer I know of that provide software updates for 5 years.

I hope they ask the same of smart TVs. They are even worse than Android phones for updates.

 

[johnnytravels]

Should be covered by Apple's margins, so...

 

[johnnytravels]

Security, yes. Repair parts, maybe not so much. Apple could probably do it, but android makers don’t build in the same quantity that Apple does.

I really dislike the EU dictating to American companies.

I suppose they are free to avoid selling on the European market.

 

[ruka.snow]

Sounds like a fantastic proposal especially now that smartphones have reached maturity and most don’t need to upgrade yearly or even every five years. This will force phones to be better engineered so they last longer. The main issue here is when does the clock start on security updates, is it seven years from purchase or seven years from the OS version you installed a day ago on your seven year old phone?

 

[alexe]

Great proposal! Environmental sustainability should really be one of our highest collective societal priorities.

We can't keep going with this annual phone upgrade madness and overpriced repair prices forever. It's not sustainable.

The FaceID camera on my iPhone XS stopped working the other day. I went to the Apple store and they told me they generally don't do repairs on any sensors on the front array, so all they could do is offer me a replacement phone for like 700 dollars or something crazy.

This is madness. If Apple would just repair the FaceID camera, I would gladly use this phone for another few years.

 

[AlexESP]

I suppose they are free to avoid selling on the European market.

Yes, and we’re free to criticize the EU.

 

[icerabbit]

5 years of OS & security updates and 5 years of parts for electronics; sounds like a great idea to me. If it is six or seven. Even better.

Maybe manufacturers will start to standardize some of their parts design and sizes a little, as to not have all different parts per model.

 

[RadioHedgeFund]

What we need is a slowing down of chip manufacturing in the mobile space or to put it another way: I’d happily still play games on my 7 year-old Xbox One but I wouldn’t be happy using an iPhone 6 in 2021.

I’m not saying there should be a 8-year gap between phone releases like there is with game consoles but 2-3 years wouldn’t hurt.

 

[Kebabselector]

Never really understood the hatred of laws that look after the consumer interests. I guess I fail at capitalism greed 101.

 

[profets]

It’s one thing to regulate and tell companies what they can’t do. But when you tell them what they must do (to a certain extent), it’s a bit much, especially in this regard.

 

[alexe]

Yes, and we’re free to criticize the EU.

You realize that this proposal is in your interest, do you? If you are a consumer, that is.

And it's in the interest of generations to come for whom we'd like to leave a habitable planet.

Forcing manufacturers to make devices that last longer and are better repairable is a good thing.

 

[one more]

A good initiative, IMO. I had to replace my 2015 MBP swollen battery the other day and really missed the times of white polycarbonate MacBooks when we could easily swap the battery and/or RAM slots ourselves.

 

[leifp]

Do tell me how far Apple is off that mark? Perhaps someone who understands why Apple was singled out in the lede can explain how this impacts Apple much at all, let alone more than their competition? Here, let me help: how long after they stop selling it before Apple moves a product to the "vintage" list? How long before "obsolete" (when they no longer service them)? How old a device still receives iOS updates? How much of that is de jure policy and how much of it is de facto Apple's behaviour?

 

[Havalo]

While it is agreed security updates should be made available for up to 7 years, iPhone SE (1st Gen) is still receiving the latest version of iOS and upcoming iOS15. What EU should enforce is stopping them from reducing the performance of the phone with each major release of OS, it is clear that older phone are more than capable of handling the new OS...

 

[jdavid_rp]

It’s one thing to regulate and tell companies what they can’t do. But when you tell them what they must do (to a certain extent), it’s a bit much, especially in this regard.

Why? This is not new, AFAIK domestic appliances need to have 10 guarantee years of reparability

 

[AlexESP]

Never really understood the hatred of laws that look after the consumer interests. I guess I fail at capitalism greed 101.

Many of this good intentioned laws ignore the complexity of systems and unforeseeable negative consequences. Of course, this law can have clear negative effects on consumers. The most obvious (not the only) one with this kind of regulation is hindering innovation: you end up with “dinosaur” markets where the smallest screw is regulated.

 

[yabeweb]

Longer part support is a good thing, for the environment and for consumers.

 

[Flood4]

Security, yes. Repair parts, maybe not so much. Apple could probably do it, but android makers don’t build in the same quantity that Apple does.

I really dislike the EU dictating to American companies.

So you are angry that the EU could force a company to offer you spare part for your broken phone?

Interesting.

 

[chaicka]

Guess only time will tell if mobile devices will reverse back to the 1990s when laptops are at least 3 times current price range. Part of the reason for those price (back then) was the Operating Costs for extensive parts storage as well as lack of economy of scale to run small quantity parts production when sudden surge runs the existing stock dry (esp. entering the 4-5th year). Back then, some laptop manufacturers had a 7 or 10 years parts available policy. But the parts are damn costly due to several factors.

Good luck EU. Ever wonder why the same iPhone retails at higher price in US and EU than some parts of the world? And maybe rest of the world if manufacturers decide to penalise all consumers in blanket policies instead of only those in EU.

Apple has largely been meeting this 5-years product cycle (software and hardware wise) so Apple is lesser impacted if the new regulation/law stays on 5 years. Android devices will be in for a serious rough journey given their business model have always been short runs with limited quantities + short lifecycle/lifespan and then move on to new models.

Quoting Steve Jobs: It is all about trade-offs.

 

[beanbaguk]

Security, yes. Repair parts, maybe not so much. Apple could probably do it, but android makers don’t build in the same quantity that Apple does.

I really dislike the EU dictating to American companies.

Yeah, because the US never dictates its rules to the rest of the world.... ?

 

[leroyyy]

I really dislike the EU dictating to American companies.

You mean dictating to companies that want to sell into their markets....

Seems fair to me.

 

[hcherry]

Why not 10 years? Or 20 for that matter?

I love seeming these examples of bureaucrats—who’ve likely never produced anything or met any customers’ need themselves—propose laws to force companies to operate how they imagine the company should.

Mandates like this ignore the economic complexity/reality of these products.

 

[jlc1978]

Sounds like a fantastic proposal especially now that smartphones have reached maturity and most don’t need to upgrade yearly or even every five years. This will force phones to be better engineered so they last longer.

This has nothing to do with quality. Selling spare parts doesn't mean your product is better built.

The main issue here is when does the clock start on security updates, is it seven years from purchase or seven years from the OS version you installed a day ago on your seven year old phone?

Date of first release is the most reasonable.

We can't keep going with this annual phone upgrade madness and overpriced repair prices forever. It's not sustainable.

As long as people buy them on an annual basis they will build them.

The FaceID camera on my iPhone XS stopped working the other day. I went to the Apple store and they told me they generally don't do repairs on any sensors on the front array, so all they could do is offer me a replacement phone for like 700 dollars or something crazy.

This is madness. If Apple would just repair the FaceID camera, I would gladly use this phone for another few years.

That's the key - just because you require spare parts to be available doesn't mean they will be at the component level. The spare part list could very well be: Display, casing, battery, everything else on one board.

5 years of OS & security updates and 5 years of parts for electronics; sounds like a great idea to me. If it is six or seven. Even better.

Apple already does 5 years IIRC on the OS, and phones have become disposables for most people.

Maybe manufacturers will start to standardize some of their parts design and sizes a little, as to not have all different parts per model.

I doubt it. Differentiation in key areas enables different price points.

Never really understood the hatred of laws that look after the consumer interests. I guess I fail at capitalism greed 101.

It's not always hatred but an understanding that laws often touted to "look after the consumer interests" don't do that and often just result in higher prices as companies recoup their costs but nothing really changes. For example, let's say the law requires a company to deliver a spare part in X days. This will result in higher inventories and potentially express mail costs, raising the costs of repair. Since some % of the inventory will be obsolete at some point and never used, that has to be added to the initial costs.