I wonder if Germany will do the same if Apple was owned by Volkswagen, because I don’t remember all this nonsense when they took over Europe car industry a day after the euro was invented , then it was all about free market and capitalism, as I said before , regulation for US tech companies will be the a thing for the next few years , that is now obvious , if you can win against them , tax them.
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Germany Urges EU to Require 7 Years of Updates and Repairs for iOS Devices
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7 years is way too much. Watch new phone prices skyrocket if companies have to support ancient hardware for that long.
They have have an iPhone platform maintenance subscription. Just like many B2B hardware requires a maintenance subscriptions, this never took off in consumer electronics.
I am fascinated with the attitude some people have here supporting anti consumer corporate greed. From a company standpoint they did a good job brainwashing their customers into submission. Creepy.
The basic function and requirements of our household appliances have not changed in over a century. The energy efficiency, extra features and how well they work has improved over time but they rarely face new requirements to their original function. Spending more money usually does get you a better product that does last longer but a refrigerator only needs to cool and freeze stuff. It's not like in 18 months it has to be reconfigured to grow tomatoes hydroponically or incubate baby chicks. Its only job is to keep doing the same thing it did on day one for the next decade or two. If it breaks, it's probably only one of 10 or fewer parts that are shared across multiple model years that needs to be replaced. I remember my Kenmore washing machine from the '90s stoped working in the early-2010s and I replaced its motor with a part that worked on models going back to the '70s. There is a reason they are in a classification called "Durable Goods" and not "Consumer Electronics."
Our smartphones are handheld computers that have to adapt the requirements of the world around us. 2 years ago I only casually used FaceTime or any other video calling for family. Now, I use Zoom almost everyday for work. I can't imagine trying to do the things I need to do today on a 5 or 7 year old phone that I never even considered being a requirement years ago. We call these things "phones" but I can't even remember the last time I made a real phone call on one. I haven't even sent an SMS other than "STOP" in years.
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And if it does, great, and it depends on how they are structured. But my point stands - if productivity does drop, pay will eventually change to math unless companies can raise prices.
In my experience, a few cents off the price is often enough to get consumers to switch, no matter the country.
Landies are cool. My 85 BMW's only updates are tires, fluids, and filters.
Yeah, but the thing is current hardware is so powerful that it’s easy to see it as still capable for typical usage in 5-7 years, with maybe a battery replacement if necessary. That wasn’t the case 8-10 years ago. By 3 years, you definitely knew you needed to upgrade that iPhone 3GS or 4/4s. My 6s stayed capable for at least 5 years.
I dont like government proposals that are so weak. 15 years of updates, all parts are 5 euros, they are shipped within 30 minutes on magic ponies and you get to keep the pony.
I have said for a long time it should be 20 years...
ten years of full coverage and an additional 10 years of tech support and security updates.
ten years of full coverage and an additional 10 years of tech support and security updates.
This is ridiculous!. Pull out of the EU market. It is Apple's iPhone, Apple's iOS, Apple's App Store everything belongs to Apple. Listen to the ( Old ) Macrumors Comments ! /s
It is actually interesting to note the usual Apple defenders went missing since the CSAM incident.
Although I do think 7 years is putting the Smartphone in the same category as computer. The most important thing isn't actually the 7 years guarantee. But providing pricing for spare parts. Of course since Apple uses "special" parts, they get to price these parts however they want it. And would you want to repair your iPhone 6 for $300 or buy a new iPhone SE 2?
EU pricing has been roughly similar to US pricing + Tax and margin for exchange rate. The only country that gets special pricing is China.
It is actually interesting to note the usual Apple defenders went missing since the CSAM incident.
Although I do think 7 years is putting the Smartphone in the same category as computer. The most important thing isn't actually the 7 years guarantee. But providing pricing for spare parts. Of course since Apple uses "special" parts, they get to price these parts however they want it. And would you want to repair your iPhone 6 for $300 or buy a new iPhone SE 2?
EU pricing has been roughly similar to US pricing + Tax and margin for exchange rate. The only country that gets special pricing is China.
Maybe it’s mainly US citizens who rather pay less initially and opt for Apple Care if they want additional peace of mind? While in Europe it’s more common practice to have robust legislation to protect the consumer from corporate greed. Just a guess.
Then we need desktop chips and very repairable but not durable hardware
You do realise that companies stop innovating and improving certain aspects of their products if it’s against their self interest or too expensive? It’s only when the EU started to set limits to car exhausts fumes, that cars became more environmentally friendly.
I personally don't want repairability if it means sacrificing innovation. I would rather have a disposable iPhone if it was cream of the crop technology. people need to get over the fact that things are going to be too sophisticated to be broken down anymore. I will support voting in anyway I can to take away right to repair to keep things innovating smaller/sleeker.
Why on Earth would you want to promote disposable phones that are irreparable and the cream of the crop, and thus very expensive, all at the same time? I don’t see how that would benefit the consumer or the environment.
Fail. There is a lot of standardisation in car components and OBD ensures that anybody can do some pretty complex repairs and diagnostics on their motor vehicles.
because technology is evolutioninzing. if you make things repairable, you have to make things larger, and not soldered. I don't want any of that, I want the absolute best performing device in the absolute smallest form factor. if that means sacrificing 100% of my repairability, that's fine. I will just buy a new laptop, new iPhone, new iMac, new iPad.
I simply want the smallest, tiniest, strongest, form factor possible. even if that means everyone loses repairability. that's how I stand. I will be honest, I don't care that people can't fix things if it means I get the best smallest item available.
I think the problem is that most cheap android phones become unusable after a few years. Apple should not fear this law. It also doesn't mean the update must bring all the bells and whistles to a seven year old phone. We already see this to some extent where some features require newer hardware. I thing the core of the law is that a technical devices like a smartphone or yeah maybe even a laptop or tablet should remain usable a certain number of years.
I obviously haven’t looked much into this but hopefully the same standard will be applied to major android manufacturers.
exactly. they will have to stop making them so advanced for "regular Joe" to be fixing them. don't want that.