iFixit Says Apple's Self Service Repair Program is Great Step, But Has a Catch

[jakey rolling]

1. iFixIt doesn’t care about your right to repair, they only care about their (non-existent) “right” to make money off of your right to repair.

The same could be said for Apple. They couldn't give a rat's ass whether your iPhone continues to work after the year is up. They only care that you'll send money to them to get it fixed, buy a new one, or buy AppleCare.

Surprise surprise - businesses care about making money. That's kind of why they exist.

 

[44267547]

iFixit isn’t being negative. It’s a valid point.

No one could have predicted years ago Apple would have permitted users to make their own minor replacements/‘repairs’. This is a milestone marker, but I definitely think this repair program will have a lot of limitations to how far Apple will allow this.

 

[aircanman]

It is obvious Apple were going to control this as much as they could, they only implemented it to get the right to repair campaigners off their case, or at least cool down some of the heat.

These days making the greatest phones is not enough, they have to do more to keep up with things, I do think in the future they will be looking to more repairable phones, or if Samsung / Google have any sense they will get on this bandwagon before Apple do.

 

[mariusignorello]

The same could be said for Apple. They couldn't give a rat's ass whether your iPhone continues to work after the year is up. They only care that you'll send money to them to get it fixed, buy a new one, or buy AppleCare.

Surprise surprise - businesses care about making money. That's kind of why they exist.

I know it’s “what they want” but with AppleCare you’d get a full OEM-grade screen replacement for $29 plus the $199 policy fee. For the same price you’d have to trust a third party shop (and it’s parts/labor) which seems dumb IMO. In addition, if the repair goes south, you’d have to pay that third party shop for a second repair if they are stubborn and don’t want to fix it for free like they should.

Sure, these are what-ifs but having AppleCare is having insurance, which is designed to protect situations like this. Also, if you happened to break your phone again within the policy period, you’d save a ton in repair fees by paying just a deductible than parts+labor all over again.

 

[MrSkoTA]

Very simple. The battery is made of rolled layers of lithium covered foil and insulator. These provide a compact, flat package. The compromise is that the pack is very easy to damage if you flex it because of the layers being compressed and sliding across each other. The effect of damaging a pack is a "thermal event" as they call it in the service manual. So the key requirement is that the pack is kept stable and flat. That can be entered in the design process for the phone resulting in (most likely) the following requirements:

1. Stable mounting -> decrease thermal event risk.
2. Easy to assemble with automation -> lower TCO of manufacturing, increase throughput
3. Thinness -> smaller devices, less mass, less material cost.
4. Relative ease of replacement -> 0 to 1 times per device lifespan at average.

When you put those in, an adhesive tab strip attached to the rigid frame comes out as the best engineering solution (do a Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis or throw some Six Sigma in there if you're that way inclined).

You don't have to believe me. I mean I could upload my graduation photo but it's terribly embarrassing. Better to show me lying in a gutter in Cambridge afterwards... actually no probably not. I'm lying on a kebab.

You didn’t have to go and make the guy look like an a hole. Ok. Really, you did. Good job!

 

[jakey rolling]

I know it’s “what they want” but with AppleCare you’d get a full OEM-grade screen replacement for $29 plus the $199 policy fee. For the same price you’d have to trust a third party shop (and it’s parts/labor) which seems dumb IMO. In addition, if the repair goes south, you’d have to pay that third party shop for a second repair if they are stubborn and don’t want to fix it for free like they should.

That comparison actually sounds pretty lousy for the AppleCare customer. The whole point of paying $199 for an insurance or warranty policy is to avoid paying multiple times that in case something breaks. Based on your comment alone, it sounds like in both cases, you're paying around $250 to get a screen replaced, except in the case of having AppleCare, you're paying $200 of that regardless of whether the screen breaks or not.

You, of course, also neglected to mention the other repairs that AppleCare+ covers that effectively have a much higher deductible for. Any other repair for accidental damage to an iPhone comes with a $129 fee (CAD, since I'm in Canada and that's the pricing on the version of the AppleCare T&C's I've read).

I'll admit I haven't broken too many smartphone screens, but I have had one repaired by a third party, and the bill came out to a whopping $79 CAD (that was an iPhone from years ago, can't remember the model). That repaired unit worked 100% after that.

I've also been quoted a price to replace the battery and headphone jack on my Samsung Note 8 of $120CAD. I didn't bother because my battery still works reasonably well, and when I brought the phone in, the guy realized I had some lint in the jack and he cleaned it out for free.

In both my experiences, even if I was covered under AppleCare+, I would have paid more in a deductible than the actual cost of repair.

You Apple fans are being hosed. And you're cheering for it.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Actually I think I can see what this is and will break it down into a few simple statements.

1. iFixit found a market niche and promoted it as the right thing to do while selling inferior parts and equipment.
2. The manufacturer entered the same market with superior parts and equipment.
3. iFixit now has a failing business model because they got what they wanted and are switching to whining mode.

WTAF.

 

[mariusignorello]

That comparison actually sounds pretty lousy for the AppleCare customer. The whole point of paying $199 for an insurance or warranty policy is to avoid paying multiple times that in case something breaks. Based on your comment alone, it sounds like in both cases, you're paying around $250 to get a screen replaced, except in the case of having AppleCare, you're paying $200 of that regardless of whether the screen breaks or not.

You, of course, also neglected to mention the other repairs that AppleCare+ that effectively have a much higher deductible for. Any other repair for accidental damage to an iPhone comes with a $129 (CAD, since I'm in Canada and that's the pricing on the version of the AppleCare T&C's I've read).

I'll admit I haven't broken too many smartphone screens, but I have had one repaired by a third party, and the bill came out to a whopping $79 CAD (that was an iPhone from years ago, can't remember the model). That repaired unit worked 100% after that.

I've also been quoted a price to replace the battery and headphone jack on my Samsung Note 8 of $120CAD. I didn't bother because my battery still works reasonably well, and when I brought the phone in, the guy realized I had some lint in the jack and he cleaned it out for free.

In both my experiences, even if I was covered under AppleCare+, I would have paid more in a deductible than the actual cost of repair.

You Apple fans are being hosed. And you're cheering for it.

Interesting rundown and you’re probably right tbh. I should mention that I personally don’t pay the full $199 up front either, I go with monthly since I like to upgrade yearly (and that costs more too). Convenience has its price I guess. I’ve been burned by third party shops so for me it’s not worth the hassle. I’d be open to the repair kit, I’m pretty hands on and have the patience to do it, but if I have AppleCare (or better yet the business essentials version with onsite repair) then why bother. It just depends on the individual or company and if they have more time than money.

I think what floors me the most is that Apple is a luxury brand, and caters to people with money and who want convenience. Demanding self repair options is the antithesis of that philosophy. That’s not to say Apple can’t change but there is such thing as milking a rock.

Truthfully, if you cant afford to maintain the phone/car/home/whatever, don’t buy it. Everyone HAS to have an iPhone but then that 1-2k is thrown on an installment plan blindly. When they carelessly break the device that they already couldn’t afford they complain about the repair bill. People are putting their financial negligence on Apple causing this fake “repair crisis”. Should everything cost a mint? Absolutely not. But if you KNOW that a Mercedes is expensive to maintain and you don’t have the funds, don't. buy. it. Total cost of ownership is a thing (including unfortunate accidents).

Whoever sold Apple customers the lie of economical devices, repairs and so on needs to stop peddling that crap. iFixIt and these “repair activists” don’t seem to understand Apple’s target market, don’t care about things costing money and are in it for themselves. Apple has never been about budget products (aside from the SE and we know how ambitious they are about it) and at least for right now, I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

 

[JM]

Very simple. The battery is made of rolled layers of lithium covered foil and insulator. These provide a compact, flat package. The compromise is that the pack is very easy to damage if you flex it because of the layers being compressed and sliding across each other. The effect of damaging a pack is a "thermal event" as they call it in the service manual. So the key requirement is that the pack is kept stable and flat. That can be entered in the design process for the phone resulting in (most likely) the following requirements:

1. Stable mounting -> decrease thermal event risk.
2. Easy to assemble with automation -> lower TCO of manufacturing, increase throughput
3. Thinness -> smaller devices, less mass, less material cost.
4. Relative ease of replacement -> 0 to 1 times per device lifespan at average.

When you put those in, an adhesive tab strip attached to the rigid frame comes out as the best engineering solution (do a Kepner-Tregoe decision analysis or throw some Six Sigma in there if you're that way inclined).

You don't have to believe me. I mean I could upload my graduation photo but it's terribly embarrassing. Better to show me lying in a gutter in Cambridge afterwards... actually no probably not. I'm lying on a kebab.

Hmm still don’t believe you…

 

[JM]

Interesting rundown and you’re probably right tbh. I should mention that I personally don’t pay the full $199 up front either, I go with monthly since I like to upgrade yearly (and that costs more too). Convenience has its price I guess. I’ve been burned by third party shops so for me it’s not worth the hassle. I’d be open to the repair kit, I’m pretty hands on and have the patience to do it, but if I have AppleCare (or better yet the business essentials version with onsite repair) then why bother. It just depends on the individual or company and if they have more time than money.

I think what floors me the most is that Apple is a luxury brand, and caters to people with money and who want convenience. Demanding self repair options is the antithesis of that philosophy. That’s not to say Apple can’t change but there is such thing as milking a rock.

Truthfully, if you cant afford to maintain the phone/car/home/whatever, don’t buy it. Everyone HAS to have an iPhone but then that 1-2k is thrown on an installment plan blindly. When they carelessly break the device that they already couldn’t afford they complain about the repair bill. People are putting their financial negligence on Apple causing this fake “repair crisis”. Should everything cost a mint? Absolutely not. But if you KNOW that a Mercedes is expensive to maintain and you don’t have the funds, don't. buy. it. Total cost of ownership is a thing (including unfortunate accidents).

Eh. Apple hasn’t been a luxury brand for a while now. Everybody has an iPhone, and just like you pointed out, they don’t think about how much their $1000 phone costs on a payment plan.

 

[mariusignorello]

Eh. Apple hasn’t been a luxury brand for a while now. Everybody has an iPhone, and just like you pointed out, they don’t think about how much their $1000 phone costs on a payment plan.

Just because they don’t think about it doesn’t reduce the cost or justify Apple’s decision to reduce the cost. Someone’s poor decision making doesn’t constitute an emergency on Apple’s part.

 

[JM]

Just because they don’t think about it doesn’t reduce the cost or justify Apple’s decision to reduce the cost. Someone’s poor decision making doesn’t constitute an emergency on Apple’s part.

I think I agree with whatever point you’re making, I just only mean to say that I don’t think Apple is a luxury brand anymore and so offering a repair kit is in line with Apple’s “commodity” status on iPhone.

Computers and Apple Watch are an entirely different matter altogether.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Seems obvious to me why they would pair the repair to the device. It would nice to know what the repair history of a used device before I purchased. If there was something major that wasn’t disclosed, I imagine this would prevent that?

 

[Analog Kid]

"iFixit Says Apple's Self Service Repair Program is Great Step, But Has a Catch"

The catch is that iFixit isn't getting a cut...

 

[ifuxit]

ifixit are terrible, they called bonded screens immoral and got high from the attention they got by giving iphones a 1/10 repairability score, like that means anything. they want to go back to the days you could hold up a vacuum tube next to a selection at the local grocers and buy a 10 pack of vacuum tubes with standard fittings, and use a butter knife to open the device and install them.

now they are silent on any phone which doesn't have a screen under 10 mm of glass plastic and airgap, and don't seem to negatively score phones for having displays close to your fingers. weird that. it's almost as if they were talking BS from the start.

now, "COMPANY THAT NEVER, EVER, NOT ONCE, WROTE DOWN WHAT 'RIGHT TO REPAIR' MEANS" decided that apple fails their exacting, unspoken standards. absolutely abysmal.

that hippie rossmann, who brought the downfall of nyc upon himself with his "live and let live just don't be mean" politics, then complained about the downfall of nyc, is another "RIGHT TO REPAIR IS SO SO SO IMPORTANT, THAT I CANNOT ACTUALLY TELL YOU WHAT IT IS".

He has 50 1 hour videos on right to repair. All tell you HOW VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT IT IS. none of them actually saying "what it means is, if xyz, the company should abc".

Not once. Not once. And when he has been asked about this? "I can't help you"

When others, less polite than myself, said he needed an elevator pitch, "the trolls are out to get me".

I've never heard one person, ever, say what they think right to repair actually means.

"Uh, duh, stupid, it means that YOU, have the RIGHT, to REPAIR, YOUR DEVICES" - reddit genius.

this is where we're at. anyone who thinks this is an inconsequential point, imagine every single thing in your life is held to the same standard, everything in media and politics. now imagine we're on the brink of ww3, and I tell you this - the same reason that nobody has actually been able to say what RTR is (but immediately knows what it's NOT) is the same reason we're on the brink of ww3

I hope some aliens find this in 249 million years, and agree this is the reason we were all wiped out. not because of glaciers or skinny polar bears, not because of bees, or the microplastics in the environment put there by the corporations you now worship in woke politics, but because nobody knows anything, and everyone knows everything, and because any point worth making is worth censoring (hence this comment will be removed)

 

[H2SO4]

The best engineer would deliver the product in budget, on time and with the desired quality. Then work back to what tooling was required to support the market.

This is what Apple are doing. That's what I would do too.

The best answer is the one that addresses the question.

 

[svish]

Definitely a great move. Some things could have been better. But still happy to know that Apple now allows self repair.

 

[upgradeordie]

ifixit are terrible, they called bonded screens immoral and got high from the attention they got by giving iphones a 1/10 repairability score, like that means anything. they want to go back to the days you could hold up a vacuum tube next to a selection at the local grocers and buy a 10 pack of vacuum tubes with standard fittings, and use a butter knife to open the device and install them.

now they are silent on any phone which doesn't have a screen under 10 mm of glass plastic and airgap, and don't seem to negatively score phones for having displays close to your fingers. weird that. it's almost as if they were talking BS from the start.

now, "COMPANY THAT NEVER, EVER, NOT ONCE, WROTE DOWN WHAT 'RIGHT TO REPAIR' MEANS" decided that apple fails their exacting, unspoken standards. absolutely abysmal.

that hippie rossmann, who brought the downfall of nyc upon himself with his "live and let live just don't be mean" politics, then complained about the downfall of nyc, is another "RIGHT TO REPAIR IS SO SO SO IMPORTANT, THAT I CANNOT ACTUALLY TELL YOU WHAT IT IS".

He has 50 1 hour videos on right to repair. All tell you HOW VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPORTANT IT IS. none of them actually saying "what it means is, if xyz, the company should abc".

Not once. Not once. And when he has been asked about this? "I can't help you"

When others, less polite than myself, said he needed an elevator pitch, "the trolls are out to get me".

I've never heard one person, ever, say what they think right to repair actually means.

"Uh, duh, stupid, it means that YOU, have the RIGHT, to REPAIR, YOUR DEVICES" - reddit genius.

this is where we're at. anyone who thinks this is an inconsequential point, imagine every single thing in your life is held to the same standard, everything in media and politics. now imagine we're on the brink of ww3, and I tell you this - the same reason that nobody has actually been able to say what RTR is (but immediately knows what it's NOT) is the same reason we're on the brink of ww3

I hope some aliens find this in 249 million years, and agree this is the reason we were all wiped out. not because of glaciers or skinny polar bears, not because of bees, or the microplastics in the environment put there by the corporations you now worship in woke politics, but because nobody knows anything, and everyone knows everything, and because any point worth making is worth censoring (hence this comment will be removed)

You sound like an absolute JOY to be around.