- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- technology@beehaw.org
[ifixit] We Are Retroactively Dropping the iPhone’s Repairability Score::We need to have a serious chat about iPhone repairability. We judged the phones of yesteryear by how easy they were to take apart—screws, glues, how hard it was…
It was at 7/10 because the iPhone 14 introduced a repair-friendly design that made it, in theory, easier to repair than most competing high-end smartphones. However, the fact that there is a software DRM on the parts you install makes this repairable design completely useless for the end user, it just makes repairs cheaper for Apple themselves, thus adding insult to injury.
That about wraps it up
Apple puts weird DRM on everything.
They even have DRM on the Hall Effect sensor that detects when the lids closed on their newer laptops, so you cant take one from one laptop and put it in another.
The fucking hall effect sensors.
Its nothing but a fancy magnet that turns your screen off when you close the lid, a thing that costs pennies, and they had to engineer their own version to have DRM and bullshit.
Apple would DRM the battery cells and the chassis if they could.
Don’t give them ideas
Apple branded electrons, Straight from your Apple branded generator! Exclusively for Apple products!
Um, isn’t that exactly what MFi (Made For iPhone) did with branded or licensed chargers and cables?
Think different!
Honestly, Apples entire business model always meant they should rate a zero. It’s been about making tech disposable for 20 years. Any “repairability” by them is at best a marketing strategy.
Powermacs were user serviceable back when security bits were uncommon. Once you got over the hurdle of buying like a $40 screwdriver, you could service them entirely yourself.
I’d go so far as to say the earlier iPods were user serviceable. Everything past the iPhone 4 though was a steady downhill without a doubt.
I wouldn’t call requiring a 40 dollar screwdriver a positive sign. If anything it was an early red flag as to their intentions.
Oh no, it definitely wasn’t, but it was a hell of a lot better than what apple fans are facing now