Comment by xyst | Hacker News Reader

Comment by xyst | Hacker News Reader

Can we talk about the hypocrisy of the recycling segment given that Apple is a known adversary of the “right to repair” bill?

All of this “net-zero” talk yet they have a system in place that makes it prohibitively expensive to repair slightly damaged devices (ie, bad battery) out of warranty. So, consumers are left to live with the problem, pay for the cost of the repair which ends up costing about 1/2 to 3/4 of a new phone, or just buy a new phone.

Of course, people could go to a third party repair facility, but Apple doesn’t provide these businesses with the replacement parts and software to fix their phones. In one case, the display hardware identifier is tied to the “True Tone” feature and changing the display will result in this feature not working. In another case, the TouchID is hardcoded to the device and can only be reset by Apple techs, otherwise the Touch ID feature no longer works.

I like Apple products in general, but this is one of the few cases where Apple can do better.

That was my thought as well.

Also let's not forget about the 100k functional devices Apple sent to recycling and wanted to remove from the second-hand market.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/10/01/apple-catches-electronics-rec...

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24663718

I’m torn in this case. On one hand, Apple is in the right because that company was hired to do a job but ended up doing something completely different. But on the flip side, if the phones were functional at the time of receiving the phones and required none to minimal repair, then shame on Apple.

This whole fiasco reminds me of the O&G industry and the manufacture of plastics. It’s much cheaper to create and sell “virgin plastics” rather than trying to recycle the existing plastic.

Legally Apple is right, of course.

But as discussed in that HN thread there are many reasons why it's the wrong thing to do, specially if you want to pretend to take the moral high ground regarding the environment.

Relatively I've understood that iPhones are still more repairable than Samsungs and other Android, based on ratings from companies that rank these (can't find a link on my phone)

Apple chokes the repair shops by banning other companies from selling them parts. Even if Apple devices are more repairable (companies find other ways to source parts, schematics), Apple is actively working against the right to repair movement.

Apple started out as fairly repair hostile while Androids were relatively repairable. Now most android phones are sliding more and more towards glued together bricks while iphones are mostly the same to the point where most android devices are actually harder to repair.

I took my Pixel 2 in to a store for a battery replacement and the person told me that there is a chance the screen will shatter when they remove it. If a person with all the tools and training can't reliably replace the battery something is seriously wrong. Apple might be doing a lot of things horrible but they are the only ones who actually have a store in my area and offer repairs on their own devices.

True that the screen will be toast if trying to replace the battery, but I replaced both myself on my pixel (1) for £37.

This is the reason I switched to an iphone this year after 10 years on android. Everything I loved about Android devices is dead and they are now while at least Apple respects privacy.

Maybe Samsungs are no better, but compared to a Fairphone it's quite obvious that Apple doesn't prioritize repairability in any meaningful way.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com