New Anti-Consumer MacBook Pros – Teardown and Repair Assessment [video]
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If you buy a device second hand, or you bring it in for repair, you want to know if you are getting genuine parts or not.
https://social.treehouse.systems/@marcan/110803356645502548
Unlike every other laptop vendor, Apple actually gives a shit about the security of their systems, and does much, much more to harden a MacBook against firmware-level exploits than anyone else in the industry. That includes moving the controller, firmware, and configuration/calibration data on-die to the M2 and having signed, verified firmware.
Apple is simply built different as a company, and their concern for security and integrity of your personal data is simply UNMATCHED in the industry.
It's the "think of the children" equivalent for making things repairable.
After all, there's never been articles about exploiting consumer devices through firmware and driver flaws, right? Nor have there ever been attacks caused by plugging in peripherals.
You can either have secure hardware, or tamperable hardware, you can't have both.
It's funny how Apple must not be criticized for its unethical practices, its hardware is secure while other devices are insecure, all over highly targeted exploit vectors that do not apply to the vast majority of Apple users, while all the low-hanging, wide impact exploits remain just as open. Just another part of Apple's 'reality distortion field' - lock down the hardware, thwart repair efforts, tell people it's for their own good and you get people acting like Apple devices are secure from the threats which matter most.
In comparison, on so-called 'secure' Apple devices, all the usual holes are still open for traditional approaches like vulnerable software, poor password practices etc. These are the approaches that have the widest impact and are the most meaningful to deal with when it comes to security for a broad audience.
As such, it's ridiculous to be suggesting that the security Apple devices add by being unrepairable is reasonable.
In my opinion, it's kind of like how we could force everyone in the world to have a yubikey or other similar separate device for 2FA, with no backups and no recovery methods to eliminate any risk of someone unauthorized gaining access to any data. But that would be way overkill for most people and would make computers much less valuable to them due to all the added hassle. I see Apple's locking down of all parts of the device to prevent repairs the same way.
someone is trying to use 1 excuse for mulitple wrongdoings and sorry but it doesn't work
They should probably be obligated to provide calibration tools. However, the risk of providing those freely is that it increases the street value for stolen devices. The fact that a stolen iPhone can’t be erased and sold is a feature many people care about. Conveniently it also helps Apple’s bottom line. Someone needs to come up with a system to allow sustainable reuse without encouraging theft.
People who need or want that feature can find laptops they can tinker with. Everyone else — the majority of consumers — will opt for price and convenience.
On the other hand with most cars, you can take it to a mechanic who can diagnose the issue, and order the respective part.
I expected $2-300 after parts and labor.
"Looks like that will probably run you $950. How about we talk about getting you into a new Mac instead?"
No. It got repurposed into a DAW for my stepdaughter.
Best Buy got into the service and repair business at scale when they bought GeekSquad. It kind of flopped for them. And you can find no end of complaints about incompetent service and even scams from Best Buy.
- one can give tons of reasons for non-repairable devices but the planet has only so much resources. Eventually Apple will enter the group of terrible companies like exxon/BP. Sure Tim Cook will be having the billions but if more companies like tesla is following apple's strategy if vertical integration
Either govts will interfere
Or
Planet is trashed.
- TV, phones have always been repairable. Even recently some one posted repairing a sony Trinitron.
- even if apple doesnot want to do the repair of a chip, capacitor they can make them available
- or not sue if 3rd party does it
- Louis rossman can replace a failed charging chip from an old logic/mother board. He/others like ifixit only tell apple to supply it or allow others to manufacture.
I worked for Apple in 1988-91 if that gives a clue. And I was around 30 at the time.
I don’t disagree about big companies trashing the environment with disposable goods. I keep my electronics for a long time. I don’t own a car. I try to consume very little. Individual efforts don’t make enough difference, though. Enough people have to vote with their wallets to stop predatory and wasteful companies. The realities of why Apple does what they do seem easily explained with simple economics, without invoking conspiracies.
Sony stopped making Triniton TVs and monitors in the early 2000s. How many of those do you suppose ended up in landfills? Someone repairing one today describes a hobbyist or tinkerer. Sony didn’t intend or support end-users repairing their TVs. Try doing that with a modern flat screen. Individuals can and do fix and upgrade consumer electronics, but they represent a negligible percentage of the consumer base.
It is negligible because repair is difficult.
That sounds pretty likely for the current state of things.
As a thought experiment though, if (say) Tim Cook got out of bed one day and said "Right, lets figure out how to make this work...", then I'm pretty sure they'd be able to do it. Economically I mean.
So, I think the problem is more their lack of interest ("making it work") than anything else.
Though they would only replace it with an i5, rather than the i7 that was in it "because the next gen i5 was better than the i7". I should have just replaced the power supply myself rather than than let her get scammed like that.
2012 iMac had the i7 2600
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-2600+...
2013 iMac had the i5 3470
https://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i5-3470+...
It was noticeable enough in Photoshop that the system ran 30% or so slower.
I’ve had auto mechanics try to scam me. Never Apple. John Deere isn’t selling common consumer products. Pretty bad comparisons. Try comparing to Samsung or Lenovo or Microsoft (Surface).
Try getting a Louis Vuitton bag repaired. Same thing. Self-repair doesn’t intersect their market.
As a result, selling expensive devices and making repairs expensive and wasteful has a much larger overall impact on consumers as a whole than the same for Louis Vuitton bags.
I'm not seeing how this isn't them conspiring to make repair difficult. Even just plainly accepting your reasoning, they perceive themselves as a luxury brand, thus they conspire to make repairs exceptionally difficult because they think that somehow contributes to their luxuriousness.
Software resists maintenance and enhancement, and is completely opaque — sometimes outright hostile — to the end user. Software companies deliberately lock users in to their platform and ecosystem to a degree hardware companies can only dream of. Huge profits come from the constant rewriting of working code by programmers who didn’t take the time to understand what their customers use, or need. Customers routinely get terrible estimates or plain stiffed by scammers and incompetent programmers. Conspiracy?
And most of the software produced has such poor quality and reliability it makes Apple laptops five-9s by comparison.
If you don’t like Apple equipment or their conspiracies then vote with your wallet. I’ve never had a serious problem with any Apple hardware. I pay for AppleCare like I used to pay for Dell extended warranties, and Apple has always honored their warranty and AppleCare commitments for me.
- it has consequences
- no one says- well pollution is not due to oil companies but customer obsession towards buying cars etc
- one tries to push better standards, reduce pollution etc
> major laptop brand is easy for the end user to repair
Dell latitudes
Again if apple has a tiny market share like LVMH then ok. But they are close to 50%.
If omega/rolex throws away EXPENSIVE A all is ok. Just 100 watches are made for 50K each.
Apple sells millions. Do you know when apple tried to brick all the phones with 3rd party fingerprint reader? That is terrible for environment.
Again if I look at your profile you live in SE Asia. These places will be affected by environment and cause high population deaths.
Again,ifixit only says allow others to make parts.
The likes of you can buy applecare and trash env. Lets others fix your old device.
I do say that pollution is due to obsession with cars and refusal to use public transportation, bicycles, walk. I haven't owned a car in years. I don't support the oil companies but they aren't forcing everyone to buy two pickup trucks, they're just enabling it. Supply and demand, pretty simple concept.
Dell Latitudes are sold as business computers. Businesses depreciate things like laptops over 3-5 years. They may or may not care about repairs and upgrades, but in my experience businesses pay for service contracts with Dell etc. The Inspiron line is Dell's consumer line, somewhat less amenable to upgrades and repairs, though I grant better than Apple hardware. Both Dell and Apple offer recycling and trade-in programs, though I don't know what ultimately happens to that stuff. I see used phones, tablets, laptops for sale all over Asia, along with lots of small repair shops, so it's not all just going into landfill like in the US.
Apple's desktop market share is around 15%, not 50%, but that includes desktop and all-in-one iMacs. Laptop market share is closer to 7% globally with the (hard to repair) Asus and Acer ahead by a fairly big margin.
LVMH does not have tiny market share. They are the leading luxury brand. Among all purses or luggage or shoes sold, yes, LVMH is tiny. In their niche they dominate.
You seem to miss my actual point. You don't need to imagine a conspiracy at Apple to force consumers to buy new phones and laptops all the time by making their products unrepairable. The economics of manufacturing, logistics of supply, and the nature of consumer craving and demand do that for Apple, with no need for a conspiracy. Once Apple secured its spot as the luxury electronics brand they don't have to conspire -- people willingly buy new iPhones every year (they stand in line overnight, in fact) for the status display.
You can write "f off" with money. But Apple is indeed > 50% market share(iPhones, lockin). Of course, you need not care because you have money.
You dont own car. How does it matter here? People are only criticising Apple. Not you.
> though I don't know what ultimately happens to that stuff
A quick google would tell you. So much is crushed.
Every inspiron has replaceable parts.
I don't have a preference about motherboards or SSDs and how much they might cost an imaginary child "not as successful" as me. That has nothing to do with explaining why I think Apple makes their products the way they do. Nor does me explaining why I think Apple does that make me responsible for or complicit in the ethics as you or anyone else might perceive them.
I have paid for numerous computer and phone replacements and repairs for my own children, if that matters. I also volunteered for years at a non-profit that recycles used electronics and gives them to less fortunate people for free. Worthwhile but not something that scales to millions or billions of devices.
You brought up oil companies and cars. Not a great analogy as I pointed out but no one has to buy a car, like no one has to buy an unrepairable Macbook. Choices have consequences. Blaming the generations ahead of you won't do you any good.
If the economies of scale was the issue, apple would have no problem with 3d party repair shops being able to order components to fix customers laptops. But instead, they actively fight against that.
Furthermore the repairs that they provide themselves where they replace components are jacked up in price.
secondly - long repairable lifetimes are direct targets for quick-turnaround profit attacks from ambitious and pressured decision makers. Mature company brand reputation purchased with borrowed cash and a change in the product and the warranty, is common. All that takes is someone with enough attitude to justify it. It is easy to justify, behind closed doors.
Throw away products, long food miles, lock-in service agreements, are consumer goods markets gone wrong.