Apple doesn't want you to repair your phone, and they're going to court to stop you

William Gayde

Posts: 382   +5
Staff

Apple devices are notoriously tricky to repair. Legitimate replacement parts are nearly impossible to purchase, many internal components are glued or use tamper-proof construction, and service manuals are rarely available. Nebraska and seven other states are now considering "right to repair" legislation to solve all three of these issues. An unidentified source within the legislature told Motherboard that Apple is planning on fighting the upcoming bill in court.

The source has stated that Apple and AT&T will both testify against the Nebraska bill on March 9th. Among their planned arguments are claims that "consumers who repair their own phones could cause lithium batteries to catch fire."

Independent repair shops around the nation formed the Repair.org trade organization to help advance the right to repair legislation. As expected, the tech industry has heavily lobbied against it in their hopes to gain a monopoly on the repair of their devices. The organization helped successfully pass an automobile repair law back in 2012, and now their sights are set on the tech industry.

Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

To combat this constant pressure, the repair community has been using a shotgun approach. They file requests in numerous states and hope corporations don't want to deal with the required paperwork to stop them. The hope is that if a law is passed in at least one state, rather than deal with the varying laws, manufacturers will just implement the change across their whole line.

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Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?
 
Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?

Isn't that what Apples business model is based on? Nanning consumers and telling them what to do.
 
Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?

What's funny is I've seen countless iPhones with chunks of glass missing from being dropped and people are still using the phones. If Apple is so worried about people getting hurt by the glass, they should use glass that doesn't chip away from the bezel areas so easily. Unless seeing behind the glass is a feature I don't know about.
 
Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?
Agreed. I have always felt once I buy something I can do whatever the hell I want with it. And if I break it or hurt myself while tampering with it or using it in some way not intended it to be used, it's my own damn fault.
 
Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?

Absolutely agreed. I should be able to take my phone wherever I please to be repaired. That being said, I would also agree with the post that stated they shouldn't use glass that chips away from the phone so easily. It is astonishing how many Iphone's I see in this state. That being said, If I want to repair my own phone at the risk of blowing myself up, well...
 
Quite sad. They should have modeled repairs after the Auto industry where literally millions of jobs sprung up to support the industry products (aka cars & trucks), like tire, radiator, transmission and engine repairs. Then there was the after-market products which is nearly as large as the base product line. Small wonder that the unindented consequence is perpetually low GDP.
 
"consumers who repair their own phones could cause lithium batteries to catch fire."
"Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others."

Yup send it to africa so kids can burn 'em instead, that won't hurt anyone.
 
This is not a good path to tread. If Apple wins, it could set a president that other manufactures in all industries will follow. If we can't repair our own stuff there are only a few choices left. 1) Take it to a certified, authorized repair shop (think car repair here and how expensive it is). 2) Do without. 3) buy a new one. The latter being the option I believe they want you to take so they can sell more. 4) break their stupid law and do it anyway.

I have always hated Apple and when I broke down and finally bought a 4S because it was a better performing phone at the time, it wasn't a bad device, I still didn't like the company. However, when they released iOS9 it bricked my phone and I was so mad, I went to Android.
It's moves like this that make me hate the company even more. Who the hell do they think they are!?
 
"As expected, the tech industry has heavily lobbied against it in their hopes to gain a monopoly on the repair of their devices"

I don't claim to know the ins and outs on the rules of libel, but surely accusing companies of deliberately trying to create a monopoly is accusing them of committing a crime, and I'm fairly sure you aren't allowed to legally do that unless you have clear evidence to back up such claims.

Perhaps someone with more experience working in journalism could correct me, but it seems that way to me.
 
There used to be a federal regulation that auto and truck manufacturers had to publish user and repair manuals for their products. They weren't free (pretty expensive as I recall) but quite helpful when , say, a wiring diagram or torque spec. was needed.

I haven't seen anything like that from Detroit in quite awhile although Milwaukee still offers a 3-pack of Service/Repair, Electrical and Parts manuals for their Harley-Davidson motorcycles and have published them for many years. They are also not free (is anything associated with Harley?)
 
This is not a good path to tread. If Apple wins, it could set a president that other manufactures in all industries will follow. If we can't repair our own stuff there are only a few choices left. 1) Take it to a certified, authorized repair shop (think car repair here and how expensive it is). 2) Do without. 3) buy a new one. The latter being the option I believe they want you to take so they can sell more. 4) break their stupid law and do it anyway.

, I still didn't like the company. However, when they released iOS9 it bricked my phone and I was so mad, I went to Android.
It's moves like this that make me hate the company even more. Who the hell do they think they are!?
This tactic is something other sectors of consumer goods have taken steps to enforce. I've been told that new Suzuki motorcycles have proprietary, patented tires sizes, so you can't replace them with anything but, "genuine Suzuki parts"!

The fact of the matter is, since the release of mobile phones, we've had generations of people born without the ability to simply keep their f***ing mouths shut.

They're conditioned to paying $200.00 phone bills, so whatever else Apple or the phone companies have in store for them, they're too addicted to stand up against.

Or as I believe they're trained to say while being disciplined in the armed forces, "thank you sir, may I have another".
 
I owned Apple stock over ten years ago when they were making money hand over fist with ipods and iTunes, don't ever recall getting a dividend check.

They have actually only issued a few and those have been over the past 5 years .... but I'm looking forward to the next one! LOL
 
Among their planned arguments are claims that "consumers who repair their own phones could cause lithium batteries to catch fire."

That's a weak argument. If I was the judge or one of the judges I'd be like... "cough, cough, well... then make better batteries that won't catch fire no matter what."
 
That's a weak argument. If I was the judge or one of the judges I'd be like... "cough, cough, well... then make better batteries that won't catch fire no matter what."
If I were the judge; I'd say "If you are that incompetent and can't work on them without causing a fire, you shouldn't have been working on them to begin with".
 
Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?
Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?
Apple and other manufacturers have argued in the past that it's unsafe to repair your own devices. Lobbyists have claimed that broken glass can harm consumers who try to repair their screen, among others.

It is not the job of Apple or any other corporation to nanny consumers.

Can you imagine the outrage if Ford slapped tamper-proof wiper blades on their cars because consumers could poke themselves in the eye mishandling a wiper blade?
Well said
 
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