JBK

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JBK
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  • Apple's 'longevity by design' initiative is a balance between repairability & secure engin...

    So to summarize several responses, as long as your Apple device works, great, but if it breaks, Apple is under no obligation to make it possible, easy or inexpensive to repair. 

    That pretty much is my point. Everthing breaks - that's life. Less susceptable to breakage doesn't mean impervious and if it breaks and can't be repaired it becomes e-waste. 

    I believe Apple could make different design choices that prioritized longevity AND repairabilty. I believe it is a false choice to say one OR the other, especailly when their products are so notoriously difficult to repair.  There are any number article and videos from experienced and/or authorized Apple technicians that demonstrate this. (iFixit, Hugh Jeffries, etc) 

    Apple could make repairs and parts less expensive and easy to obtain for older deivces.  Apple could make it easier to scavenge parts from other damaged devices rather than chip locking them or provide a method to unlock the parts for salvage so repair shops can reuse them.

    I think the reason they don't do any of this is that they are not fianacially repsonible for the full life cycle of their products and the impact of the waste they create.

    My comment on soldered RAM and soldered or proprietary SSDs was really aimed at desktops & laptops, not phones. Here, tech advances produce faster, cheaper and more durable options in the years after a laptop/desktop is manufuctured. Upgradeability can add years to the usable service life.  It is only since 2017 that Apple made this impossible.  And certainly phones could do with upgradable storage (micro SD?), though RAM might be trickier. (size, power consumption, etc) 





    muthuk_vanalingamavon b7williamlondonVictorMortimer
  • Apple's 'longevity by design' initiative is a balance between repairability & secure engin...

    " a set of design principles that help resolve tensions between repairability and other important factors"
    *Chief among "other important factors" are profit and maintaining a closed ecosystem*

    "
    Due to the potential risks involved, Apple justifies its use of genuine Apple parts for repairs"
    Sure, except that Apple stops supplying parts to slightly out of date products, making it impossible to restore full functionality to older devices with aftermarket parts, and makes the available OEM parts so expensive that it is not cost effective to repair.

    "
    It believes that prioritizing product longevity instead of repairability create "meaningful reductions in environmental impact."
    Greenwashing. Woe to those with broken devices. 

    I don't believe Apple is prioritizing reapairablitity or the right to repair in any meaningful way - just barely enough to keep the EU off its back and that's it. The amount of e-wate created by too-expensive-to-repair Apple products is staggering.

    By keeping a stranglehold on parts, locking sets of parts to a single device, requiring expensive repair tools and severely restricting the ability to perform after market upgrades (soldered RAM and soldered or proprietary SSDs) Apple is driving consumers to expensive AppleCare or even more expensive new products while driving down the aftermarket value of their products.  Apple is cynically creating prematurely obsolete e-waste with their design choices.




    muthuk_vanalingambeowulfschmidtwilliamlondonVictorMortimer