zoetmb

IMO, both sides of the argument have valid points.   Apple had made repairs increasingly difficult and there's no reason why authorized third-party repair shops can't exist.  As I've written many times before, I think Apple's current approach to MBP computers, where the users can't change battery, memory or storage is a poor design and IMO, is unethical.  My old late 2008 MBP was fantastic in this regard.    IMO, it's absurd that I can't upgrade storage on my late 2016 MBP.   There's no reason why Apple couldn't have used standard storage on a plug.   There's also no reason why a third-party retailer shouldn't be able to switch out a battery.  If it makes the machine a little thicker, so be it. 

On the other hand, the components have become so dense and so sophisticated that many things can't be fixed and especially not by a third party.  

IFixIt obviously has a vested interest in selling tools and repair parts, but they also have a point:  Apple should not be designing their products purposely so they have a monopoly on repairs.   I don't have to have my car repaired by the original dealer and I shouldn't have to bring my computer/phone only to Apple and Apple shouldn't be building complexity, which raises repair costs, solely to maintain a repair monopoly,  

I recently brought my iPhone6 to Apple where they replaced the battery for $29 and without me asking, cleaned the port (which I had previously tried to do myself, to no avail) and now the phone and charging is working like a brand new phone.  That's more than fair.  

My late 2016 MBP experienced a screen failure, but luckily it was still under warranty.  Apple fixed it in a day.   But if it hadn't been under warranty, the repair would have been close to $1K.

In the past, when Apple was smaller than it is today, they always gave us great support beyond what they had to do.   My son-in-law had a G4 tower in which the power supply kept failing.  After it failed for the fourth time, they just gave him a G5.   My daughter had a MacBook that her infant daughter damaged by pulling the screen down and breaking the hinges.  It still worked, but they had to support the screen with books or whatever.   Apple said it wasn't worth fixing as it would cost more than the machine.  Then the video died completely.  My daughter brought it in and asked them just to fix the video.   She got it back and they fixed everything and she freaked out because she thought she was going to get a huge credit card bill for the full repair.  But Apple fixed the entire thing for free.     I had a few other incidences like that.  But now that Apple has become so large and according to the published articles here, there's also a lot of fraud, I think they've become a lot less flexible.   

The man is a self-centered, egotistical idiot whose ramblings are largely insane and IMO, there's no reason to publish anything that he says.   

This is a ridiculous case and it should have been thrown out.   Any business has the right to charge a fee for the products that it sells and any business has the right to demand exclusivity when the products are built using their platform and tools.    But let's say the developers win their case and they win the right to sell their apps outside of the App Store.  What do they think is going to happen?  Apple will simply start charging royalties to use their platform and/or development tools that will amount to the same fees, possibly even higher fees.   

I know they believe the 30% is onerous, but if they were selling a physical product to physical retailers or distributors, like Ingram Micro-D, what do they think the wholesale price would be?  It would be 45% to 55% below list.    They would get even less.   And even selling virtually, Amazon wouldn't give them a very good deal either.   The only thing they'd be able to do to their advantage would be to sell the product themselves without giving Apple a cut, but as I wrote above, Apple would simply change the model and charge royalties and development tool fees.  

Weill Huawei just provided the only sensible reason to wait on line for an iPhone.   Otherwise, I think people who hang out in long lines for hours when they could wait a few weeks or order online is simply nuts.    But I'm glad to see that this incredible time (and money) waster is not limited to stupid Americans.    Anyone who gets so off on having a new phone on the first day of release has some serious problems IMO.  

Personally, I just had Apple replace the battery ($29) on my iPhone6 and they also must have cleaned out the Lightning jack because it's once again working great now.  I expect the new phones to be quite nice, but rather than spending $1000, I'll keep the 6 for another year.    Maybe next year will be more than incremental changes.  

ireland said:

I’ve still yet to hear a good explanation for why Xr larger than Xs.

We're talking only 1.9 sq in difference in area (0.29" in height and 0.19" in width").  IMO, it's inconsequential.   I don't know the reason why it's different, but since the screens use different technology, I bet it has to do with what the suppliers were able to provide.