The Case of Apple's Mystery Screw

Pickens writes "Network World reports that in the past if you wanted to remove the outer case on your iPhone 4 to replace the battery or a broken screen, you could use a Phillips screwdriver to remove two tiny screws at the base of the phone and then simply slide off the back cover. But now Apple is replacing the outer screw with a mysterious tamper-resistant 'pentalobular' screw across its most popular product lines, making it harder for do-it-yourselfers to make repairs. What about existing products in the field? Pentalobular screws might find their way into them, too. 'Apple's latest policy will make your blood boil,' says Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit. 'If you take your iPhone 4 into Apple for any kind of service, they will sabotage it by replacing your Phillips screws with the new, tamper-resistant screws. We've spoken with the Apple Store geniuses tasked with carrying out this policy, and they are ashamed of the practice.' Of course, only Apple-authorized service technicians have Pentalobular screwdrivers and they're not allowed to resell them. 'Apple sees a huge profit potential,' says Wiens. 'A hundred dollars per year in incremental revenue on their installed base is a tremendous opportunity.'"

Comments

Re:A quick google search

[idontgno]

It doesn't matter that it was *patented* a long time ago.

<pedantic>Well, by your limited criteria, the Phillips screw design is itself a niche design, since it appears to have been patented a long time ago (30s).</pedantic>

I guess what you're really asking is "how many different 'non-standard' 'security' fasteners are there on the market?"

Patent would be relevant only if it were recent enough to be enforceable, making licensing of the design a viable protection for the exclusivity of the tools to work with it. In other words, if Apple invented a novel fastener design that included a patented tool to work with it, and then never licensed the design of the tool to anyone. That way, the fastener could only be worked using an Apple branded tool, presumably kept securely in authorized service settings and used only by authorized service personnel. Which means that DIY becomes impossible without some theft or subterfuge.