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Apple Is Fighting A Secret War To Keep You From Repairing Your Phone (huffingtonpost.com)
It's no secret that Apple makes a ton of money by charging 'astronomical' fee for replacing and fixing display and other components of iPhone and iPad (as well as Mac line). For instance, the company charges $599 for replacing the display on the iPad Pro tablet. Which sounds insane when you realize that you can almost certainly purchase a new iPad Pro under $700. And this is what most people do. A Huffington Post article notes that this behavior has contributed significantly in "generating heaps of e-waste." Citing many advocates, the publication claims that Apple has "opposed legislation that could help curb it." From the report: The Huffington Post spoke with politicians in two states who support such legislation, and confirmed through government filings that Apple has lobbied on the issue. Four states -- Minnesota, Nebraska, Massachusetts and New York -- have considered adopting "right to repair" amendments, which would update existing laws regarding the sale of electronic equipment. Amending these laws would make it easier to fix your devices and would help reduce "e-waste," a catch-all term for any electronic detritus. The New York State Senate and Assembly could approve one of these amendments next week. This would help unofficial repair shops get the information they need to fix your iPad, ideally driving down repair costs and encouraging you to squeeze more life out of your old devices -- thus cutting down on the e-waste generated by our voracious appetites for new gadgets. Apple asserts that it helps recycle millions of pounds of electronics equipment every year. But it won't support right to repair amendments.One would ask what is preventing a user from getting their device repaired by unofficial service person? In addition to the security implication, you also run a risk of getting your device bricked by Apple. To recall, the iPhone maker was found bricking the handsets that had been repaired by third-party vendors earlier this year.
The solution is simple: do not be stupid enough to buy anything from Apple in the first place.
Circumcision is child abuse.
Its pretty sad when Apple was one of the first companies to embrace open architecture to see them become such denizens of closed, monolithic devices. The IBM PC probably would not have had expansion slots if they weren't competing against the fully open Apple 2, and the world today would be a much less interesting place for aspiring engineers.
This has been their policy all along. From weird fasteners that require a special "Apple tool" to almost-impossible to obtain spare parts, there's never been any doubt about their intent - maximize AAPL profit at all cost! (To consumers, that is....)
When any other company does something you don't like, you boycott their products. By giving business to their competitors instead of them, they (theoretically) take notice and change their ways to win your business back.
But Apple seems to be a special case here... When Apple does something you don't like, you're allowed to:
- Rant all over the Internet to gain public support
- Sue Apple because of their practices
- Push for regulations and/or legislation to limit their practices
But the one thing you're *never* allowed to do, for some reason, is:
- Actually stop buying Apple products
The most expensive part was picked to highlight the ridiculous amount Apple charge for repair. Catch up slow boy.
The bill of materials and manufacturing cost for an iPad Pro 128GB comes out at approx $370 (according to iHS who are normally spot on). The display component costs Apple $87. The display swap takes a competent technician 10 minutes to perform. So when you pay $599 to have your cracked display replaced you are paying Apple $850 PER HOUR to perform the work and Apple make $510 profit from replacing a cracked screen.
Apple loves these repairs, thats why its trying so hard to prevent 3rd parties from repairing Apple made equipment. Apple actually makes more money repairing an iPad pro than it does from the original sale.
9.7" 128GB iPad Pro Sale & Repair Costs
Sale: Sells @ $749, Costs $370, Profit $379
Screen Replacement: Sells @ $599, Costs $95 inc labour, Profit $504
Home Button Replacement: Sells @ $419 ($379 repair cost + $40 Home Button), Costs $20 inc labour, Profit $399
Other Repair: Minimum Fee of $379 + parts cost (except for batteries)
Thats right the minimum Apple charges for a repair is $379 + P&P, coincidentally exactly the same amount it makes from the sale of a new item.
To recall, the iPhone maker was found bricking the handsets that had been repaired by third-party vendors earlier this year.
Yes, I recall that. I also recall that it was because those third-party repairers were replacing parts of the crypto system without having the tools/expertise necessary to pair the parts they replaced with the ones they didn't. There are plenty of reasons to rant about Apple without misrepresentations like these.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
It all just works, assuming that you only want to use it for whatever apple decides to allow you to do...