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Apple Taken To Court For Refusing To Fix Devices (bbc.com)
Australia's consumer watchdog has begun legal action against Apple over claims it refused to repair iPads and iPhones previously serviced by third parties. From a report on BBC: It alleges that Apple made "false, misleading, or deceptive representations" about consumers' rights under Australian law. The case follows complaints that users were "routinely refused" repairs after an error disabled their devices. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) began an investigation after users complained about Apple's so-called "error 53", which disabled some users' devices after they downloaded an update to their operating system.
If your phone has the "touch disease" Apple will admit its their fault and fix it for you for $149. Of course you get a refurbished board and minimal warranty. Apple cheapened up the phone and didn't solder a metal shield to the board that reinforced against flexing. Now they used some foil tape as a shield. However 3rd party companies will fix it the right way, reflow the chip and solder on a shield. They even offer a better warranty than Apple!
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
Actually, in the US, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act makes it illegal for any company to void your warranty if you open up a device and repair it yourself, or have a third party do so. Or using third party replacement parts. It covers any item that costs over $15. But since most people don't know this, most companies have gotten away with it.
"As someone who owns 2 iPads older than that..."
I wasn't aware that there was an iPad before the 1st generation one. WTF are you talking about?
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
they voided the warranty by taking it to an iFixit shop
No matter what their TOS says, that's illegal. See Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act in the US.
turned out to be incompatible with an OS upgrade they knew was bound to happen
Incompatible = Apple deciding to block fingerprint readers with a different ID than originally came with the phone. A security move that only makes sense during the initial design - not when done after the phone is out there. It was a valid repair and the iPhone offers no way to pair with a new fingerprint reader except by Apple (which is just as bad as putting a chip on a printer cartridge and should be illegal).