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iPad Mini Makes Two Common Repairs 'Unnecessarily Difficult,' Says iFixit (cnet.com)

Posted by msmash on from the duh dept.

Apple has released the fifth-generation iPad Mini. So, of course, the repair experts at iFixit needed to tear it apart. From a report: The new 7.9 inch tablet, launched two weeks ago, sticks to its roots as a revamp of the iPad Mini 4, according to iFixit's teardown published Tuesday. One notable change is the battery connector design, which could prevent people trying to fix a device from accidentally killing the backlight during a repair, according to iFixit. The iFixit team calls this tweak "nifty!"

iFixit also noted that both the screen and battery are difficult to remove. The removal of the display, in particular, if not done carefully, could compromise the Touch ID technology. "Battery and screen replacements are the two most common repairs, and the iPad Mini makes both unnecessarily difficult," iFixit said. "The battery lacks pull-to-remove adhesive tabs, and the display requires a tricky removal of the home button if you want to keep Touch ID after your repair."

14 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. The Hallmark of great design... by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 4, Insightful

    is ease to maintain.

    --
    Greed is the root of all evil.
    1. Re:The Hallmark of great design... by FFOMelchior · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The greatest design is what reaches the intended goal. For Apple, it's putting more $$$ in their pocket. So, this design is perfect as intended.

    2. Re:The Hallmark of great design... by Tablizer · · Score: 2

      is ease to maintain.

      Then let's bring back the Model T.

      --
      Table-ized A.I.
  2. Are we used anything else? by ReneR · · Score: 2

    from a company which also permanently disables too low charged MacBook batteries, ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?... and unrepairable AirPods et al?

  3. Like what exactly? by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    What "great designs" are there that are super easy to maintain?

    Maybe great design is a combination of a lot of factors, sometimes optimizing things like repairability over others, sometimes not.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Like what exactly? by TomGreenhaw · · Score: 5, Interesting

      A couple examples come to my mind. The toilet :-) The IBM PC-AT. It amazes me that the basic mechanical design for many PCs is essentially the same today as it was in 1984.

      Many more really good examples are old cars and military equipment. Its a shame today that we accept products that are not designed to last and be maintained. The critical factor is profit and cost and I think we as consumers deserve better and we as engineers are responsible to make it so.

      --
      Greed is the root of all evil.
    2. Re:Like what exactly? by zlives · · Score: 3, Interesting

      what is interesting to me is that the repair typically is more profitable business than the profit margin on a typical product. however the manufacturer can't control the entirety of the profit as some choose to self repair or don;t go back to manufacturer for repair.
      also it really has a lot to do with showing growth in the market rather than profit.

    3. Re:Like what exactly? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What "great designs" are there that are super easy to maintain?

      Here is a simple car example:

      One of the most common self maintenance tasks that you can perform on your own car is an oil change. On most cars, the oil filter is located somewhere low on the engine, often requiring that you raise the car to get underneath.

      I have two late model Subarus. Both of them have the oil filter up on top of the engine, right there when you open the hood. They are installed on top of a round tray that will catch any drops of oil when you remove the filter. The job can be done with no tools and no oily mess. On my Outback, even the oil drain plug is conveniently located near the front of the engine, just behind the front bumper. You can do the entire oil change job with the car sitting on the garage floor.

      It is a really small thing, but it makes a real difference in the time, effort and mess it makes to change the oil.

  4. Tax it by nightfire-unique · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I will single-issue-vote for any representative that promises to table and/or support legislation adding a stiff tax on products based on an e-waste assessment.

    Wear items, such as batteries, glued into the device? 50% recycling tax.

    Non-standard fasteners (ie. Torx with an anti-tamper pin)? 75% recycling tax.

    Cryptographic challenges preventing the use of replacement parts, kernels, roms, etc? 100% recycling tax.

    If any legislators are reading this comment: I will vote for you if you push right-to-repair legislation, no matter what else you stand for.

    --
    A government is a body of people notably ungoverned - AC
    1. Re:Tax it by larryjoe · · Score: 4, Informative

      I will single-issue-vote for any representative that promises to table and/or support legislation adding a stiff tax on products based on an e-waste assessment.

      Tangential comment: It may be surprising to most English speakers, but the word "table" in the above context has exactly opposite meanings in the UK and the US. The above phrase in the UK means to "submit (a bill, etc) for consideration by a legislative body" whereas in the US, it means to "suspend discussion of (a bill, etc) indefinitely or for some time". During a recent conversation, my English friend and I were really confused for a while until we figured out what the other person meant.

  5. Re: on the right to repair... by guruevi · · Score: 2

    That has nothing to do with free markets though. Government has a function, namely to protect me from you to a certain extent as well as to provide emergency and common life-supporting services. Where the boundaries between community and personal service lie is up to (some) debate but government shouldn't be targeting particular industries or individuals in any direction.

    Government is generally bad at everything, they should not get involved in the details of the market because they are too slow and bureaucratic to do anything timely. They should make sure the markets operate as fair as possible though.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  6. Apple lies, customers needlessly lose data by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 2

    Check out this Louis Rossman video. Apple flat-out lies about being able to salvage data off of damaged phones. Independent repair shop cites a 95% success rate in doing so, while Apple's only response is "all your photos are gone forever. Buy a new phone."

    When she tried to help grieving people on the Apple forums, they banned her. She can find nothing in the TOS that disallows what she said.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  7. Apple make hard to repair products by DarkRookie2 · · Score: 2

    In other news today, water is wet.

    --
    http://progressquest.com/spoltog.php?name=Son+Of+Son+Of+DarkRookie
  8. The fall of Apple post-Jobs. by MobyDisk · · Score: 2

    iPad Mini Makes Two Common Repairs 'Unnecessarily Difficult,' Says iFixit

    What a disappointment. If Steve jobs was still running the company, he would have made sure that *three* common repairs were unnecessarily difficult!