Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac: Apple’s Activation Lock for iPhone components will make a huge dent in the market for stolen iPhones, though it introduces another barrier to DIY repairs — Apple’s latest theft-prevention measure went live for beta testers yesterday: Activation Lock for iPhone components.
So it’s a win/win from their perspective.
I’m fine with this as long as they make good quality replacement parts. Not forcing repair shops to really try to scrub down a 50¢ sensor for an hour that detects when a MacBook is closed because there is no way to get a replacement 1st party or 3rd party
The problem is that you cannot use old devices for spare parts anymore and must buy and register everything from apple.
While annoying from a right to repair perspective, I do think this will be a good thing overall. There is a whole industry for snatching phones and getting them turned into parts.
In my city, go to the sketchy grocery stores and there are machines that you can just put a phone in and get cash for it. Pretty much no questions asked. Crackheads and tweakers on main street will smatch a thousand dollar phone out of someone hands so they can get $100 so someone can sell all the parts for a few hundred. I feel a pang of anger every time I see someone using one of those machines.
It’s kind of a simular to how there is an underworld for cadaleidic converters. I guess the government can try to make laws trying to somehow regulate used phone parts, but I’m not sure how that’d actually be effective.
What’s the barrier to DIY repair?
It is because people can’t buy stolen parts anymore?
Third-party parts: You are limited to parts acknowledged by apple. They will be more expensive for no reason and you will therefore be less inclined to repair your own device.
Artificial rarity:
They will be more rare and therefore you will be less inclined to repair.Rare and overworked repair centers:
There will be a limited selection of repair stores, potentially entirely limited to the “genius bars” because of hurdles apple puts out and therefore you will be less inclined to repair.Also additional point-of-failure:
Phones fail more often because every single part now has additional complexity.On the other side the additional security against stealing:
Assumed, until a pairing software is stolen from an apple store, until people figure out how to read and fake this, or until people find ways to circumvent this in an unforeseen way.That is some seriously gish gallop. Nothing you’ve said is based on reality.
Do you want to go into any kind of detail?
In the past, Apple has locked components to the phone by requiring proprietary pairing software to enable the use of these parts that only Apple technicians can access. This means that Apple gets a cut of any repairs and prevents you from doing repairs on your own for some components.
Ok and this specific change adds to that in what way?
Now the parts need additional registration at apple at the time of the pairing, I assume.
Why not just lock out the serial numbers for parts from phones that have been reported as stolen?
How about lowering the cost to prevent stealing? No way in hell an iphone cost 1200 eur to make. Plus since they make “the best hardware and software” everyone will want one and this will increase pressure on competitors to improve their products aswell.
While cheaper phones would be great, this is not how economics work.
Good. The benefit outweighs the cost by a huge margin.
You might see a few butt-hurts nerd-raging over self-repair, but the problem associated with worldwide stolen phones and Frankenstein iPhone units is a much bigger issue than a few insulated incels wanting to self-repair their iPhones.
No one is getting stabbed in a subway station over self-repair.
(And that’s all based on the assumption it may impact self-repair, it’s still in beta)
Were you trying to formulate that as inflammatorily as possible?
