Comment by tombert

15 hours ago

I dunno, my wife has has the same iPhone 11 Pro Max since 2020. She had to get the battery replaced once at an Apple store, which I believe cost $99, and it took like thirty minutes and it wasn't that hard.

I'll admit it's a little annoying that I have to pay a hundred bucks to get the battery replaced, but the phone is otherwise fine and still gets updates, so I don't know that I buy that it's "planned obsolescence".

7 comments

tombert

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johanyc  15 hours ago

It's planned obsolescence through price. Your wife paid >50% of the phone's value just to replace the battery. Many people won't think that's worth it. It could have been a $30 user replaceable battery.

  • bitmasher9  9 hours ago

    Or she spent 7% of the purchase price of a new device to defer requiring to upgrade for another 3 years.

    $100 is worth it, but you can get a good discount by going to that one mall kiosk instead of the Apple Store.

    • Alpha3031  3 hours ago

      > you can get a good discount by going to that one mall kiosk instead of the Apple Store.

      Apple actively impeded third-party repair shops though. Oregon had to outlaw parts pairing for them to change that practice.

AdrianB1  15 hours ago

Imagine you can order a battery from Apple for $20 and you swap it in 1 minute: less money, less time, user satisfaction++.

  • DocTomoe  10 hours ago

    But that's not what the regulation is saying, is it?

    It says

    * replaceable with 'commercially available tools' (which means: Apple could just sell you a 'iphone battery replacment tool kit for 1000 Euros)

    * has excemptions for high-cycle / long-lived batteries

    * ... nothing about the price of the battery (which can be 1000 Euros)

    * ... or that the battery/the battery's form factor can't be trademarked, essentially locking you into 'Apple batteries' and preventing aftermarket ones.

    Also, I'd rather have a less bulky phone with fewer mechanical parts that can break as compared to a more user-maintainable. Because of 'high-security' software (think: banking apps, or - I assume - the soon-to-be-released EUId wallet), the thing is basically worthless after four years anyways and needs replacement.

    I'd wager that ... nothing at all will change in 2027.