Right to repair has no cannier, more dedicated adversary than Apple, a company whose most innovative work is dreaming up new ways to sneakily sabotage electronics repair while claiming to be a caring environmental steward, a lie that covers up the mountains of e-waste that Apple dooms our descendants to wade through.
Why does Apple hate repair so much? It’s not that they want to poison our water and bodies with microplastics; it’s not that they want to hasten the day our coastal cities drown; it’s not that they relish the human misery that accompanies every gram of conflict mineral. They aren’t sadists. They’re merely sociopathically greedy.
Tim Cook laid it out for his investors: when people can repair their devices, they don’t buy new ones. When people don’t buy new devices, Apple doesn’t sell them new devices.
A few weeks ago, when news broke that Apple had changed from opposing California’s right to repair bill to supporting it, and the entire tech media was falling over itself to uncritically report on it, I instinctively knew something was up. Supporting right to repair was so uncharacteristic of Apple and Tim Cook, I just knew something was off. It turns out I was right.
Instead of relying on the lack of right to repair laws, Apple is simply making it so that using any parts not approved by Apple in a repair would make your Apple device not function properly. They do so by VIN-locking, or parts-pairing as it’s called in the tech industry, parts, and if the device’s SoC detects that an unapproved repair is taking place, the device simply won’t accept it, even if genuine Apple parts are being used. Trying to circumvent this parts-pairing violates the DMCA – and the DMCA is federal law, while California’s right to repair bill it state law, meaning the DMCA overrules it.
Doctorow lists various other things Apple does to limit your ability to repair devices, such as claiming to “recycle” devices when you return them to Apple, only for the company to shred them instead to prevent their parts from making it into the repair circuit. Apple also puts tiny serial numbers on every single part, so that even when devices are scrapped for parts, usually in Asia, Apple can work together with US Customs to intercept and destroy these fully working parts when they enter the US.
So, Apple supporting California’s right to repair bill is entirely and utterly meaningless and hollow. It’s all for show, for the optics, to mislead the gullible 20-somethings in the tech media.
I knew something was up, and I was right.
Big corporation evading leaky regulations and legally doesn’t need to comply because it found a way out? How could that be? But all smaller companies need to comply. This is how regulations work.
On the basis that the article is also correct and has been critically assessed, is anyone really surprised by this?
cpcf,
Nobody should even raise an eyebrow at this point. It’s news for people living under a rock, haha.
that’s why Apple Cuts off support for the older devices, to FORCE people to upgrade. For example, why can’t the Mac Pro 2008 work with the new OS, because THEY say it don’t support the new OS technologies, But, if you load Windows or LINUX on it, It works Fine with those systems. So What is the Excuse? Apple.
Far from me to defend Apple, but on the specific issue of supporting old devices with new software its is not as simple as you put it. For a company to say a certain device support a certain OS version, it must pass a full suite of internal tests; on top f that they need to fully verify old drivers still work and make a custom install image removing any feature that cannot be supported for the lack of dedicated hardware. Many think that if it boots version XX, then fine, it is fully supported, but that is not how, as a company, you can support an old device on a specific release of software.
It is like those who complains that android devices are deliberately left behind by manufacturer, but the device is actually “perfectly capable” of running the new android version. Have you ever tried such perfect porting ? Battery dies quickly, phone gets hot just by browsing a web page and a ton of minor bugs.
Why can’t the 2008 Mac Pro work with a new OS? Probably no real reason.
But bear in mind the 2008 Mac Pro is 15 years old. There’s 5 year old laptops with more processing power than a maxed out 2008 Mac Pro.
Hmm, this article is more like an opinion looking for confirmation. For some reason, this toot by Hector Martin (starter of Asahi Linux) hasn’t gotten a lot of attention:
https://social.treehouse.systems/@marcan/110803356645502548
In short: pairing is done for calibration purposes, not other reasons.
He also makes an excellent point: Apple should be lambasted for not providing the tools necessary to recalibrate and pair new parts, not for the pairing/calibration itself which is part of their (in his opinion) superior engineering and design. He agrees that Apple is anti-repair, but not for the assumptions made in the article sourced here.
Thanks for the link – reality of hi-tech production is always more complex than what we can imagine, we are no longer in the 90’s where you can mix and match whatever pieces you like,
There are some “pairing” though that indeed hurt me a lot more than apple: Sony and Microsoft are deliberately pairing all components of their latest generation consoles. You cannot swap optical drives between two PS5’s or Xbox X’s because each motherboard is paired with a specific drive. And in that case i guess the official excuse is just to enforce piracy protection and stuff like that.
But yes, it is only Apple that is against right to repair.
enryfox,
You literally can though, even with apple products. The *only* thing that’s stopping them from working is apple DRM that is getting added to more parts.
You literally can though, even with apple products. The *only* thing that’s stopping them from working is apple DRM that is getting added to more parts.
and this statement is based on what, gut feelings ?
I work in a TLC company and we sell TLC equipment; every module we sell goes through a lengthy calibration process to meet its design specification. You cannot swap components, the module is calibrated as a whole. Calibration requires dedicated hardware and an approved process, otherwise the module is out of specs. I was not aware those procedures were now applied to consumer electronics, but it makes perfect sense.
Another reason for pairing, is the huge market of counterfeit parts; see what is happening now with the bogus parts being discovered in airplane engines all over the world. Do you fly safe if you know your ariplane engines are not using parts approved by the manufacturer ?
enryfox,
No, the fact that apple phones were repairable until apple started adding DRM to block repairs.
Define “TLC company”? This is not a calibration problem, it’s a DRM problem. The whole repair process is available on youtube.
Even if you want to take the calibration diversion at face value…fine then. Any developer worth their salt would be able to solve these calibration sync problems without any of the superficial hoops they’re putting repair shops through. The only steps should be. 1) Repair device using working spares 2) Run the calibration sync app 3) Return to customer. None of the other bullshit is justifiable under the calibration excuse. To pretend that apple are unable to come up with a better solution is frankly an insult to apple engineering. Of course apple can fix this if they wanted We shouldn’t be so blind as to miss that the reason the process is so poor is that the superficial hoops were apple’s goal and not a byproduct that apple doesn’t know how to fix.
I’m going to ignore the whataboutism and just stick to apple repairs. Off brand parts aren’t illegal, there’s nothing unethical about a shop and owner opting for off brand repair parts. Obviously apple wouldn’t warranty said repair, but they don’t warranty 3rd party repairs when using authentic parts anyway. So unless the parts are counterfeits (ie being sold under a false name), it’s really none of apple’s business if consumers want to repair their phones with off brand parts.
That said though, there would be much less pushback from right to repair advocates if apple’s DRM only allowed repairs that used authentic parts. But it doesn’t! Even when using authentic parts, apple are still blocking repairs! This is a huge problem for 3rd party repair shops and it should be flat out illegal for dominant companies to do this because it grants them a very unfair mechanism by which to control competitors.
Replying to you post of 2023-09-26 8:16 pm:
Define “TLC company”? This is not a calibration problem, it’s a DRM problem. The whole repair process is available on youtube.
The internet connection you are using to write on this forum is surely going through equipment we sell,
I witnessed a MacBook repair years ago done by an authorized on-site technicians (planar board replacement) and it required a full set of on-line tests before the laptop could be handled back to me, Also the tools required to open up the laptop without damaging it were also quite expensive, the type of expense a third party repair would easily skip.
And authorized third party repair shops do exist here in Europe, i just recently had my wife macbook air repaired with original apple parts by an authorized repair centre,
You also have the assumption that everyone but apple is honest: third party repair shops would make a living on out-of-warranty repairs and they cannot charge the actual price of original parts otherwise nobody would repair a 2+ years old device. To make a repair reasonably cheap they would cut corners everywhere, on procedures, on tests and on spare. Unofficial spares are typically very low quality, otherwise they cost exactly as the original parts and that would not make sense, If for me as user there is no way to tell if my phone has been repaired with original parts or not, how would i know if the price i paid is legit or a fraud ?
On top of that, used apple stuff has a certain retail value – if it still is all original. Again what would prevent someone from repairing a trashed phone with unofficial cheap parts and sold it used at standard apple second hand prices ?
That being said I’m all in for repairability – i myself repair vintage stuff. But that is 10+ years old devices for which there are no more authentic spare parts. As an example i hate the fact that screws have gone out of fashion in favor of glue or adhesive: that makes opening stuff very risky and it is easily damaged beyond repair just when you try to access the piece to repair.
enryfox,
Are you trying to be vague on purpose? I guess I won’t get a direct answer, but even so I don’t see what telecom equipment has to do with apple product repair-ability?
That goes both ways, you assume apple are honest, when in fact some sometimes they are less honest and significantly less qualified than 3rd party experts that do tech repairs. Apple’s earned a reputation for ripping off customers with completely unnecessary replacements rather than basic repairs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XneTBhRPYk
Many consumers were convinced to simply buy a new product rather than pay apple for expensive repairs. Of course anybody can see why apple as a company wouldn’t bother repairing parts and simply replace them: they can hire much less skilled employees who are not qualified to do board repairs, and they can bill customers more too. And you know what, I’m actually ok with this as long as apple are competing fairly in a free market. The free market naturally promotes those who offer the best service and value, which is exactly how it should be! If apple’s earns a reputation for rip offs, that’s entirely on them and when a consumer turns down apple’s unaffordable repairs and finds a competitor with better prices and reputation, then great this is the free market working and we need to embrace it! But it’s extremely troubling that apple’s response to 3rd parties doing a better job than they can has been a strategy of market interference. This shouldn’t be allowed to stand!!
Why throw the baby out with the bath water? There’s no problem with an app that allows owners to authenticate their parts. That’s a great tool to offer and in fact I wouldn’t mind seeing more manufacturers have one. Likewise there’s no problem with apple selling authentic parts for 3rd party repairers to stock. This should be encouraged, but unfortunately apple themselves have been the main impediment to this, interfering with the free market to push it’s anti-repair agenda.
So then wouldn’t you should agree that apple should be selling authentic repair parts to repair stores that need them for future repairs? After all just because apple declares something EOL doesn’t mean others should be forced to stop repairs. We should also need to see apple’s DRM for what it is, an anti-repair mechanism designed to control the market rather than to benefit consumers.
I’ve written a pretty long run on sentence there, haha.
Bring back edit!
doekman,
I don’t think it holds water. I’ve seen the videos of those using apple repair tools and they didn’t perform any calibration, Calibration does not require DRM and at this point it’s undeniable and unambiguous that Apple really are designing their products to suit their DRM anti-repair agenda. But even to the extent we drink the “apple aren’t trying to block repairs” coolaid, calibration is not a legitimate excuse to withhold the “calibration software” from those attempting repairs.
@Alfman.
100% agree, pairing is a market defence scheme not a technical requirement.
The absurdity of the claim is exposed if you flip the debate and have a supplier tell Apple they have to test and pair components for Apples product to work correctly, they would be out the door as a supplier due to the overheads that would impose on Apples production.
One thing I don’t understand: Isn’t the whole point of “Right to Repair” legislation that the OEM has to tell third-party repair shops how to do the same repairs the OEM provides? Sure, there might be some upfront cost on OEM-specific tooling and software (which must be reasonable), but it can work, right?
People repairing iPhones in their kitchens are not a big crowd (not in this age of glued-shut phones). It’s the existence of third-party repair shops that is essential to prevent an OEM monopoly on repair.
kurkosdr,
I agree with your points. And upfront costs are expected, but this isn’t the problem though. The problem is in the way apple uses DRM to keep repairs from working unless repair shops go through apple’s extremely inefficient system designed to make 3rd party repairs significantly more expensive and far less efficient than they could be (and in fact than they used to be). For example customers used to be able to get same day repairs for things like cracked screens. It used to take less than an hour for a trained technician to do it, but now with apple’s DRM getting in the way, it’s more likely to take a few days at least. Once a customer drops off a phone, only then can they order new parts for it from apple using the phone’s serial number. Wait at least a few days for apple to ship it and for snail mail to deliver it. Only then can they physical perform the repair. A clever repair shop could just order several repair parts they don’t need to build up stock for future repairs, but apple thought of that…the DRM continues to block the repair even after authentic replacement parts have been installed. It won’t work until the repair tech calls up apple’s hotline, waits patiently on hold for a while, until an operator is available to perform remote activation. And as part of this process the operating explicitly checks that the serial number of the part being activated is valid for the device serial number it was ordered for. At this point the activation goes through and after a device reboot the DRM gets official authorization from apple to complete the repair and stop throwing errors. Apple’s process ensures that repair shops cannot stock official repair parts nor use authentic parts from donor devices. The DRM won’t accept them and this has been demonstrated by several phone repair youtube channels.
This is not mere incompetence, apple knows what they are doing and they know that repair DRM sucks. It’s the intentional sabotage of 3rd party repair businesses that apple never truly wanted to help in earnest beyond lip service to the right to repair folks.
I see. Basically they will let you order the part and tell you how to “activate” it, but they will force you to order it in a piecemeal fashion, because the part has to be “tailored” (I am using the word sarcastically) to the particular device (serial number).
And I guess the Apple Stores don’t need to wait for anything arrive via snail mail, which is the unfair (anti-competitive) advantage here. This should not be legal, the Apple Stores should have the same wait times as the third-party store. But good luck getting lawmakers to close that loophole (or use existing legislation for anti-competitive acts to stop it).
The only kind of regulation that any bigcorp likes is the kind that rises the cost and barrier to entry so high that prevents new competitors to ever come to be, securing their position with state power and lawfare.
Everything else, they will do all under their power sabotage.