Apple Launches Program To Repair Old Devices Like the iPhone 4S (9to5mac.com) 115
Apple is introducing a new "Repair Vintage Apple Products Pilot" program that will extend the period of time customers can receive repairs for older devices. "The new program at first will include the iPhone 5 and other Apple products that are about to become obsolete, and in the coming weeks will add more products to the list for devices that previously lost repair support," reports 9to5Mac. Some of the devices that will be included on the list include the iPhone 4s and MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012). From the report: Apple has long had a 5-7 year lifespan for repairing its products, meaning that owners of an iPhone, iPad or Mac can have repairs performed through Apple or an authorized service provider even when not under warranty. Usually after 5-7 years, products are then classified as "vintage" or "obsolete" (depending on the country and local laws) and Apple staff no longer offers parts or repairs. The company maintains a list of products that are classified as vintage and obsolete on its website.
For the new Pilot program, Apple will only be offering repairs for vintage devices based on part availability. Otherwise customers will be told that inventory isn't available because the product is considered vintage. So the new program doesn't guarantee you a repair, but it's a nice change from Apple's previous policy where it stopped offering repairs entirely after classifying devices as vintage.
For the new Pilot program, Apple will only be offering repairs for vintage devices based on part availability. Otherwise customers will be told that inventory isn't available because the product is considered vintage. So the new program doesn't guarantee you a repair, but it's a nice change from Apple's previous policy where it stopped offering repairs entirely after classifying devices as vintage.
Security Updates (Score:1)
What is the point, if security updates aren't being provided for versions of iOS that run on the older devices?
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But that is the point. If your old device isn't getting security updates, your really should upgrade to a device that will get them.
But I also think security threw obsolescent is in play as well. You are not going to try to make attacks that will hit VMS Vaxes, Solaris systems, or the odd Commodore 64 with a Wi-Fi plugin.
Can they be hacked? Yes, but they are no longer a target.
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Huh, I still have a 4S with non working radio... (Score:3)
Huh, I still have a 4S with a non-working radio (wifi/gps/gyro)... Maybe it can be fixed now?
Interesting story, it was the 3rd in a row, the first was replaced in warranty because it lost its wifi (greyed out), the replacement had the same occur right outside the warranty, so I had to pay for a third one. I am not a masochist mind you, it was for development purposes, so it had to be a 4S. The third one had the same thing happen in about a year and a month (on a 1-year refurb warranty). Apparently, Apple had a thermal sensor in the wireless module that would malfunction easily and think it is overheating and disable the entire module. Ebay at the time was full of iPhone 4 & 4S with non-working wifi, and people could get them to work for a bit with a "thermal shock", i.e. heating the phone with a blowdrier or an oven then putting it in the freezer, but it would fail again. For me the craziest thing was that if you had the original iOS that the iPhone 4 came out with (4 and 4S both had that same sensor) and did not upgrade your OS, the sensor was not read by the system, it was a feature added afterwards, so your iPhone would not fail! Apple could fix it in software if they wanted to, but despite forums full of people with the problem, in typical Apple customer behavior the focus was on how to make them work again with crazy "thermal shock" stunts rather than something productive like demanding that Apple fixes it. Another company would have gotten sued hard...
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Why not, but for a price of new XS (or almost).
I guess they brought this program to counter Louis Rossmann https://apple.slashdot.org/sto... [slashdot.org]
Louis Rossman is a lying Click-Whore. Nothing more.
4S (Score:2)
Same here, but it is very slow, limited, and many non-Apple apps don't run these days especially when developers removed their older versions from App Store. Local iTunes doesn't even back them up since iOS v9! :(
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Same here, but it is very slow, limited,
My still works, though I don't have use any apps. I simply didn't install any of apple's software updates and the phone still works pretty well and has decent battery life.
It's a pretty solid phone.
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What do you use it for then?
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What do you use it for then?
To make phone calls.
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Ah. Just wanted a simple phone then. ;)
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Ah. Just wanted a simple phone then. ;)
hahaha - I didn't buy it, it was supplied.
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Ah. I got mine for free too since the previous owner didn't want it anymore and I was using a dumb phone, Motorola Razor 3(?), that I rarely used.
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I heard there was a way to convert them to android. I think the hardware is ok, I'm just not very comfortable with the attitude that comes with the software.
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Same here, but it is very slow, limited, and many non-Apple apps don't run these days especially when developers removed their older versions from App Store. Local iTunes doesn't even back them up since iOS v9! :(
That's very annoying. I develop some weather & astronomy apps and I go out of my way to support devices as far back as possible, even keeping them updated with new features. I had managed to keep iOS 6 compatibility until this June, and now I am still releasing iOS 7 compatible updates, until Apple makes that impossible as well.
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Yes, please keep those old versions in App Store. What are the names of your old apps? :)
Another thing that bugs me, developers that don't code their apps correctly to upgrade. "This app does not support this device." when trying to update the app. Months later, not fixed. Biatch!
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They are kind of niche apps. Xasteria [ecuadors.net] is a weather app with features for amateur astronomers and Polar Scope Align [ecuadors.net] is mainly for polar aligning equatorial telescopes, along with some tools for observers and astrophotographers.
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Neat apps even though I am not an astronomer type! I wonder how well your apps run on an old iPhone 4S (iOS v9.3.5). Hopefully, not so slow like some apps. Argh.
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Same here, but it is very slow, limited, and many non-Apple apps don't run these days especially when developers removed their older versions from App Store. Local iTunes doesn't even back them up since iOS v9! :(
That's very annoying. I develop some weather & astronomy apps and I go out of my way to support devices as far back as possible, even keeping them updated with new features. I had managed to keep iOS 6 compatibility until this June, and now I am still releasing iOS 7 compatible updates, until Apple makes that impossible as well.
Good for you! Kudos!
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Same here, but it is very slow, limited, and many non-Apple apps don't run these days especially when developers removed their older versions from App Store. Local iTunes doesn't even back them up since iOS v9! :(
I bet the iTunes running on my G5 Tower will still back them up! ;-)
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Send it in to be fixed, that will be $300, thanks.
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Send it in to be fixed, that will be $300, thanks.
[citation needed]
Trying to stave off right to repair (Score:5, Insightful)
Hi Apple, nice stunt.
How about letting people repair their own devices with your parts as well. They should have this right, and it should be written into law if you're not going to offer it freely. Same for other manufacturers.
Re:Trying to stave off right to repair (Score:5, Informative)
Yup. See! We offer repair services now! Oh, but the parts are unavailable, sorry.
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And the parts aren't available because instead of reconditioning and disassembling old devices to get serviceable parts out of them, we grind them into a powder.
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And the parts aren't available because instead of reconditioning and disassembling old devices to get serviceable parts out of them, we grind them into a powder.
At least they aren't letting them just fill-up the Landfills, like Samsung, LG, HTC, Hawei, etc, etc, et FUCKING CETERA...
Your turn.
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Except that all those get ground up for recycling too...
Did you actually think that iPhones were the only old cell phones being recycled? That's so silly it's sorta adorable in a child/santa claus kinda way.
No, I don't think they are being so CAREFULLY recycled. Apple's robot is purpose built to DECONSTRUCT iPhones (and iPads, I think) and does useful stuff like saving the screws, rather than just grinding everything up into dust, like all those "we recycle your used compute-ors" guys. I think they grind the chassis into dust; but that's kind of the best you can do; and since they are now building new production units with 100% recycled aluminum (likely primarily from this recycling robot), rather than just se
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Yup. See! We offer repair services now! Oh, but the parts are unavailable, sorry.
Actually, the reason they decided to "Un-Vintage" select products was because they apparently found they had enough parts-inventory to make it practical to offer (non-warranty) repair.
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Actually, no. They've always had enough parts. Do you really believe they suddenly found a long lost trove of ancient Apple parts?
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Actually, no. They've always had enough parts. Do you really believe they suddenly found a long lost trove of ancient Apple parts?
No, I don't.
Those models were about to automatically go on "Vintage" status based solely on their age, and I think Apple took a look at their global parts inventory and said "We can keep supporting these on repair for now." So we are, for the time being, "deferring" their "Vintage" Status until it becomes impractical due to lack of parts-inventory.
They have expressly said "While supplies last. We aren't making anymore parts for these (probably really couldn't for some of them. Molds wear out, components bec
Apples Business Model: Planned Obsolescence (Score:5, Insightful)
"The environment and our consumers are very important to us, At Apple we're pleased to offer repairs on all our products from the Apple III on up. Once consumers see the great trade in value we give them as a reward for their continued loyalty, most opt for one of our new cutting-edge products..."
(I'm not that good at corporate speak.)
AAPL hammered aftermarket (Score:2)
AAPL hammered aftermarket, down by 6% because a) I-phone unit sales are down and b) Apple announced on the concall that they won't report unit sales any more. Could be Peak Apple.
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Apple will price any older model repair far beyond the value of the device, making the service uneconomical.
Prove it, or STFU.
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Apple will price any older model repair far beyond the value of the device, making the service uneconomical.
Prove it, or STFU.
Anecdotally Apple quoted $950 to repair my 2015 MacBook Pro, but they would "recycle" it for free. Not obsolete, but beyond its retail value in working condition. I parted it out.
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Apple will price any older model repair far beyond the value of the device, making the service uneconomical.
Prove it, or STFU.
Anecdotally Apple quoted $950 to repair my 2015 MacBook Pro, but they would "recycle" it for free. Not obsolete, but beyond its retail value in working condition. I parted it out.
No doubt, since Apple does pretty much exclusively "module-level" (or board-level) repair (like MANY companies), they no doubt determined that your repair would require a main logic board replacement, and that's unfortunately about right for that, regardless of the OEM.
Parting it out was probably a good idea, and likely would have gotten you most of the way to the purchase of a replacement MacBook Pro, if not with money to spare...
How much total DID you make? Just curious.
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Yea, it was a logic board failure. I went to a third party for a logic board repair, but they were unsuccessful. I don't remember how much I got for all the parts, but it was enough to buy an almost-new 2017 MacBook Air with zero money out of pocket. I'm still using that Air as my main computer.
Well, so it sounds like Apple wasn't trying to unnecessarily "pump up" the repair. That's nice to know.
That's one good thing about Apple; their stuff gets really good "used" prices. Great that you were even able to get that for the parts!
So, all in all, sounds like you were able to turn lemons into Applejuice!
Good job!
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Imagine buying a car and having the software updated to fix a critical issue, only to have it stop working because you didn't have an authorised repair agent fix the quarter glass after someone broke in to steal your stuff.
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Hi Apple, nice stunt.
How about letting people repair their own devices with your parts as well. They should have this right, and it should be written into law if you're not going to offer it freely. Same for other manufacturers.
Sure. Go right ahead. Apple could care less, seriously.
Might have a little trouble finding that Ax SoC at Fry's, though...
AC beat me to it (Score:5, Funny)
Well, I was going to say that I would be waiting for /.'ere to explain to me why this is yet more evidence that Apple sucks but I see that AC has already started it.
If Tim Cook personally promised each and every Apple user sexual favors from their favorite movie star (upon request, of course) somebody here on /. would figure out how that was bad, that Apple sucks, that Steve Jobs would've done it better, and Samsung did it first.
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What If Tim Cook just personally promised each and every Apple user sexual favors
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....If Tim Cook personally promised each and every Apple user sexual favors from their favorite movie star....
Living or deceased?
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If Apple wanted to not suck, they'd not have the ability to repair "vintage"* devices hinging entirely on if they still have old stock of components and make them available to their authorized repair shops. They'd just give out the specs on the device so that anyone could repair, clone, etc defective parts. I know Apple has been pushing really
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Except for the parts people do repair/replace in smartphones (the battery and screen) which at least the latter Apple has repeatedly demonstrated a desire to block 3rd party repair. But the fact is that this behavior also extends to Apple laptops and desktops where they try, as much as possible, to integrate as many components into one board and then require authorized dealers to ship whole components (so CPU, RAM, and storage if there's a motherboard problem) first before getting replacement to remove the risk of any possible repaired components circulating outside their control.
So, when "vintage" time comes, there aren't a lot of after market stuff except from salvaged systems or 3rd party components. That's, of course, Apple's right. It's just obviously sucky behavior to control and corner the market as much as possible on stuff that, until this announcement, they absolutely refused to do anything about except sell you a newer model. Can you imagine if most other PC repair shops were under all the constraints I mentioned? Is it any wonder that Apple is the biggest target of 3rd party "knock-off" components, given there's basically no "official" new components in the wild?
For example, have you ever seen the Motherboard for the MacBook Air? Without oodles and gobs of custom silicon, that product would NEVER have existed!
https://www.ifixit.com/Store/M... [ifixit.com]
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If Apple wanted to not suck, they'd not have the ability to repair "vintage"* devices hinging entirely on if they still have old stock of components and make them available to their authorized repair shops. They'd just give out the specs on the device so that anyone could repair, clone, etc defective parts.
You REALLY don't understand the level of technology going on in a modern Smartphone or Tablet, do you?
Idiot Freetard.
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* Seriously, 5-7 years is vintage?
Hell, Samsung thinks that TWO YEARS is "Vintage"!
And if you've ever had a Toshiba ANYTHING, they simply stop making parts or ANYTHING available after about that same amount of time.
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Apple sue people for repairing their products
Citation?
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somebody here on /. would figure out how that was bad
Disrespectful to women?
I'd say that was easy, but realistically in the era of SJWs I'm more impressed that you had the balls to make that statement in the first place.
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Movie Star is a strictly female term now?
Or are all Apple users men?
I'm confused how this was aimed more at one gender than another.
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If Tim Cook personally promised each and every Apple user sexual favors from their favorite movie star (upon request, of course) somebody here on /. would figure out how that was bad, that Apple sucks, that Steve Jobs would've done it better, and Samsung did it first.
Mmmm... Jessica Chastain. I'd have to own an Apple product first, unfortunately.
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Well, I was going to say that I would be waiting for /.'ere to explain to me why this is yet more evidence that Apple sucks but I see that AC has already started it.
If Tim Cook personally promised each and every Apple user sexual favors from their favorite movie star (upon request, of course) somebody here on /. would figure out how that was bad, that Apple sucks, that Steve Jobs would've done it better, and Samsung did it first.
So True!
"Mac" desktops (Score:3)
Uh... The last time I checked, the Apple II was not a "Mac desktop"...
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I'm referring to Apple's list of obsolete hardware that this article links to, which includes the Apple II and the Apple III under the headline "Mac desktops". The Lisa didn't get any love, however.
The link was https://support.apple.com/en-c... [apple.com]
Good (Score:2)
Maybe I can get this old Apple I fixed and unload it at a garage sale or something.
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I have three SE/30s, and a Powerbook 165c. I suspect they don't have a 2.5" SCSI hard drive for it, though. *sigh*
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Maybe I can get this old Apple I fixed and unload it at a garage sale or something.
If you REALLY have an Apple 1 (like I do), you would be REALLY stupid to sell it at a Garage Sale.
They generally go for about $400,000 these days. One even sold for $950k.
So, PLEASE let me buy yours at Garage Sale Prices. I won't even make you fix it first!
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Terms like "vintage" and "antique" have actual meanings, being "greater than 50 years old" and "greater than 100 years old" respectively. Not even the original iPhone is approaching "vintage" yet.
Go suck a lemon, Apple.
"Antique" cars are generally considered anything beyond 25 years old; so you are an idiot.
I'd think with Apple's billions (Score:2)
They've certainly got the bargaining clout to make the prices affordable too. Or so I imagine.
Sure, it's a long time ago, but fer cryin' out loud, in 1978 or so I could still buy (some) parts at the dealer for my 1962 model year car.
It was almost as if they built the cars and practically gave them away, just so they could sell parts. Like shavers and blades, and printers and ink. I'm honestly surprised Apple and the others can't
Soldered SSD + Soldered Battery = Disposable (Score:2)
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These are the two cellphone construction techniques that make generate e-waste.
Cellphones don't have SSDs, also there aren't a hell of a lot of products out there with soldered in batteries. The iPhone is no exception, even on dense models like the XS both batteries have a small connector.
Now the MacBook's use of glue to hold the batteries in place is another story for another complaint.
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These are the two cellphone construction techniques that make generate e-waste.
Good thing Apple has a Plan for that:
https://www.theverge.com/2018/... [theverge.com] ...and Witness the Result:
https://appleinsider.com/artic... [appleinsider.com]
So, tell me: What are the OTHER Computer/Cellphone OEMs doing in this regard?
Starting to worry about e-waste? (Score:2)
If they are worried about e-waste they could give new life to older machines. They could offer 32->64 firmware updates for a bunch of old macs. The hackintosh community already figured out the hard part.
What's the point? (Score:2)
The iPhone 4S is ridiculously slow. By now it's only useful as a messaging and call device (e.g. phone, without smart).
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Yes, who would want to use their phone as an actual phone in 2018?!?! /s
Stock take... (Score:1)
Apple obvious done a stock take on parts and realised that they have parts on the shelves for vintage products. Think on a plan to make money on all those parts destined for the bin....yeah, sell 'em at high profits. Trebles all round.
I bet they won't sell the parts to third party repair shops.
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Sady the apps I need do not since Apple refuses to release new OS versions for it. :-( I use android now.
How's that "Support" on Android workin' out for ya?
Idiot.