In the example given...Apple has never authorized a company to repair iPhones, but there are literally hundreds of companies out there who do it anyway...they just can't advertise that they're certified by Apple. The big problem seems to be the Department of Homeland Security raiding small local businesses and harassing them over "counterfeit parts". First of all, in most cases you're just dealing with typical small circuit boards and pieces of aluminum or glass or plastic. Second of all...why is this a matter for the DHS? Aren't they people who should be looking for bombs and things and dealing with actual important stuff?

Now, this law might make some supply of official parts available, so that's kind of positive, but there's an issue with that. Does that mean that every repair company can now only buy parts from Apple or risk a raid? This limits potential suppliers of commodity parts from many to just 1 and could jack up prices. The end result is that the consumer gets a piece of "Official Apple Glass" or "Official Apple Circuitboard" and pays much more for the privilege. As a consumer, I don't see a significant benefit to that.

The DHS was created by aggregating 22 existing agencies. Those agencies are still responsible for their traditional functions.

The US Customs and Border Inspections is one such agency, it enforces laws against counterfeit goods and violations of US companies intellectual property rights.

I reflashed the stock OS but forgot to relock the phone. They tried to say since I replaced the OS, I voided the warranty. I said the warning screen says "This might void your warranty" but that didn't apply because in NZ, we have the consumer protection act.

https://www.consumerprotection.govt.nz/consumer-law-and-your...

I had to go through a tribunal, that went two session each about 2 hours. I wasn't sure if I could make my case. I tried to state phone modification isn't warranty voiding; that people reinstall Windows or Linux onto laptops they purchase and that doesn't void the warranty.

The arbitrator eventually found in my favour because the device had failed slowly indicating a hardware failure and the manufacture didn't offer to repair the device for a fee (you are required to supply parts or repair). It was way too much work for $480, but I'm still glad that protection exists.

Some repairs (such as iMacs) do require a substantial amount of care. Even after 8.5 years of Mac repairs I still found myself running into issues - from "fat fingering" connectors, to defective Logic boards that still pass all hardware diagnostics sent to us - some of this stuff is not for the faint of heart. Imagine using a plastic "pizza cutter" to cut off the VHB tape that holds the incredibly fragile $800 display of an iMac, and then remembering to connect the display back up before you put new tape on during reassembly.

My guess is Apple fought the NY bill because they know how these machines are designed. There's a reason they charge a flat rate of $39 for Labor, but then only when a hardware repair is actually completed.

On the other hand, the charge to backup your data is $99 for a drag/drop or a time machine backup - something you should do yourself. :-)

Fact of the matter is, lobbying is actually legal, which is a whole different problem from which many others stem -- including the one discussed in the article.

I can think of one, maybe they pair them at assembly time using a public/private key exchange. If they change, have to change both.

https://9to5mac.com/2016/02/05/error-53-iphone-6/

I single out Apple in particular as they actively go out of their way to make it as difficult as possible for anyone outside of Apple to undertake repairs: Schematics are not released and have to be sourced from unauthorised channels, many of which charge ridiculous amounts for dodgy copies, likewise with Boardview files. Also, many components on Apple boards have no markings at all, making it almost impossible to identify them, without reference to one of the 'top secret' schematics.

The whole setup stinks.

Thank god for free resources like:

http://www.apple-schematic.se

I'm really curious on when did that happen for the first time ever?