Re:Apple Shipped Me a 79-Pound iPhone Repair Kit to Fix a 1....
by gjsman-1000 on Saturday May 21, 2022 @09:43AM
(#31457821)
Right, but that’s not what the author of the article is complaining about. Instead, the author is complaining about the (shockingly reasonable and probably a loss leader) tool rental cost, complains about the part cost (even though it is the same cost service providers pay, and the author does not mention the ~$25 recycling refund to deliberately make it look worse than it is).
Apple is totally going to use this in a future court case to argue Right to Repair people will never be satisfied unless the tools fit in a pocket, had free shipping and returns, the part is 50% off, and there are no credit card holds on the tools. (The authors comparison to how car rentals don’t require a full value hold is absurd because a thing called Car Rental Insurance exists.) The author wouldn’t be happy with anything else.
When it comes to Apple devices, the "tools" that DIY repairmen want are the schematics, software to provision new parts (ideally there wouldn't be a need for this to begin with) and proprietary parts that can't be bought elsewhere.
When it comes to opening the phones, there's nothing particularly complex about this and third-parties have figured it out already, all the way down to the proprietary screwdrivers.