5 ms·

Thanks Apple for making my phone a less attractive target for thieves by making its pieces useless when used in other phones. Ifixit: you are not on my side.

by sjkna 3y ago

MostlyStable 3y ago
If parts weren't so unnecessarily difficult to get in the first part, stealing phones for parts wouldn't be a thing. Apple created this problem, they don't get to get credit for "fixing" it in a way that harms consumers.
- sjkna 3y ago
  If you apply that argument to everything that gets stolen you will see it doesn't stand on its own.
  - MostlyStable 3y ago
    Which things other than phones are primarily stolen specifically to be parted out (and...to be perfectly honest I'm not sure I buy that it's even that big a thing in phones)? And which companies have made the problem worse by artificially restricting part supplies?
    - sjkna 3y ago
      I was talking about stealing in general, but... vehicles? Also I don't know of any major phone manufacturer that sells genuine parts besides Apple.
      - MostlyStable 3y ago
        If you were taking about theft in general, then I don't even know what point you were trying to make. And yes, other companies selling fewer official parts (although I've never been unable to get screens, batteries, or replacement charging parts for my non-apple phones) is bad, and I already criticize companies that fail to make parts available. When they start doing part pairing, I will criticize them for it to. The fact that this behavior is bad has nothing to do with it being Apple. Not making parts easy to get: bad. Making replacement parts not viable without input from manufacturer: also bad.
    - abtinf 3y ago
      Cars. And they have a massive OEM and aftermarket parts supply chain. https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/cars-most-likely-to-be-stolen-2022 https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/cars-most-likely-...
      - MostlyStable 3y ago
        Cars being stolen to chop shops is a thing, I am extremely skeptical that it's the primary reason cars are stolen.\ -edit- Yeah even according to your source, a pretty tiny minority appear to be stolen for parts. Probably because, as you point out, parts are so easy and relatively cheap to get, except for inherently valuable parts like catalytic converters. And guess what? If people start stealing iPhones to harvest the gold/rare metals, parts pairing is not going to fix that.
- pseg134 3y ago
  Stealing phones for parts is only a “thing” because any U.S. carrier would still block a stolen IMEI. If you steal a car, for example, you can use it to for its primary purpose which is to drive. If you steal a phone, you can only sell it for parts.
  - paulmd 3y ago
    yeah, used cars apparently mostly get exported to ghana and some other countries that have extremely loose customs who don't care about stolen goods moving in. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/auto-theft-canada-1.6953242 https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/auto-theft-canada-1.6953242 if you could re-use a phone, people would just factory reset the phone after stealing it, and people did it. then apple locked that down. then people started stripping the phone for parts instead, and apple started serializing parts. Etc.
Zambyte 3y ago
[flagged]
- DrBenCarson 3y ago
  Sounds like an Android distro “Boot Lollipop—you’re broke, sorry—that’s Android!”
burkaman 3y ago
If you don't care about independent repairability, which is the only thing this score addresses, then just don't look at this website. The decision doesn't affect you or Apple in any way, it's just advice for people looking for a particular feature.
- mortureb 3y ago
  It’s talking about the benefits of tagging parts. Crooks can’t make money off my iPhone and so iPhone theft drops. It’s a relevant point to make in this discussion.
SenAnder 3y ago
That's why Apple gives the consumer an authorization code that they can use when re-selling their phone, to unlock its parts and permit their re-use. Since thieves don't get that code, it protects phones against theft and allows re-use. Because if they didn't do that, anti-theft would be just a useful excuse to further rob the consumer of agency. They do give out such a code, right? I'm just assuming here, but since they paint themselves as such champions of ecology [1], they must. Because if they didn't, that would make them hypocrites, and liars, in claiming there is no way to deter theft without taking rights from the consumer. And we know Apple is honest and on the consumer's side, so that can't be it. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53485560 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53485560
- notanormalnerd 3y ago
  Nobody is hindering you on reselling your device. Use your legitimate access to wipe the device and unpair it from Our iCloud account and then you can resell it. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201351 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201351 My old company had a big problems with leavers dropping off the iPhone without giving either their passcode or unpairing the device from whatever iCloud account they used, so they couldn't even give it to anybody else. Full shelf full of 1000€ bricks all working fine. (Apple didn't have a proper device management service back then)
  - SenAnder 3y ago
    > Nobody is hindering you on reselling your device. Use your legitimate access to wipe the device and unpair it from Our iCloud account and then you can resell it. And its parts can then be re-used in other Apple devices?
matsemann 3y ago
Yeah, hail Apple! They only have us consumers in mind, not like the nefarious iFixit people! /s
kmeisthax 3y ago
Posts like these have convinced me that Apple is actually a new religious movement masquerading as a tech company.
IshKebab 3y ago
Come on, as if iPhone thieves know about replacement component cryptographic pairing requirements.

Thanks Apple for making my phone a less attractive target for thieves by making its pieces useless when used in other phones. Ifixit: you are not on my side.

by sjkna 3y ago

Thanks Apple for making my phone a less attractive target for thieves by making its pieces useless when used in other phones. Ifixit: you are not on my side.

MostlyStable 3y ago

If parts weren't so unnecessarily difficult to get in the first part, stealing phones for parts wouldn't be a thing. Apple created this problem, they don't get to get credit for "fixing" it in a way that harms consumers.

sjkna 3y ago
If you apply that argument to everything that gets stolen you will see it doesn't stand on its own.
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  Which things other than phones are primarily stolen specifically to be parted out (and...to be perfectly honest I'm not sure I buy that it's even that big a thing in phones)? And which companies have made the problem worse by artificially restricting part supplies?
  - sjkna 3y ago
    I was talking about stealing in general, but... vehicles? Also I don't know of any major phone manufacturer that sells genuine parts besides Apple.
    - MostlyStable 3y ago
      If you were taking about theft in general, then I don't even know what point you were trying to make. And yes, other companies selling fewer official parts (although I've never been unable to get screens, batteries, or replacement charging parts for my non-apple phones) is bad, and I already criticize companies that fail to make parts available. When they start doing part pairing, I will criticize them for it to. The fact that this behavior is bad has nothing to do with it being Apple. Not making parts easy to get: bad. Making replacement parts not viable without input from manufacturer: also bad.
  - abtinf 3y ago
    Cars. And they have a massive OEM and aftermarket parts supply chain. https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/cars-most-likely-to-be-stolen-2022 https://www.thestreet.com/personal-finance/cars-most-likely-...
    - MostlyStable 3y ago
      Cars being stolen to chop shops is a thing, I am extremely skeptical that it's the primary reason cars are stolen.\ -edit- Yeah even according to your source, a pretty tiny minority appear to be stolen for parts. Probably because, as you point out, parts are so easy and relatively cheap to get, except for inherently valuable parts like catalytic converters. And guess what? If people start stealing iPhones to harvest the gold/rare metals, parts pairing is not going to fix that.
pseg134 3y ago
Stealing phones for parts is only a “thing” because any U.S. carrier would still block a stolen IMEI. If you steal a car, for example, you can use it to for its primary purpose which is to drive. If you steal a phone, you can only sell it for parts.
- paulmd 3y ago
  yeah, used cars apparently mostly get exported to ghana and some other countries that have extremely loose customs who don't care about stolen goods moving in. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/auto-theft-canada-1.6953242 https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/auto-theft-canada-1.6953242 if you could re-use a phone, people would just factory reset the phone after stealing it, and people did it. then apple locked that down. then people started stripping the phone for parts instead, and apple started serializing parts. Etc.

Zambyte 3y ago

[flagged]

DrBenCarson 3y ago
Sounds like an Android distro “Boot Lollipop—you’re broke, sorry—that’s Android!”

burkaman 3y ago

If you don't care about independent repairability, which is the only thing this score addresses, then just don't look at this website. The decision doesn't affect you or Apple in any way, it's just advice for people looking for a particular feature.

mortureb 3y ago
It’s talking about the benefits of tagging parts. Crooks can’t make money off my iPhone and so iPhone theft drops. It’s a relevant point to make in this discussion.

SenAnder 3y ago

That's why Apple gives the consumer an authorization code that they can use when re-selling their phone, to unlock its parts and permit their re-use. Since thieves don't get that code, it protects phones against theft and allows re-use. Because if they didn't do that, anti-theft would be just a useful excuse to further rob the consumer of agency. They do give out such a code, right? I'm just assuming here, but since they paint themselves as such champions of ecology [1], they must. Because if they didn't, that would make them hypocrites, and liars, in claiming there is no way to deter theft without taking rights from the consumer. And we know Apple is honest and on the consumer's side, so that can't be it. [1] https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53485560 https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-53485560

notanormalnerd 3y ago
Nobody is hindering you on reselling your device. Use your legitimate access to wipe the device and unpair it from Our iCloud account and then you can resell it. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201351 https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201351 My old company had a big problems with leavers dropping off the iPhone without giving either their passcode or unpairing the device from whatever iCloud account they used, so they couldn't even give it to anybody else. Full shelf full of 1000€ bricks all working fine. (Apple didn't have a proper device management service back then)
- SenAnder 3y ago
  > Nobody is hindering you on reselling your device. Use your legitimate access to wipe the device and unpair it from Our iCloud account and then you can resell it. And its parts can then be re-used in other Apple devices?

matsemann 3y ago

Yeah, hail Apple! They only have us consumers in mind, not like the nefarious iFixit people! /s

kmeisthax 3y ago

Posts like these have convinced me that Apple is actually a new religious movement masquerading as a tech company.

IshKebab 3y ago

Come on, as if iPhone thieves know about replacement component cryptographic pairing requirements.