[iseethroughbs]

We know what Wozniak would say, as he's a tinkerer from a time when computers were "human-sized" and able to be tinkered with.

I think realistically the only thing we can demand is user-replaceable battery. Everything else is doomed to end up on a single chip integrated. And that chip either works, or doesn't. It's not about profit, it's about integration and miniaturization.

[hnick]

Watch a repair video, there are those who can solder new chips on. The problem is when Apple bans their suppliers from selling them to individuals or hardware locks components based on ID. These are artificial roadblocks and part of what r2r wants to address.

Remove those two barriers then people can fix or not as their skill or funds allow.

[dpkonofa]

I think you're exactly right. He's, unfortunately, an artifact from a time when devices just weren't as complex as they are now.

[fsflover]

> I think realistically the only thing we can demand is user-replaceable battery.

No. Have a look at these three modern smartphones:

"IFixIt: Your Smartphone Doesn’t Have To Be Glued Shut!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCccpgposh4

[starky]

Of course your smartphone doesn't have to be glued shut, but the video shows 3 phones that are larger, have lower quality materials, and are missing features like water resistance.

The fact of the matter is that customers won't buy those phones over the "premium" phones even if they are impossible to repair.

My potentially unpopular opinion (as someone that does mechanical design of electronic devices for a living) is that iFixit is actively hurting right to repair by focusing on the wrong things. They are focusing on an ideal that is never going to come to fruition because most customers won't buy a product that is worse than they have today just so they can repair it themselves. A vast majority of customers don't want to repair their own devices even if they were "easy" to repair. Rather, they should be following Louis Rossman's goal to make repair guides and parts are easily available to independent repair shops so that more people can easily have their devices fixed by 3rd party repair providers. A goal on top of that is that effectively "consumable" parts (e.g. the battery, ports), should have to be accessible without risk of damaging expensive components (i.e. you should be able to change them without removing the screens on the phone).

[smoldesu]

Broken digitizer/cracked glass is also fairly easy to repair, and should be included with that. Besides that, I think phones are at a scale where repairability becomes a bit of a moot point.

[omgwtfbbq]

This sounds like Apple apologism. Repair shops certainly have the capability to fix these devices but are hampered by actively Apple who would obviously prefer you go through them for repairs which are nearly as expensive as buying a new phone which is the whole point.

[iseethroughbs]

I see you haven't been a victim of a shitty third party repair shop. Yet. I have stories to tell.

I don't mind us demanding Apple to be more flexible in authorizing and training third-party technicians, providing them with parts.

But I don't need every idiot to have a repair shop. I don't need this to be a "right". You still need to meet some minimum bar of competence in my book.