Beyond the Lipstick: Apple's Tech Illusion and the Right to Repair
Apple is trying yet again to put "lipstick on a pig" of their own making. They announced earlier today that starting with new phones coming out sometime this fall, they will allow their customers to activate authentic Apple used parts for repair. Sounds great !! We Won !!
Not so fast -- this announcement is purely political (aka marketing fluff) and not practical.
Political - because there is legislation underway in Colorado that is written to match the statute in Oregon limiting how "parts pairing" can be used to block otherwise legal repairs. Other states are moving forward with similar intent. Apple is now scrambling to avoid more laws limiting its monopoly control over parts. This announcement is perfectly timed to take away incentive on the part of legislators to block parts pairing.
We didn't win anything in this announcement. Apple has framed its policy as an "innovation" that is rich in irony. Apple created pairing software and has patented its actual innovation with a process patent. We might need to create a new word - "un-innovate" - to describe not using their patent.
It is absurdly impractical for Apple to announce they will allow consumers to activate authentical used parts on phones that are not even available, such as glass and batteries -- when these specific parts are replaced because they cannot be repaired. The real value to consumers in legislation is to enable the use of third-party glass and batteries as the legal choice of the owner, and not to allow Apple to prevent that choice.
Harvesting of used parts is to be applauded -- but the scope of that concession is not clear in the announcement. Will a used camera work with a used phone? What about the dozens of other parts that can be used as spares?
It is ridiculous that Apple proclaims they "innovated" in order to not pair parts -- when it is they that "innovated" to patent the process for confirming serial numbers in the first place. Since the pairing process works on phones already in use -- the obvious practical "innovation" would be to update the IOS to undo its own damage.
Also absurd is that authenticating broken glass and dead batteries is of any value to consumers -- since these parts aren't a major source of service parts as they are already useless.
The announcement is far from comprehensive even if genuine. The wording says "some" parts for "some" phones that do not yet exist in the market. The only parts that are referenced are the most "consumable" parts - glass and batteries -- which are rarely used as sources of spare parts as broken glass and dead batteries are replaced.
The real value to Apple is having enough of an appearance of doing good things while doing nothing in exchange for having legislatures roll over and play dead.