Apple Apologizes For iPhone ThrottleGate But Still Fights Against Right To Repair, Sorry Not Sorry
After getting caught with its hand in the cookie jar, Apple came out and offered an apology of sorts for anyone who felt "let down" by its decision to throttle performance on iPhone devices with degraded batteries. As part of its mea culpa, Apple also slashed the price of its battery replacement service to $29, down from $79, which is good through the end of next year. But is it enough? Not everyone thinks so.
"This public outcry, and the hard work of journalists around the world, has caused Apple to blink. That’s great, but their proposed fix is only temporary. Battery prices are going back up in a year, and Apple still won’t sell OEM batteries to independent shops. That needs to change," iFixIt co-founder and CEO Kyle Wiens stated in a blog post.
Credit: iFixIt
Wiens also points out that this issue is not exclusive to Apple, that "every single Android phone manufacturer also refuses to sell consumers integrated batteries or other internal repair parts." This cuts at the core of iFixIt, which heavily promotes do-it-yourself (DIY) repairs with teardown guides and a range of tools to make fixing your phone and other mobile electronics easier to accomplish on your own.
Obviously Wiens has a vested interest here, but he's not alone in calling for phone makers to offer replacement parts, including genuine batteries. A dozen states are considering Right to Repair legislation that would require manufacturers of electronics to sell repair parts and release service information to consumers. We already see this to some extent in the PC market—HP, for example, is pretty good about making available service manuals.
In light of the recent situation surrounding Apple's performance throttling and its decision to slash $50 off the price of a battery replacement, iFixIt has lowered the price of its iPhone battery replacement kits, too. These kits come with a fresh battery backed by a one-year warranty and several tools, including a custom driver, steel bits, opening tools, and ESD-safe tweezers. If you just want a good kit for DIY repair, Amazon has several solid options as well.
Prices for these kits range from $17 for the iPhone 4S to $29 for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, with the majority of kits running $25.
"This public outcry, and the hard work of journalists around the world, has caused Apple to blink. That’s great, but their proposed fix is only temporary. Battery prices are going back up in a year, and Apple still won’t sell OEM batteries to independent shops. That needs to change," iFixIt co-founder and CEO Kyle Wiens stated in a blog post.
Credit: iFixIt
Wiens also points out that this issue is not exclusive to Apple, that "every single Android phone manufacturer also refuses to sell consumers integrated batteries or other internal repair parts." This cuts at the core of iFixIt, which heavily promotes do-it-yourself (DIY) repairs with teardown guides and a range of tools to make fixing your phone and other mobile electronics easier to accomplish on your own.
Obviously Wiens has a vested interest here, but he's not alone in calling for phone makers to offer replacement parts, including genuine batteries. A dozen states are considering Right to Repair legislation that would require manufacturers of electronics to sell repair parts and release service information to consumers. We already see this to some extent in the PC market—HP, for example, is pretty good about making available service manuals.
Credit: iFixIt
In light of the recent situation surrounding Apple's performance throttling and its decision to slash $50 off the price of a battery replacement, iFixIt has lowered the price of its iPhone battery replacement kits, too. These kits come with a fresh battery backed by a one-year warranty and several tools, including a custom driver, steel bits, opening tools, and ESD-safe tweezers. If you just want a good kit for DIY repair, Amazon has several solid options as well.
Prices for these kits range from $17 for the iPhone 4S to $29 for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, with the majority of kits running $25.
