Aging Airpods... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2019, 08:49:31 pm
content: I guess the general public did not expect that such tiny batteries on an expensive accessory would have a finite lifespan.https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/your-airpods-probably-have-terrible-battery-life/585439/

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 25, 2019, 09:16:00 pm
content: Well, yeah. All these devices with non replaceable batteries bother me. My laptop battery died a while ago (after only a couple of years) and it wasn't possible to get a replacement. The battery pack contained a TI bq3060 with SHA-1 Authentication. According to the datasheet "battery counterfeiting is a major problem confronting original equipment manufacturers (OEM) today."So the laptop basically expired after only two years.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 02:31:44 am
content: Quote from: apis on March 25, 2019, 09:16:00 pmWow, that sucks. I have never heard about such authentication scheme for batteries - the printer companies try, but they are always being outflanked by third parties. Perhaps the market for batteries is smaller.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 03:18:18 am
content: Why anyone would buy those ridiculous looking Airpods has always been a mystery to me. There are countless bluetooth headphones out there that work at least as well, run much longer on a charge and cost a lot less. As an added bonus they don't look goofy.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 04:16:42 am
content: Non-replaceable batteries are stupid and should be illegal.

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 04:39:05 am
content: Buying an Apple product removes your right to complain that it's not repairable. You purchased a non-repairable device.my 2 c

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 04:49:03 am
content: Quote from: Psi on March 26, 2019, 04:39:05 amI'll add to that -- By buying an Apple product, you also acknowledge that it has a finite lifespan and you should expect it to fail sooner than you think.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 10:30:15 am
content: A big question I haven’t seen addressed by anyone yet is what Apple charges for out-of-warranty replacement/repair of AirPods with worn out batteries. In an iPhone, for example, they charge about $80 for this, a far cry from the cost of a new phone. (And yes, this is often an actual phone replacement, if the battery replacement is considered too hazardous to perform in-store, like when a battery is bulging.) I have a suspicion that the cost is reasonable and that this a ton of ado about nothing.Quote from: rdl on March 26, 2019, 04:16:42 amBattery compartments and covers add significant physical size, so omitting them is a reasonable design decision. And battery compartments make tight waterproofingmuchharder to do.Quote from: james_s on March 26, 2019, 03:18:18 amYou think wearing big headphones out on the street looksmoregoofy than AirPods?Sounds like sour grapes to me...I don’t have AirPods because I like in-ear buds that have strong passive isolation. But the fact is, everyone I know who’s bough AirPods loves them: according to them, they sound good, work as described, stay in well (surprisingly), are comfortable and lightweight, and eliminate cords.And no, other Bluetooth headphones don’t work “as well”, in that Apple’s proprietary Bluetooth chip enables really nice features like easy pairingthat is shared with all your devices via iCloud, such that you can seamlessly switch them between, for example, your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. (The only other Bluetooth earphones that use the Apple chip are ones from Beats, an Apple subsidiary.) They integrate into the iOS user interface in ways unseen on any other Bluetooth earbuds. I’m not saying other ones arebad, but they simply do not have the tight integration and feature set of the AirPods.Quote from: Halcyon on March 26, 2019, 04:49:03 amAnd yet, on average, last significantlylongerthan competing products...

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 11:00:41 am
content: I'm relatively rational when it comes to this stuff. I will never buy AirPods here even though I've got piles of Apple stuff in the house and like it. Why?1. My sister has one AirPod. The other is in a hedge somewhere.2. Wires stop one of them falling down the toilet. They're like the chain on the pens in the bank. It's a feature.3. They're really expensive. I don't mind paying money for something that lasts but for me that's the pair of Sennheiser HD25's I've had for nearly 20 years.4. More things that need charging and more battery anxiety.5. It's clear they are disposable. Same as the Apple watch. Smaller the item, the higher the integration.To note, I don't know why people complain that Apple products are not repairable. They are. I've repaired many Apple devices over the years with no problems at all. I've got Apple to repair them. But with all things, that only works down to a certain integration level.And on the recycling front, if you walk into an Apple Store these days they will give you credit for stuff you return and will recycle it themselves.Plus, read this:https://www.apple.com/euro/environment/pdf/g/generic/Apple_Environmental_Responsibility_Report_2018.pdfBut again with all this, I won't buy AirPods.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 11:19:37 am
content: overpriced product + planned obsolescence = even more profit

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 11:20:45 am
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 26, 2019, 11:00:41 amApple Forces Recyclers to Shred All iPhones and MacBooks:https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/yp73jw/apple-recycling-iphones-macbooks

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 11:54:08 am
content: Quote from: rdl on March 26, 2019, 04:16:42 amYes it should, it's such a waste. You shouldn't be allowed to make it harder to repair things or replace parts.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 12:03:40 pm
content: Quote from: apis on March 26, 2019, 11:54:08 amHow do you make smaller, more efficent things without sacrificing repair?Quote from: madires on March 26, 2019, 11:20:45 amApple can't force anyone to do shit. This is the recyclers bending over. The reason they want to control the recycling is to keep all the frankendevices off the market which are a pile of shit to deal with even if you're a third party repairer. So you go in CEX here in the UK and buy an iPhone. Who knows what you get? Probably a write off with a trivial repair. Heard a lot of horror stories there.Also they are aiming for closed loop manufacturing and device rental at some point in the future. I don't have a problem with that. They're selling convenience.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 01:38:57 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 26, 2019, 12:03:40 pmI don't think it would have been that hard to make batteries replaceable, just don't glue the case together. But I was thinking of things like having cryptographic authentication in things like laptop batteries to prevent them from being replaced when they fail.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 01:59:34 pm
content: My laptop doesn't (Thinkpad T-series)It does have a BMS that commits suicide if the batteries sit on the shelf for a few years though. Which I'm fine with as I got a nice 3s2p pack out of that one and got a free replacement.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 02:05:19 pm
content: I was looking at a Thinkpad but the T-series is pretty pricey for private individuals.

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 02:24:15 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 26, 2019, 12:03:40 pmBut there also also repair shops like Louis Rossmann's. Do you have a car? Then you might know that there are good independent garages, as well as bad ones. Even several certified garages (certified by the car manufacturer) provide poor service. And there are also good certified ones. Would you like to be forced to get your car repaired or serviced only by a certified garage if you know a great independent one just around the corner?

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 02:40:40 pm
content: Quote from: apis on March 26, 2019, 02:05:19 pmMine is 4 years old and cost me half the price of a bottom end pile of consumer crap. I have added an SSD, full HD display, extended battery to it and broken even on an HP netbook price.

author: rdl
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 03:17:46 pm
content: Quote from: apis on March 26, 2019, 02:05:19 pmHave you considered used?I've been looking off and on for a T-520 of some kind on ebay. If I actually needed a laptop, I probably would've bought one by now. I've seen some pretty good deals go by, even assuming I would probably want a new battery and possibly SSD and RAM upgrades.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 03:44:44 pm
content: I think you can thank the legal industry for these encrypted batteries. It looks to me like protection from lawsuits over burning laptops. A lawyer won't go after some corner shop that does battery replacement, there isn't any money there. They go for the deep pockets. So the original vendor does whatever they can to show they did due diligence in preventing problems.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 04:49:47 pm
content: That's exactly what it is. If someone uses a cheap aftermarket battery in their Lenovo laptop and it burns their house down they don't go after the random Chinese seller they got the battery from, they blame Lenovo. That said, I've got several T series Thinkpads with cheap aftermarket batteries and they work fine.

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 06:05:18 pm
content: One should do a bit of research before buying any product to see if it is repairable and how easy it will be and how much it will cost them. There are tons of YouTube videos showing gadget teardowns... You can get an idea of how tough it will be and what's inside, what tools you need, etc.Chances are though that most people buying Airpods or any device in general are not looking that far into the future. Let's face it... the average consumer already expects and knows their phone, earphones, laptop, tablet are probably going to last about as long as the software on it is able to run their latest games or YouTube videos, or keep the OS updated to take advantage of the latest features, and then they toss it.I just made the mistake of trying to fix an aging iPod Classic. Someone gave me their old iPod Classic 30gb and I managed to get it charged and running long enough to install RockBox on it. It was functioning fine for maybe 5-10 minutes when plugged in, but would soon lose power faster than it could charge, and would turn off until charged again for a while. When unplugging it from power, it would power on for maybe 5 seconds and then turn off. So it was time to order a replacement battery from eBay for $15.Big mistake... I should have tried to open up the damn iPod first before shelling out another $15 for a battery. I looked at all the online videos, checked 10 times and read all the precautions, used a special prying kit, etc... and I've opened up many items before. This one decided to be stubborn. Many of the plastic tabs on the front shell holding the back on ended up ripping off, despite careful prying. I guess it was just so old that the plastic started to dry up and became way too brittle to bend out of the way.Then, once I managed to get in, I tried to remove the battery which was glued to the case. There is a tiny flat-flex behind the battery which I KNEW was there before-hand by seeing videos... and DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY WARNED about damaging this flat-flex... guess what.... I ended up tearing it also.It is for the "hold" button, so you can live with out it, but still!!! It was running right under the freakin' glue that was holding down the battery!!!! WHY!!!Anyways, at that point it still worked somewhat but then I noticed the stupid button (the iPod control wheel) in the middle had slipped out from it's spot and was loose and sliding out. So I had to remove the remaining board (which has the hard drive) from the other half of the case, and when I put it all back together the iPod refused to boot off the drive! It was complaining probably because the hard drive was damaged!So anyways it turned into a disaster of epic proportions and now to try to salvage this mess I will have to order either another mini hard drive or one of those adapters (they have SD Card or Flash Drive adapter to fit the small hard drive flat-flex cable) and sink another $20-30 into it with the hopes it will work. Mind you, I will probably have to install iTunes and try to re-install all of that stuff on the drive as well to get it working again. I'm not sure I want to.While this iPod classic *should* have been repairable, maybe 5 years ago it may have not been as brittle, I figure it a lost cause and now have spent $15 on a Li-Ion cell I can't do anything with. No big deal but lesson to be learned is open up the device FIRST before ordering a replacement battery.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 06:21:21 pm
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on March 26, 2019, 03:44:44 pmQuote from: james_s on March 26, 2019, 04:49:47 pmThat's so utterly absurd I can't believe it even after having heard about that idiot who sued McDonald's for hot coffee being hot.Any links?

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 07:04:13 pm
content: Quote from: magic on March 26, 2019, 06:21:21 pmI have no links, it is just my opinion. But here in the US all advertising media is filled with ads from ambulance chasers (lawyers seeking clients that they can represent in lawsuits. The lawyer collects a portion, usually 33% of any judgement. The whole mindset is kind of like playing the lottery. You probably won't win, but who knows, it might happen.It is absurd. Though none of these involve laptops, the following links show how the system is used and abused by many. The good news is that many of these weird claims get thrown out or dramatically reduced. The bad news is that a lot of time and legal defense money is spent before the final result appears even if they are eventually thrown out. And the third link here has judgements that haven't been thrown out yet.https://www.cracked.com/article_16358_9-insane-cases-that-prove-us-legal-system-screwed.htmlhttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/7-most-ridiculous-lawsuits-nike-3238861https://9gag.com/gag/ayngjoW/the-most-ridiculous-lawsuits-that-have-been-won-all-in-the-us-of-course

author: kaz911
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 07:12:28 pm
content: i have airpods and love them.I run with them indoor & outdoor 3-6 hours a week. I sail with them. Never lost any. They have dropped out of my hands though on my tile floor and still work.Battery is down about 30% since i bought them at release. 1 has been replaced after 3 months on warranty as microphone failed.Sound quality - fine - but my Bose QC35's are better for phone calls. The Bose's also have so far the best "User Interface" - nice real buttons! and good UI to change / switch between devices.I know neither are "audiophile" - but they work well for what I do. I knew it was a small battery with maybe 500-1000 charge cycles in each. But so far they have not disappointed compared to what I expected.

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 07:26:41 pm
content: I bought one of these Sony's many years ago (a similar model but also about $24.99 CANADIAN! which is probably <$20 US) and have been using them every since:They are fairly cheap compared to everything else out there, and I can actually fix them if something happens. The jack and cord actually is large enough to allow me to solder connections!https://www.bestbuy.ca/en-ca/product/sony-sony-over-ear-headphones-mdrzx110b-black-mdrzx110b/10325154.aspx?https://www.staples.ca/en/SONY-MDRZX110B-Over-the-Head-Monitor-Headphones-Black/product_927192_1-CA_1_20001I realize they are the antithesis of Apple AirPods but I know I won't lose these things and never have to worry about batteries. And the cord is freakingly long, these come with 1.2m long cord... but mine came with something like 5 or 6 ft and entry of cord only on one side of the head (like the Koss ones below).Maybe my ears are defective and old but I still find they have a great sound.I may not mind trying these out... they are also dirt cheap at $34.99 CANADIAN.... 8ft cord with single entry:https://www.staples.ca/en/Koss-Ur20-Headphone-Full-size/product_799201_1-CA_1_20001I'm no audiophile but please someone tell me how much of the price is going into audio quality and how much is going into fashion and style? Obviously those dollar store headphones are pure garbage... I wouldn't subject my kids to them. But once you get to something in the $25-50 range from a reputable maker, have you not reached a reasonable listening experience for most average people? Does spending another $200-300 really improve the sound that much more?Look at Beats? They are owned by Apple... They are like the Nike of shoes... pricey as heck and all because of advertising, endorsement, style and bragging rights to everyone around you that you have enough money to spend $300 on a set of headphones. Yes we know they are good.... but are they $300 good?https://www.apple.com/ca/shop/product/MV6X2LL/A/beats-studio3-wireless-headphones-nba-collection-raptors-white?cid=beats_hmp_beats_aos_thirty_ca_studio3_na

author: TimNJ
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 08:17:58 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 26, 2019, 11:00:41 amIt's true. For instance, replacing an iPhone battery is a task almost anyone could do. (Of course, this is coming from someone who has fixed lots of electronics.)Even so, people seem to be:a.) Convinced they don't have the skills (even though I'm arguing there's almost no real "skill" involved)b.) Afraid they are going to break itI guess those two are basically the same thing.Most people I know just don't seem interested in fixing their own stuff. It's just a shame.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 08:41:44 pm
content: I absolutely hate it when my headphone cable snags on a doorknob or piece of furniture while I'm walking around the house so I'm sold on bluetooth for headphones. I bought a decent set a while back that has active noise cancelling since I use them on the bus when I commute to work. They're great, comfortable, reasonably good sound quality and the noise cancelling is really cool. For the ear bud type useful while doing exercise type things I'll deal with the wires but there are lots of bluetooth versions of those too.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 09:45:54 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on March 26, 2019, 10:30:15 amStats? Because my experience with modern Apple machines is completely the opposite.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 10:17:24 pm
content: Bar the MBA that lasted 3 weeks before the keyboard packed in, the pre-butterfly keyboard units are incredibly reliable compared to pretty much everything else on the market apart from T and X series ThinkPads.99% of the ones I have to fix are over 5-6 years old and the usual failures are worn out connectors and batteries and that's about it. I've got a G3 iBook somewhere that still works!Edit: I've got a G4 powermac at my parents as well which was still working about 4 years ago. That got the crap hammered out of it for about 5 years.

author: oPossum
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 26, 2019, 11:49:19 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on March 26, 2019, 10:30:15 am$49 each for battery replacement.https://support.apple.com/airpods/repair/service

author: amyk
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2019, 12:31:45 am
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 26, 2019, 12:03:40 pmByusing your brain. How would you design AirPods with replaceable batteries?The carrying/charging case is simple, just don't glue everything together.https://mindtribe.com/2017/01/apple-airpod-charger-teardown-and-reverse-engineering/Look, screws! ...once you're already inside. The bastards cleverly decided to glue together the pieces that stop you from taking it apart, but clearly aren't cost-saving if they are still screwing the insides together.For the buds themselves, once again less glue and more threaded/snap-fit parts would do the trick. It wouldn't make them much bigger if at all, but certainly helps repairability. If they were really smart they could do away with wires almost completely, and use spring contacts to make disassemblyandassembly easier.Here's something to consider, an iPhone 5 clone with an easily removable battery:https://www.gizchina.com/2013/09/24/jiayu-g5-teardown/

author: edy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2019, 03:05:54 am
content: Let's face it, Apple has no interest whatsoever in designing their products to be repairable. They want their products to look stylish, it is all about design. If the best design means no externally visible screws, extremely compact design, curved white plastic bodies, thinness, that is what they will do. It hasn't hurt their bottom line... and other manufacturers are following suit.If companies gain market share and profitability BECAUSE they make their devices easier to repair, other companies will do the same. But as we have seen, Apple has proven that nobody cares about repair as people continue to shell out more and more money for crap they probably don't need and only do so because Apple's marketing is so amazingly effective.Apple has also shown us that they can do things like create their own proprietary connectors, protocols and other standards that will keep Apple users tied in to their ecosystem... and users take it up their arse like champs, gladly shelling out more and more money. I don't know if they plan on adopting USB-C across the board but for now they are profiting nicely from their locked-in systems. I also remember their Bluetooth connectivity was also broken, to the extent that I had no issues connecting certain devices to Android and BlackBerry and almost every other phone, but Apple refused to properly connect to it (like it was using it's own "interpretation" of Bluetooth protocol).I don't want to pick on Apple only... this is happening across the board to various extents by all companies. The only way to vote is with your money. Refuse to buy anything you can't tear apart easily and repair if needed, or just accept the fact as disposable electronics are now the norm and prepare to pay continuously as batteries continue to die.I for one am using a Garmin Vivofit 4 which runs on a single battery that you change yearly, not a rechargeable. How many smartwatches out there have now glued in batteries that you charge daily/weekly? How easy is it to change them? My wife's Apple Watch decided to pop open a few weeks ago... battery swelled and screen popped off the case. It was under the "extended" warranty Apple has because there was a major problem with many of their watches. Otherwise, that would have been an expensive needless repair, as it hasn't been that long. Next time the battery swells and decides to pop open the watch (or explode on the wrist) I am not so sure Apple will fix it.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2019, 03:16:54 am
content: Quote from: edy on March 27, 2019, 03:05:54 amI have a Galaxy Gear that's 5 years old, still on the original battery, although replacing it would be trivial. I only charge it up to about 80% to extend the lifetime just as is done for EVs.

author: 0culus
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2019, 03:33:02 am
content: Quote from: edy on March 27, 2019, 03:05:54 am"Why do you rob banks?""Because that's where the money is!"All joking aside, lack of repairability is a problem all across the tech sector, and not just consumer electronics. Even our beloved test equipment...there's no way the stuff that's selling for 5-6 figures today will last and be repairable as long as the 5-6 figure test equipment made in the 1980s by HP, Tektronix, and others will.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2019, 08:08:07 am
content: Quote from: amyk on March 27, 2019, 12:31:45 amI just replaced an iPhone 5 battery the other day. It was very very easy. There’s a pull tab to remove it that worked really well and I was met with screws. Took 10 minutes.The things that are are glued together and don’t need to be I tend to agree with. The problem with the AirPods is that to maintain hygiene and smooth edges so you don’t cut your ears and face open you need very controlled surfaces and that means using plastics and glue.The charger, not so much so I agree there.Edit: or do I. Looking at the tear down, what are you going to do inside it? Feck around for 4 hours finding parts, wait a month for them to arrive, swap out, or go into Apple store while you’re on a shopping trip and brow beat someone at the retard bar to give you a new one. My time is most productive spent on the latter.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2019, 08:27:08 am
content: Quote from: 0culus on March 27, 2019, 03:33:02 amProblem is that we have moved to FRU replacement because the individual parts of the equipment are extremely difficult to service independently due to the greater integration. Also equipment mostly consists of machine placed and soldered boards now rather than human effort. For this we have got massively better performance and simple manufacturing which is a good thing because for the majority of items it works out cheaper. On a lot of stuff it’s not economically viable to bother repairing it because by the time we’ve approached the problem, done the diagnostics, ordered and replaced the parts, QA’ed the work, it has cost more in human time than replacing the faulty part.A fine example: I worked on a production line for a bit that was TH and fully repairable stuff and the total hour effort to fill and test one board was about 5 hours average as most boards required manual intervention and debug/repair due to the nature of the design. The board was £3100 a go for a 100x160 Eurocard part (milspec). The production engineers redesigned this with cheaper SMD parts, boundary scan, and used the company pick and place and got the cost down to £1150 a board and build/test cycle down to under an hour. When boards came back for repair they were shredded with no diagnostics, firmware burned to match the original, run through QA JIT and another board sent out. One of the motivations to do this is there is no one who wanted to or could be paid to sit there and debug boards. I didnt want to do it, especially after I got a taste for automation (and incidentally dedicated the last 25 years of my life automating away crap like this)Whether we like it or not economical viability comes in from greater automation, FRU replacement and design rationalisation. For this we get massively improved reliability, amazing performance, much lower cost, much better functionality. For this we sacrifice the notion of repair somewhat. It’s s good trade off.The right to repair movement is a good thing generally but at the same time it’s counterproductive in a lot of circumstances. It’s not 1975 and most stuff is not equipment we design ourselves for low volume hand production. And I’m fine with that.

author: ConKbot
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 27, 2019, 10:44:49 pm
content: My sennheiser IEMs haven't suffered any battery degradation even after years of use, and I can still use them for 40+ hours without having to charge. Maybe Apple can license the technology from them.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 28, 2019, 12:54:11 am
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 26, 2019, 02:40:40 pmQuote from: rdl on March 26, 2019, 03:17:46 pmThanks for the advice, I've never really considered that option, I will definitely try that next time.

author: BBBbbb
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 08:47:30 am
content: fairly related:https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d3mqna/internal-documents-show-apple-is-capable-of-implementing-right-to-repair-legislation

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 09:36:53 am
content: It's probably something they are rolling out quietly. Apple tend to sit in absolute silence then suddenly do the right thing and make a lot of noise about it. The silence is frustrating and attracts a lot of criticism though.However I'm not a proponent of "right to repair" if I'm honest. There's a big difference between people who are capable of repairing things and people who aren't and the latter should not be motivated to attempt it because all it results in is fucked up stuff. This fucked up stuff tends to then come to me, as the local Mr Fixit. Fine example is the iPhone 6 I recently did with a bad battery. The "user" turned up with a replacement battery he had bought on eBay, which is fair enough. However he'd tried to use the tool kit that came with it to replace the battery already. Basically all he'd done is destroy the pentalobe screws entirely and then deny that the battery came with a screwdriver (even though it had a picture of one on the front of the bag, a spudger and a couple of suckers in it)

author: madires
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 12:42:07 pm
content: If someone likes to screw up his broken iGadget even more by trying to repair it it's his decision. But he shouldn't be surprised when the proper repair will become more expensive because of the additional damage he caused. This is not about trying to make everything bullet proof for people with two left hands, it's about giving users the freedom to choose between repairing something DIY, asking a friend, going to an independent repair shop or visiting an authorized shop.

author: rsjsouza
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 01:44:41 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on March 26, 2019, 10:30:15 amI agree with your point but, as oPossum mentioned, $49 per unit (totaling 66% of a new one) is too hefty (I didn't verify this information).Quote from: tooki on March 26, 2019, 10:30:15 amYou could make the case that "non-replaceable" may mean "non-end-user-replaceable", which would remove the need to have a complete battery compartment. I suspect the biggest criticism against Airpods is having its internals fully sealed.Quote from: tooki on March 26, 2019, 10:30:15 amQuote from: tooki on March 26, 2019, 10:30:15 amI would be very careful there, tooki. The quality of the A-brand competitors reached a very high level of quality - that and the fact I can't still shake the fragility of the aluminium case of my 2015 Macbook Pro.Quote from: amyk on March 27, 2019, 12:31:45 amI think bd139's point is unquestionable; you have to sacrifice repair to get things smaller and sleeker - the SMD massive adoption in the 1980's with the consequential FRU replacement was one of the most striking examples that I can remember. However, the argument is when the design for repairability stops and the malice starts. Sure, the Airpods are innovative and perhaps demanded such level of integration, but one can't deny the competition can create a product mechanically as good while keeping the repairability in check.I won't hold my breath for changes, though. As mentioned by bd139, currently Apple has no pressure to change their status quo.

author: exe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 02:22:34 pm
content: Quote from: james_s on March 26, 2019, 03:18:18 amI dunno, I have 5 cheap Chinese BT earphones died last 1.5 year. One because of the cable, rest because of battery or charging IC, lifespan was about 5-7months. And all of them "unrepairable". Well, I managed to open one, put a battery that I waited for more than month and it cost half of the phone (whooping 7euros), and guess what, shortly after repair they stopped working again (not due to the battery). Earphones that failed me: qcy-11, qcy-31, xiaomi earbuds and other models I don't know the name.So, now I'm using wired earphones while waiting for new bt earphones, but airpods don't look that bad after all.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 03:02:22 pm
content: I have Philips and SonyEricsson bt headsets that have lasted for years, and cost a fraction of the apple stuff. None have replaceable batteries though (the SE ones almost do but it's a real pain to get to the battery), even though it would have been easy to implement. Maybe the manufacturers feel they would have to sell battery packs themselves or pick some standard nimh battery, etc? They could just have left the battery accessible, used screws or even a snap together case, and let the user worry about how to find a replacement battery (which some seller on aliexpress no doubt would have been happy to provide).Looking at how the airpods are made it looks like the battery are in the elongated cylindrical section. I suspect it would have been possible to make them so that you could unscrew them, or maybe just plug them in with a miniature rca style connector.The youtube ai suggested this video to me:

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 03:03:34 pm
content: As a counterpoint to this, I use the ones that came with my iPhone. They have wires. They work. No problems. No charger. No batteries to go flat. Haven't knackered a pair yet. My other half has but only through dropping them down the toilet.Is it really worth getting buggered hard to have 3 feet of wire taken out of your life?

author: exe
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 03:09:04 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 29, 2019, 03:03:34 pmIt's convenient to go wireless when doing sports.

author: apis
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 03:28:12 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on March 29, 2019, 03:03:34 pmI often use headphones with my computer and when I get up to fetch something I risk pulling it with me unless I remember to unplug first, can be quite annoying.

author: chris_leyson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 10:34:06 pm
content: It seems Apple have given up on AirPower because the wireless charging mat gets too hot. So no chance of charging AirPods wirelessly as promised.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-47756055

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 10:37:23 pm
content: You can charge them by wirelessly by putting them in the microwave!

author: oPossum
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 29, 2019, 11:36:08 pm
content: Quote from: rsjsouza on March 29, 2019, 01:44:41 pmThe soon to be announced AirPod X will sell for $999, so the battery replacement cost is a tiny fraction of the purchase price. Problem solved!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 12:13:03 pm
content: Quote from: chris_leyson on March 29, 2019, 10:34:06 pmNo, just no multi-device charging mat from Apple. They can still charge wirelessly on a standard Qi charger. (Though I'll admit, I see absolutely no point in wireless charging mats.)

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 30, 2019, 04:00:29 pm
content: A wireless charging mat is a solution in search of a problem. I suppose they may be looking to eliminate all physical connectors to make a completely sealed device but that's not something I have any interest in.

author: GavinHemmings
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: June 03, 2020, 10:38:09 am
content: This is not very good news, perhaps they have a new solution to this problem at this time. I like my wireless headphones, but they are not branded. I bought fake AirPods (you can see the review herehttps://woahtech.com/best-fake-airpods/) that I use for sports. And I can say that the battery charge lasts for a long time, about 1 day of listening to music. And the earbuds can be recharged 5 times without using an outlet. This is very convenient. So I'm pleased with both the quality and price of these AirPods, even though they are not branded.