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Its not just about repair-ability, its about software support too. Apple, when compared with the android phone manufactures is probably a better choice for lon

Its not just about repair-ability, its about software support too. Apple, when compared with the android phone manufactures is probably a better choice for long term use. That is because while my android phone (asus) has a battery I can replace in under 1 minute, the software support probably won't last for 5 years like my daughters iphone5 which after a new battery is a perfectly functional updated device. So if you want to do something about the throwaway culture, minimum support periods might be a good thing to look at too.

icebraining 9y ago
Yeah, at least for security bugs. I'm still using a Nexus 7 (2012) with Lollipop and it works fine, including the apps, even if their developers hate my guts for having to stick with older APIs :)
- numenor 9y ago
  Mine is a humble Galaxy S3, bought when it first came out, now running Android 7.1.2. Since neither Android nor the handset maker has a chokehold on me, I can choose to upgrade/downgrade, muck around in general. It is my device to do whatever I wish. Plus the lovely external SD card to put whatever I want and not rely on any @#$% cloud.
  - limeblack 9y ago
    Unfortunately I'm pretty sure newer S8 have locked bootloaders or I could be wrong.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    I could upgrade as well (I already run ClockworkMod, in fact), I just don't have the patience to deal with eventual problems. As for the external storage, I can use any flash drive with an OTG micro-USB port, which are common and cheap nowadays (or a regular drive with an OTG cable). But I rarely need the extra space.
  - ihattendorf 9y ago
    Just keep in mind, any binary firmware (e.g. WiFi/radio) you have isn't getting security updates and can't be patched by your ROM provider. For example, my Nexus 5 is vulnerable to Broadpwn (CVE-2017-9417), but since Google stop supporting it I'll never get the updated Broadcom firmware. LineageOS can't patch this, so I either need to live with the fact my device is vulnerable to WiFi takeover or switch to a supported phone. I'm seriously considering picking up an iPhone because of this.
    - occultist_throw 9y ago
      And Apple is well known for installing updates that kill their devices by way of ram and cpu exhaustion. I've been called too many times, because Apple update, one of, destroyed machine. In reality, open hardware is also what's needed, so we can patch firmware ourselves when vendors cant or wont. That too is a massive uphill battle.
      - CountSessine 9y ago
        I doubt that they're doing this intentionally. If your development target is modern hardware with a cutting-edge CPU, that's what you'll optimize to and that's what will perform well. I guess the fact that modern versions of iOS don't work well on old iphones shows that they're not optimizing for old CPUs. That's disappointing, but that's not planned obsolescence. Also, realize that if we do get repairability laws, the incentive to target and optimize system updates to brand-new hardware will only grow.
        khedoros1 9y ago
        If they're developing for the cutting-edge device, but also releasing the same software for the older CPUs, it's hard to say that they're not doing it intentionally. They know exactly the experience that they're giving to the customer.
        CountSessine 9y ago
        Adding new features to software to run on yesterday's hardware is harder than running it on tomorrow's hardware. That's work that needs to be done - and its work that won't make Apple any new money. Choosing to do that optimization work is choosing to spend money on customers that aren't paying for the update. And you'd rather not get security updates?
amelius 9y ago
> Its not just about repair-ability, its about software support too. Apple, when compared with the android phone manufactures is probably a better choice for long term use. Meanwhile, I can still run Linux pretty well on an old i386 machine.
- StillBored 9y ago
  Uh, 386 support got dropped with linux ~3.8 IIRC. Besides, you don't really want to try and run a modern kernel on anything less than say a pentium3 due to RAM constraints. As someone who tries this kind of stuff in an effort to keep some older hardware running, even when you do get it up, the experience can make it basically unusable. Waiting 30 seconds for a login prompt/whatever isn't "usable". Sure, you can disable 95% of the kernel, but all kinds of stuff actually have hard-coded dependencies on things you normally never use, simply getting the kernel up isn't the same functionality that was achieved (full X/WM/browser/etc) on the same hardware a decade or two ago.
jrs95 9y ago
The durability of an iPhone seems way better as well. Within 48 hours of me getting a new Galaxy S8+, the screen had gotten scratched to hell just from being in my jeans pocket. By itself. Now I can hardly read 20% of the screen in direct sunlight with the brightness all the way up, and I'm wondering why the hell I paid $650 for this. Before this, I had the jet black iPhone 7, which was supposed to be very prone to getting micro abrasions, and yet its in better much better shape than the phone I've had for just a couple weeks. If it were affordable, I'd just have this fixed and put a screen protector on it. Unfortunately, it's not, so I guess I'll be buying another iPhone in a few months...
Froyoh 9y ago
There have also been conspiracy theories about Apple nudging users to buy the latest devices by slowing down old devices through irreversible software updates...

icebraining 9y ago

Yeah, at least for security bugs. I'm still using a Nexus 7 (2012) with Lollipop and it works fine, including the apps, even if their developers hate my guts for having to stick with older APIs :)

numenor 9y ago
Mine is a humble Galaxy S3, bought when it first came out, now running Android 7.1.2. Since neither Android nor the handset maker has a chokehold on me, I can choose to upgrade/downgrade, muck around in general. It is my device to do whatever I wish. Plus the lovely external SD card to put whatever I want and not rely on any @#$% cloud.
- limeblack 9y ago
  Unfortunately I'm pretty sure newer S8 have locked bootloaders or I could be wrong.
- icebraining 9y ago
  I could upgrade as well (I already run ClockworkMod, in fact), I just don't have the patience to deal with eventual problems. As for the external storage, I can use any flash drive with an OTG micro-USB port, which are common and cheap nowadays (or a regular drive with an OTG cable). But I rarely need the extra space.
- ihattendorf 9y ago
  Just keep in mind, any binary firmware (e.g. WiFi/radio) you have isn't getting security updates and can't be patched by your ROM provider. For example, my Nexus 5 is vulnerable to Broadpwn (CVE-2017-9417), but since Google stop supporting it I'll never get the updated Broadcom firmware. LineageOS can't patch this, so I either need to live with the fact my device is vulnerable to WiFi takeover or switch to a supported phone. I'm seriously considering picking up an iPhone because of this.
  - occultist_throw 9y ago
    And Apple is well known for installing updates that kill their devices by way of ram and cpu exhaustion. I've been called too many times, because Apple update, one of, destroyed machine. In reality, open hardware is also what's needed, so we can patch firmware ourselves when vendors cant or wont. That too is a massive uphill battle.
    - CountSessine 9y ago
      I doubt that they're doing this intentionally. If your development target is modern hardware with a cutting-edge CPU, that's what you'll optimize to and that's what will perform well. I guess the fact that modern versions of iOS don't work well on old iphones shows that they're not optimizing for old CPUs. That's disappointing, but that's not planned obsolescence. Also, realize that if we do get repairability laws, the incentive to target and optimize system updates to brand-new hardware will only grow.
      - khedoros1 9y ago
        If they're developing for the cutting-edge device, but also releasing the same software for the older CPUs, it's hard to say that they're not doing it intentionally. They know exactly the experience that they're giving to the customer.
        CountSessine 9y ago
        Adding new features to software to run on yesterday's hardware is harder than running it on tomorrow's hardware. That's work that needs to be done - and its work that won't make Apple any new money. Choosing to do that optimization work is choosing to spend money on customers that aren't paying for the update. And you'd rather not get security updates?

amelius 9y ago

> Its not just about repair-ability, its about software support too. Apple, when compared with the android phone manufactures is probably a better choice for long term use. Meanwhile, I can still run Linux pretty well on an old i386 machine.

StillBored 9y ago
Uh, 386 support got dropped with linux ~3.8 IIRC. Besides, you don't really want to try and run a modern kernel on anything less than say a pentium3 due to RAM constraints. As someone who tries this kind of stuff in an effort to keep some older hardware running, even when you do get it up, the experience can make it basically unusable. Waiting 30 seconds for a login prompt/whatever isn't "usable". Sure, you can disable 95% of the kernel, but all kinds of stuff actually have hard-coded dependencies on things you normally never use, simply getting the kernel up isn't the same functionality that was achieved (full X/WM/browser/etc) on the same hardware a decade or two ago.

jrs95 9y ago

The durability of an iPhone seems way better as well. Within 48 hours of me getting a new Galaxy S8+, the screen had gotten scratched to hell just from being in my jeans pocket. By itself. Now I can hardly read 20% of the screen in direct sunlight with the brightness all the way up, and I'm wondering why the hell I paid $650 for this. Before this, I had the jet black iPhone 7, which was supposed to be very prone to getting micro abrasions, and yet its in better much better shape than the phone I've had for just a couple weeks. If it were affordable, I'd just have this fixed and put a screen protector on it. Unfortunately, it's not, so I guess I'll be buying another iPhone in a few months...

Froyoh 9y ago

There have also been conspiracy theories about Apple nudging users to buy the latest devices by slowing down old devices through irreversible software updates...