4 ms·

Well, very technically speaking, they did recycle those iPhones. Why is Apples so obsessed with controlling the entirety of their devices' life cycle, anyway?

djsumdog 6y ago
Sales. Money. Power.
Chris2048 6y ago
Are apple still on the hook for warranty for those iProducts?
- Joker_vD 6y ago
  Of course not.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    Apple’s concern would not be whether they are technically liable, but whether or not the cost of determining if they are liable and being scammed is more than simply destroying the items thereby reducing the probability of being scammed in the first place.
    - entropicdrifter 6y ago
      That's not their real concern anyhow. They just want to monopolize the supply by crippling the aftermarket as much as possible. That's been their MO for over a decade. It's also why they fight the right to repair court cases and third party repair services tooth and nail ( https://www.ifixit.com/Right-to-Repair/Intro https://www.ifixit.com/Right-to-Repair/Intro )
RandallBrown 6y ago
Lets say you buy one of these recycled phones that Apple has already deemed unfixable. Maybe it mostly works, but the screen occasionally blacks out or there's a bunch of dead pixels. Maybe the battery dies almost immediately. It's Apple's reputation that gets tarnished by this.
- TeMPOraL 6y ago
  Then I guess we need to double-down on allowing this, in order to normalize second-hand/recycled hardware across the society. Then Apple's reputation will be invulnerable, as any random complaint about iPhones on the Internet will be counterable by "surely you bought a third-party refurb from your local recycler".
  - Joker_vD 6y ago
    And whatever warranty may be legally obliged to exits, it falls on that local recycler (or maybe they explicitly have to sell it without warranty, but then the redistributors have to either also explicitly sell without warranty or take the warranty obligations on themselves). I mean, it's not like it's a completely new development, the secondary markets have been existing for centuries, and generally either you buy second-hand from an individual in which case caveat emptor, or from a firm/some sort of legal entity, in which case it's their problem to provide some basic level of customer protection, but definitely not on the original producer.
- doyouevensunbro 6y ago
  I’m wondering if you could just engrave into these devices that they were “reclaimed” or “recycled” so that it’s clear that Apple no longer is on the hook but people can still use if they choose to do so.
  - birdyrooster 6y ago
    They will just have to further disable the phones before sending them for recycling. Doesn’t seem like a big problem.
  - franga2000 6y ago
    Basically nobody is selling recycled iPhones as if they were new. Apple has an impressive amount of control over their retail channels and buyers aren't idiots. The problem for Apple isn't that people would think their refurb iPhones were new, it's that Apple simply doesn't want poor people to have them because it might hurt their sale of 700$ computer wheels if they don't seem like a luxury brand. As a bonus, if they destroy all the broken devices, repair shops have no access to replacement parts and so there's nobody to challenge them when they tell you to buy a new 1000$ phone because yours has an "irreparable" bent flex cable pin.
hcs 6y ago
Are they perhaps booking tax benefits for having paid to have the devices recycled?
rasz 6y ago
Yes, reselling is recycling. Apple redefines recycling to Will it blend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYshVbcEmUc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYshVbcEmUc 100K devices back in the supply stream means Apple lost on at least $30Mil of pure profit.

djsumdog 6y ago

Sales. Money. Power.

Chris2048 6y ago

Are apple still on the hook for warranty for those iProducts?

Joker_vD 6y ago
Of course not.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  Apple’s concern would not be whether they are technically liable, but whether or not the cost of determining if they are liable and being scammed is more than simply destroying the items thereby reducing the probability of being scammed in the first place.
  - entropicdrifter 6y ago
    That's not their real concern anyhow. They just want to monopolize the supply by crippling the aftermarket as much as possible. That's been their MO for over a decade. It's also why they fight the right to repair court cases and third party repair services tooth and nail ( https://www.ifixit.com/Right-to-Repair/Intro https://www.ifixit.com/Right-to-Repair/Intro )

RandallBrown 6y ago

Lets say you buy one of these recycled phones that Apple has already deemed unfixable. Maybe it mostly works, but the screen occasionally blacks out or there's a bunch of dead pixels. Maybe the battery dies almost immediately. It's Apple's reputation that gets tarnished by this.

TeMPOraL 6y ago
Then I guess we need to double-down on allowing this, in order to normalize second-hand/recycled hardware across the society. Then Apple's reputation will be invulnerable, as any random complaint about iPhones on the Internet will be counterable by "surely you bought a third-party refurb from your local recycler".
- Joker_vD 6y ago
  And whatever warranty may be legally obliged to exits, it falls on that local recycler (or maybe they explicitly have to sell it without warranty, but then the redistributors have to either also explicitly sell without warranty or take the warranty obligations on themselves). I mean, it's not like it's a completely new development, the secondary markets have been existing for centuries, and generally either you buy second-hand from an individual in which case caveat emptor, or from a firm/some sort of legal entity, in which case it's their problem to provide some basic level of customer protection, but definitely not on the original producer.
doyouevensunbro 6y ago
I’m wondering if you could just engrave into these devices that they were “reclaimed” or “recycled” so that it’s clear that Apple no longer is on the hook but people can still use if they choose to do so.
- birdyrooster 6y ago
  They will just have to further disable the phones before sending them for recycling. Doesn’t seem like a big problem.
- franga2000 6y ago
  Basically nobody is selling recycled iPhones as if they were new. Apple has an impressive amount of control over their retail channels and buyers aren't idiots. The problem for Apple isn't that people would think their refurb iPhones were new, it's that Apple simply doesn't want poor people to have them because it might hurt their sale of 700$ computer wheels if they don't seem like a luxury brand. As a bonus, if they destroy all the broken devices, repair shops have no access to replacement parts and so there's nobody to challenge them when they tell you to buy a new 1000$ phone because yours has an "irreparable" bent flex cable pin.

hcs 6y ago

Are they perhaps booking tax benefits for having paid to have the devices recycled?

rasz 6y ago

Yes, reselling is recycling. Apple redefines recycling to Will it blend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYshVbcEmUc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYshVbcEmUc 100K devices back in the supply stream means Apple lost on at least $30Mil of pure profit.