6 ms·

Apple shareholder resolution calls for company to support right to repair

256 points by heshiebee 5y ago

google234123 5y ago
I get some enjoyment thinking about how much Apple must annoy all the right-to-repair people every year as they solder more and more components into their logic boards.
- jve 5y ago
  Compomnent count doesn't have to do anything with right to repair. And I really hope easily swappable components too (well up to a certain point, maybe. Just maybe). Naturally, you need expertise to repair. And you need tools too. But you have to have access to schematics+boardview, spare parts, a way to flash firmware (so the replaced component actually works/talks with other components on the board) and you are good to go.
- TakuYam 5y ago
  You enjoy Apple pretending to be environmentally friendly all the while demonstrating they are no such thing? Why?
  - google234123 5y ago
    Apple doesn't pretend https://www.apple.com/environment/ https://www.apple.com/environment/ Anyway those aren't mutually exclusive - you can't replace transistors like you could a vacuum tube.
    - NoPicklez 5y ago
      Sorry I couldn't help but do the same as you have, which is link a companies public environmental page as evidence for a company caring about being environmentally friendly. Aramco doesn't pretend about being environmentally friendly either https://www.aramco.com/en/creating-value/sustainable-business-operations/environmental-performance https://www.aramco.com/en/creating-value/sustainable-busines... Despite being the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the world...
    - nimih 5y ago
      > you can't replace transistors like you could a vacuum tube. What, precisely, do you think "right to repair" advocates want to do with their phones? Because you're right, it certainly doesn't involve popping out individual transistors like vacuum tubes.
- Bilal_io 5y ago
  Are an Apple fanboi or Google's? Or both? Right to repair is critical for the environment, and not sure what you gain by standing against it.
- p1necone 5y ago
  What is your problem with right to repair exactly?
  - tonyedgecombe 5y ago
    It's not at the top of my list of priorities. What I want is reliability and security updates for a long time. If a bit more glue means the phone is less likely to break when I drop it or if it gets wet then I'm happy with that.
    - simion314 5y ago
      You were FUD-ed, right to repair is not about making things less thin and not water proof. Making the same software and documentation Apple partners use available to all does not make your phone less sexy. Making it possible to recycle say a screen from a device and put it into other device, those reducing waste will also not make your phone less sexy. Allowing me the choice to replace a battery at an Apple approved store or let a random dude do it for me it will not make your phone less sexy. The part about filling the device with glue is debatable, is it done for the user benefit or is done to prevent repair or done to gain 2 cents. If is done malicious to fuck the user then I think they should stop. And I mean this in general, including washing machine, consoles and other devices, there is always a very cheap part that breaks, that could have been made stronger with a few cents more of materials and for some reason each year you get a new model of the thing with a redesign so the parts will never fit.
      - jdavis703 5y ago
        I don’t think this is just FUD. Many people on this site actually want a thicker iPhone with a replaceable battery. But you are correct, right to repair does not have to mean easy to repair.
        simion314 5y ago
        It is normal that many people would sacrifice 1-5 mm of thikness for more battery and the ability to replace the battery... but this is not about preventing people to repair their phones, just that people hate to charge their phone daily and always keeping on eye on the battery.
- mattst88 5y ago
  Soldering isn't the hard part. People can do that no problem. The hard part is understanding the device without schematics. See https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-technology/apple-store-vs-repair-shop-what-the-right-to-repair-is-all-about/F6C58D65-E0FD-45BA-97C6-01E103203F6D https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-techn... for a very good explanation of the issue.
jwagenet 5y ago
While it interesting if a majority or even +10% of shareholders called for this (as the title might hint), the fund calling for this doesnt have much ownership to throw around.
- echelon 5y ago
  What if they went for a critical supplier or patent holder, instead?
p1necone 5y ago
https://frame.work/ https://frame.work/
- not1ofU 5y ago
  I wonder if Linus' investment into Framework has led to this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYFOMOIDYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYFOMOIDYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSxbc1IN9Gg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSxbc1IN9Gg
  - justinclift 5y ago
    Interesting. Those laptops look nifty. Hopefully they'll have some Ryzen based ones by the time I'm ready for an upgrade. :)
mike_d 5y ago
This dosen't mean anything at all. Per SEC requirements, you just have to own $25,000 in stock (or $2,000 if you have held it >3 years) in a company to put forward a non-binding shareholder resolution. Union and environmental groups have been doing this for years with an assortment of companies, mostly to raise their own profile with the press.
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
  Yes and no. It meaningless directly, but it can help to amplify the message to Apple management. If public uproar did cause them to reconsider their approach to CSAM, maybe there is a chance they will retink their abominable environmental policy.
  - mlindner 5y ago
    Right to repair is really only important for hobbyists and for people with lower incomes. CSAM scanning is an attack on their core userbase, those who are technically inclined and want a phone/computer that cares about your privacy. I'm completely fine monetarily with tossing a phone in the garbage if it breaks and getting a new one
    - simion314 5y ago
      There are people like me that can afford an expensive phone or computer but keep using their 5 years old devices, even as a developer there is no justification to run the latest 32 core Threadripper or latest CoolPhone (you could say as a dev you should feel how stuff runs on medium spec devices). Anyway you classified most Apple users as rich people that can throw away 500+ dollars and don't care about environment . Sure there are some rich Apple users , and people that are into Applo as an identity but I assume not all as you, I mean it was proven with the keyboard issues, with the battery issues , with the GPU issues - some fanboys blamed the users but in the end the majority did not bought a new device but forced Apple (sometimes with the help of the justice system) to fix their devices and be transparent about stuff. But sure, throw away a good laptop when a key is broken, be proud of it too , let us know how much money you have and how much you hate right to repair.
j_d_b 5y ago
It's strange that they mentioned John Deere but not Tesla.
OJFord 5y ago
> In particular, the resolution says that Apple making DIY and third-party repairs difficult contradicts the iPhone maker’s stance on the environment. Anybody that reads Matt Levine's Money Stuff column/newsletter is surely wondering why they're faffing about with shareholder resolutions, when they could just sue for securities fraud! (I realise this is probably much cheaper.) I think it has to go to a vote(?) to even be.. enacted in its non-binding way, but is there any requirement that it actually sees much/any discussion or response before that?
- riffraff 5y ago
  as a faithful Money Stuff reader, this was my first thought :)
squarefoot 5y ago
"to avoid damage to the company’s reputation" To me, anything a company does to avoid damage to its reputation when it's too late and has already become a matter of more profits or less profits, does indeed damage that company reputation anyway. Don't get me wrong, that would still be a (very) good thing, but I wouldn't expect any significant boost in Apple image, unless they pair it with a well crafted pro-environment PR campaign with the usual green hills, flowers, butterflies, happy families and possibly pink unicorns.
mrfusion 5y ago
How about a right to privacy next?
rubyist5eva 5y ago
No —- Tim Apple

256 points by heshiebee 5y ago

I get some enjoyment thinking about how much Apple must annoy all the right-to-repair people every year as they solder more and more components into their logic boards.

jve 5y ago
Compomnent count doesn't have to do anything with right to repair. And I really hope easily swappable components too (well up to a certain point, maybe. Just maybe). Naturally, you need expertise to repair. And you need tools too. But you have to have access to schematics+boardview, spare parts, a way to flash firmware (so the replaced component actually works/talks with other components on the board) and you are good to go.
TakuYam 5y ago
You enjoy Apple pretending to be environmentally friendly all the while demonstrating they are no such thing? Why?
- google234123 5y ago
  Apple doesn't pretend https://www.apple.com/environment/ https://www.apple.com/environment/ Anyway those aren't mutually exclusive - you can't replace transistors like you could a vacuum tube.
  - NoPicklez 5y ago
    Sorry I couldn't help but do the same as you have, which is link a companies public environmental page as evidence for a company caring about being environmentally friendly. Aramco doesn't pretend about being environmentally friendly either https://www.aramco.com/en/creating-value/sustainable-business-operations/environmental-performance https://www.aramco.com/en/creating-value/sustainable-busines... Despite being the largest contributor of greenhouse gas emissions in the world...
  - nimih 5y ago
    > you can't replace transistors like you could a vacuum tube. What, precisely, do you think "right to repair" advocates want to do with their phones? Because you're right, it certainly doesn't involve popping out individual transistors like vacuum tubes.
Bilal_io 5y ago
Are an Apple fanboi or Google's? Or both? Right to repair is critical for the environment, and not sure what you gain by standing against it.
p1necone 5y ago
What is your problem with right to repair exactly?
- tonyedgecombe 5y ago
  It's not at the top of my list of priorities. What I want is reliability and security updates for a long time. If a bit more glue means the phone is less likely to break when I drop it or if it gets wet then I'm happy with that.
  - simion314 5y ago
    You were FUD-ed, right to repair is not about making things less thin and not water proof. Making the same software and documentation Apple partners use available to all does not make your phone less sexy. Making it possible to recycle say a screen from a device and put it into other device, those reducing waste will also not make your phone less sexy. Allowing me the choice to replace a battery at an Apple approved store or let a random dude do it for me it will not make your phone less sexy. The part about filling the device with glue is debatable, is it done for the user benefit or is done to prevent repair or done to gain 2 cents. If is done malicious to fuck the user then I think they should stop. And I mean this in general, including washing machine, consoles and other devices, there is always a very cheap part that breaks, that could have been made stronger with a few cents more of materials and for some reason each year you get a new model of the thing with a redesign so the parts will never fit.
    - jdavis703 5y ago
      I don’t think this is just FUD. Many people on this site actually want a thicker iPhone with a replaceable battery. But you are correct, right to repair does not have to mean easy to repair.
      - simion314 5y ago
        It is normal that many people would sacrifice 1-5 mm of thikness for more battery and the ability to replace the battery... but this is not about preventing people to repair their phones, just that people hate to charge their phone daily and always keeping on eye on the battery.
mattst88 5y ago
Soldering isn't the hard part. People can do that no problem. The hard part is understanding the device without schematics. See https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-technology/apple-store-vs-repair-shop-what-the-right-to-repair-is-all-about/F6C58D65-E0FD-45BA-97C6-01E103203F6D https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-techn... for a very good explanation of the issue.

jwagenet 5y ago

While it interesting if a majority or even +10% of shareholders called for this (as the title might hint), the fund calling for this doesnt have much ownership to throw around.

echelon 5y ago
What if they went for a critical supplier or patent holder, instead?

p1necone 5y ago

https://frame.work/ https://frame.work/

not1ofU 5y ago
I wonder if Linus' investment into Framework has led to this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYFOMOIDYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNYFOMOIDYQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSxbc1IN9Gg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSxbc1IN9Gg
- justinclift 5y ago
  Interesting. Those laptops look nifty. Hopefully they'll have some Ryzen based ones by the time I'm ready for an upgrade. :)

mike_d 5y ago

This dosen't mean anything at all. Per SEC requirements, you just have to own $25,000 in stock (or $2,000 if you have held it >3 years) in a company to put forward a non-binding shareholder resolution. Union and environmental groups have been doing this for years with an assortment of companies, mostly to raise their own profile with the press.

hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
Yes and no. It meaningless directly, but it can help to amplify the message to Apple management. If public uproar did cause them to reconsider their approach to CSAM, maybe there is a chance they will retink their abominable environmental policy.
- mlindner 5y ago
  Right to repair is really only important for hobbyists and for people with lower incomes. CSAM scanning is an attack on their core userbase, those who are technically inclined and want a phone/computer that cares about your privacy. I'm completely fine monetarily with tossing a phone in the garbage if it breaks and getting a new one
  - simion314 5y ago
    There are people like me that can afford an expensive phone or computer but keep using their 5 years old devices, even as a developer there is no justification to run the latest 32 core Threadripper or latest CoolPhone (you could say as a dev you should feel how stuff runs on medium spec devices). Anyway you classified most Apple users as rich people that can throw away 500+ dollars and don't care about environment . Sure there are some rich Apple users , and people that are into Applo as an identity but I assume not all as you, I mean it was proven with the keyboard issues, with the battery issues , with the GPU issues - some fanboys blamed the users but in the end the majority did not bought a new device but forced Apple (sometimes with the help of the justice system) to fix their devices and be transparent about stuff. But sure, throw away a good laptop when a key is broken, be proud of it too , let us know how much money you have and how much you hate right to repair.

j_d_b 5y ago

It's strange that they mentioned John Deere but not Tesla.

OJFord 5y ago

> In particular, the resolution says that Apple making DIY and third-party repairs difficult contradicts the iPhone maker’s stance on the environment. Anybody that reads Matt Levine's Money Stuff column/newsletter is surely wondering why they're faffing about with shareholder resolutions, when they could just sue for securities fraud! (I realise this is probably much cheaper.) I think it has to go to a vote(?) to even be.. enacted in its non-binding way, but is there any requirement that it actually sees much/any discussion or response before that?

riffraff 5y ago
as a faithful Money Stuff reader, this was my first thought :)

squarefoot 5y ago

"to avoid damage to the company’s reputation" To me, anything a company does to avoid damage to its reputation when it's too late and has already become a matter of more profits or less profits, does indeed damage that company reputation anyway. Don't get me wrong, that would still be a (very) good thing, but I wouldn't expect any significant boost in Apple image, unless they pair it with a well crafted pro-environment PR campaign with the usual green hills, flowers, butterflies, happy families and possibly pink unicorns.

mrfusion 5y ago

How about a right to privacy next?

rubyist5eva 5y ago

No —- Tim Apple