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The legend going around, is that the iPhone's screen was changed from plastic to glass a week before the announcement (6 months before launch). Nowadays, things

The legend going around, is that the iPhone's screen was changed from plastic to glass a week before the announcement (6 months before launch). Nowadays, things like the cameras get finalized 2-3 years before the phone comes out (according to John Gruber) because of how complex finding suppliers, etc. is, but obviously if they find big issues 6 months before release, they can adapt and make late changes. But that's hardware. There's zero reason they would need years to come out with this self-repair announcement, when all it is right now, is a blog post, announcing something that'll come out "in 2022".

irae 5y ago
Apple is not known for good web services. The App Store being a fork of iTunes Store and the Mac App Store building on the same unstable foundation. Sure they are getting better and better, but still... Apple will want to scale this from the web or from on-device apps. Previously we've seen that Apple is detecting each part by serial number, so even mixing genuine parts disable a lot of features [1]. So, now it becomes clear part of their reason: If they can detect all the genuine parts, they can ship for self repair and it will work for the intended customer and not for other devices. This reduces chances of cloning, theft and scams, while guaranteeing quality (and guaranteeing their revenue on replaced parts too). IMO, yes, it would require years for them to announce this. There is all the checkout part, they would need to issue the right part with the correct serial number to the exact customer and charge taxes accordingly. All this logistics is centered on software Apple has a bad reputation at best, and very slow process of development from what is seems from the outside. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s7NmMl_-yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s7NmMl_-yg
- tekknik 5y ago
  > Apple is not known for good web services. Woah what? Having a 10TB+ media library with Apple what are you talking about? They use both AWS and GCP to host their services. So again, what?!? For reference, I’m a few months into downloading my library to some spindle drives, and haven’t had a hiccup yet.
- jaywalk 5y ago
  I think you've completely missed the fact that this program is taking something they already do and expanding access to end users.
ralfd 5y ago
"available early next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022"
Reason077 5y ago
> "The legend going around, is that the iPhone's screen was changed from plastic to glass a week before the announcement" It's not a legend. Apple even mentioned the switch to glass in a press release at the time [1]. The original prototype iPhone shown at the announcement event had a plastic screen, but the version that shipped 6 months later had glass: [1] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/06/18iPhone-Delivers-Up-to-Eight-Hours-of-Talk-Time/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/06/18iPhone-Delivers-Up-...
- KennyBlanken 5y ago
  A plastic screen would have been a complete disaster. Apparently none of you owned an iPod pre-iPhone days. The screens got scratched if you looked at them funny.
  - Reason077 5y ago
    The stainless steel back case on the original iPod was worse than the screen in my recollection. Scratched so easily.
    - jen729w 5y ago
      Good job you didn’t need to look ~~at~~ through it all day in order to use the product then!
    - tzs 5y ago
      I once wanted to try using the backs of iPods as part of a keyless entry system. We all carried iPods anyway, and everyone's iPod had a different scratch pattern on back, so have a system where you hold your iPod back up to a camera and enter a PIN. The scratch pattern tells the system who is requesting entry. If they enter the PIN for that person let 'em in.
ksec 5y ago
>according to John Gruber.... because of how complex finding suppliers The same John Gruber claims $159 AirPod were sold at near cost. Which leads to a whole world of misinformation passed along as fact in all AirPod discussions. He may get a few things right in terms of design and software. But seriously his creditability in terms of hardware and supply chain is practically zero. And no, camera or lens dont get get finalized 2-3 years before the phone comes out. But I agree it absolutely does not need years. And if anyone has been following Apple for a long period of time should know this PR means it wasn't prepared for YEARS. Not to mention they are basically opening up their repair programme from 3rd party to end users. The only thing that take time rather than a flip of a switch is user instruction and legal clearing.

irae 5y ago

Apple is not known for good web services. The App Store being a fork of iTunes Store and the Mac App Store building on the same unstable foundation. Sure they are getting better and better, but still... Apple will want to scale this from the web or from on-device apps. Previously we've seen that Apple is detecting each part by serial number, so even mixing genuine parts disable a lot of features [1]. So, now it becomes clear part of their reason: If they can detect all the genuine parts, they can ship for self repair and it will work for the intended customer and not for other devices. This reduces chances of cloning, theft and scams, while guaranteeing quality (and guaranteeing their revenue on replaced parts too). IMO, yes, it would require years for them to announce this. There is all the checkout part, they would need to issue the right part with the correct serial number to the exact customer and charge taxes accordingly. All this logistics is centered on software Apple has a bad reputation at best, and very slow process of development from what is seems from the outside. [1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s7NmMl_-yg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s7NmMl_-yg

tekknik 5y ago
> Apple is not known for good web services. Woah what? Having a 10TB+ media library with Apple what are you talking about? They use both AWS and GCP to host their services. So again, what?!? For reference, I’m a few months into downloading my library to some spindle drives, and haven’t had a hiccup yet.
jaywalk 5y ago
I think you've completely missed the fact that this program is taking something they already do and expanding access to end users.

ralfd 5y ago

"available early next year in the US and expand to additional countries throughout 2022"

Reason077 5y ago

> "The legend going around, is that the iPhone's screen was changed from plastic to glass a week before the announcement" It's not a legend. Apple even mentioned the switch to glass in a press release at the time [1]. The original prototype iPhone shown at the announcement event had a plastic screen, but the version that shipped 6 months later had glass: [1] https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/06/18iPhone-Delivers-Up-to-Eight-Hours-of-Talk-Time/ https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/06/18iPhone-Delivers-Up-...

KennyBlanken 5y ago
A plastic screen would have been a complete disaster. Apparently none of you owned an iPod pre-iPhone days. The screens got scratched if you looked at them funny.
- Reason077 5y ago
  The stainless steel back case on the original iPod was worse than the screen in my recollection. Scratched so easily.
  - jen729w 5y ago
    Good job you didn’t need to look ~~at~~ through it all day in order to use the product then!
  - tzs 5y ago
    I once wanted to try using the backs of iPods as part of a keyless entry system. We all carried iPods anyway, and everyone's iPod had a different scratch pattern on back, so have a system where you hold your iPod back up to a camera and enter a PIN. The scratch pattern tells the system who is requesting entry. If they enter the PIN for that person let 'em in.

ksec 5y ago

>according to John Gruber.... because of how complex finding suppliers The same John Gruber claims $159 AirPod were sold at near cost. Which leads to a whole world of misinformation passed along as fact in all AirPod discussions. He may get a few things right in terms of design and software. But seriously his creditability in terms of hardware and supply chain is practically zero. And no, camera or lens dont get get finalized 2-3 years before the phone comes out. But I agree it absolutely does not need years. And if anyone has been following Apple for a long period of time should know this PR means it wasn't prepared for YEARS. Not to mention they are basically opening up their repair programme from 3rd party to end users. The only thing that take time rather than a flip of a switch is user instruction and legal clearing.