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My Apple Watch 3 died today. Apple sent this price list. What surprised me is for the exact same internals, they will charge you substantially more to fix it d
by jonplackett 5y ago
My Apple Watch 3 died today. Apple sent this price list.
What surprised me is for the exact same internals, they will charge you substantially more to fix it depending on the case material.
Aluminium is the cheapest at about £150. Steel costs just over £300 and if you were foolish enough to opt for ceramic, that will be £750.
To fix the exact same thing!
I call foul play.
- twobitshifter 5y agoIs it possible that the fix is just a full replacement?
- jonplackett 5y agoYeah that would make most sense wouldn’t it. Definitely something to bear in mind when buying one though.
- thedanbob 5y agoI mentioned once to an Apple employee that I fixed iPads on the side sometimes. She was surprised because, as she said, even Apple doesn’t fix them; they just give you a new one and charge you half price. Maybe that’s changed by now but I wouldn’t be surprised if it hasn’t, those things are miserable to fix and I bet the Watch is just as bad.
- Hamuko 5y agoiPads tend to get 2-3 out of 10 for repairability from iFixit. Surprisingly the Apple Watch Series 6 gets a whopping 6/10 for repairability. Apple does sell refurbished watches, so it's probably that it's cheaper and more efficient to just grab a new Apple Watch from a box, give it to the customer and throw the old one in the refurbished parts bin. You also don't need a local shop to do repairs since the customer isn't waiting angrily to get their device back, so you can just bulk ship them to some central place. https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/watch https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished/watch
- webmobdev 5y agoIt's still true. I went to get an iPad with a screen problem repaired and they said they don't repair it. If there is an issue, they'll just take it and give you replacement. And obviously charge you an arm and leg for it hoping you'd opt to buy a new iPad. I just went ahead and bought a compatible screen, toolkit and learnt how to replace the screen myself (it was a pain).
- nojito 5y agoHow is it foul play? You’re getting a new Apple Watch.
- snypher 5y agoBecause they are lying about repairing it when it's just a discounted replacement? Should a processor upgrade cost more because my case has led lights and a glass door?
- smabie 5y agoBut you're not getting an aluminum watch as a replacement you're getting a steel one (which costs more). Seems fine by me?
- Nextgrid 5y agoExcept his watch's case is fine, it's the internals that need fixing. The customer shouldn't have to pay more in this case - Apple should either swallow the cost or actually repair the existing device.
- jonplackett 5y agoYeah that’s what I thought. That seems the fair thing to do - I’m pretty sure it’s died after doing a software update too.
- occoder 5y agoI hate these forced software updates with a passion! If you're sure the software update was what killed your watch, you should demand nothing less than a new replacement watch, at no additional cost to you.
- Nextgrid 5y agoThe fact that a routine software update can fail and brick the device is a defect. This problem has been solved over a decade ago with BIOS updates even on entry-level boards by having 2 BIOSes on the board where the second one can be used to recover from if the first one is bricked, so there's really no excuse for this to be an issue nowadays.
- bleachedsleet 5y agoI worked for a time at an Apple Authorized repair shop and watches are not repaired. They’re inspected for warrantable damage, sent to Apple, inspected again for other warrantable damage on the internals, then replaced if authorized. You’re getting a discounted watch, not an inflated repair.
- wdb 5y ago£750 that's border line expensive, that's close to the cost of full service of a top tier mechanical watch (think Lange or Patek)