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Do most watches have ports that are designed for thousands of uses? My smart watch sure does. But of all the possible avenues by which its waterproofness might
by petsfed 3y ago
Do most watches have ports that are designed for thousands of uses? My smart watch sure does. But of all the possible avenues by which its waterproofness might fail, that connector is #1. I'm pretty sure its custom, as the cable has actual pogo pins to connect.
Strictly from a product design and especially hardware design standpoint, I get the resistance to easy replacement of certain parts. Designing for a replaceable battery means designing your seal to withstand at least twice as many battery replacements as the law requires, or you make sure you have enough replacement seals stockpiled to cover the number that will be replaced, or you use a a commodity seal (think an O-ring).
Apple eventually made ~86 million iPhone 8 and 8 plus. Let's say that's representative of any given model of phone. How many millions (billions?) of seals is that? How much does that cost to store? To distribute? How much does that affect the cost of the phone?
I am fully behind right-to-repair. I won't work for companies that have lobbied against it (and as an embedded hardware and firmware guy, that's significant). But there is a measurable, monetary cost to designing things to be repaired. Either we accept that only the richest n% of e.g. phone manufacturers can afford to stay in business, we as the consumer accept lower performance at the same price point, or both.
All of that said, my point regarding connectors with finite cycle lifespans is relevant. These physical devices themselves have a lifespan. What is the point of replacing a battery when the charging port, headphone jack, physical buttons, touch screen, etc are spec'd to fail well before the average battery does? What about if you have the same iPhone 8 soldering problem, where the phone can't actually survive being put in the back pocket of a decently tight pair of pants? How does government regulation regarding batteries reverse the trend of people buying cheap things because they cost less?
- evilos 3y agoThese phones have been made before at scale, I'm sure we could manage: https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s5-6033.php https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s5-6033.php > What is the point of replacing a battery when the charging port, headphone jack, physical buttons, touch screen, etc are spec'd to fail well before the average battery does Parts often/usually last far in excess of what they're spec'd for as I'm sure you know. And many of the things you list aren't critical to operation like the battery is.
- scarface_74 3y agoAnd they also required the flap to be closed for it to be water resistant.
- evilos 3y agoYes but USB C has solved that problem.
- scarface_74 3y agoWhich modern phone has a removable battery and is water resistant? The vaunted Samsung s5, you still had to make sure that the battery was very secure and just right. > https://www.gottabemobile.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-water-test-dont-try-this-with-your-iphone/#:~:text=It's%20important%20to%20remember%20that,or%20are%20in%20extreme%20environments https://www.gottabemobile.com/samsung-galaxy-s5-water-test-d... > If you remove the battery, the Galaxy S5 will remind you to make sure the back cover is back in place securely.
- evilos 3y agoApparently the brand new iphone 14! https://www.ifixit.com/News/64865/iphone-14-teardown https://www.ifixit.com/News/64865/iphone-14-teardown The new law apparently doesn't require a user to be able to replace the battery by hand. Just that it is serviceable.
- scarface_74 3y agoThe iPhone has always been serviceable by an authorized Apple dealer or if you’re good enough and brave enough by the end user wiling to use the iFixit guide.
- evilos 3y agoSo, you're saying the answer to your own question was "basically all iphones"? I think the new law would basically mean the end user doesn't have to deal with glue now at least.