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What is the relative rates of occurrence of phone theft vs. phones breaking in a way that requires repair? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that far far fa

What is the relative rates of occurrence of phone theft vs. phones breaking in a way that requires repair? I'm going to go out on a limb and say that far far far more people have a phone that needs to be repaired than have a phone that gets stolen. So making repair worse to make theft "better" seems like a bad tradeoff to me. And that's even presuming that this stated goal actually works. I would expect that a very non-trivial amount of phone theft happens without knowing the model. Assuming that's the case, having 1 manufacturer make selling parts non-viable doesn't really help that much. So A) even if it was 100% effective that seems like a bad tradeoff to me and B) I'm skeptical of how much difference this actually makes in theft rates. I know that I personally, if choosing between a phone that I knew for a fact would 100% never be stolen, but also couldn't be repaired, vs. a phone that could easily be repaired but was subject to theft, I would choose the repairable phone every time. It's an anecdote, but I've never had a phone stolen and literally every single phone I've ever had has needed repair at one point or another.

weaksauce 3y ago
> What is the relative rates of occurrence of phone theft vs. phones breaking in a way that requires repair? i would think having a permanently useless phone would stop the first rate from ever increasing much. you are walking around with a grand in your pocket everywhere you go so to lower the risk of violent robbery is good.
hbn 3y ago
> I'm going to go out on a limb and say that far far far more people have a phone that needs to be repaired than have a phone that gets stolen. Perhaps because it's known to many thieves that iPhones are a useless thing to steal due to Apple's tight account-tied software locks?
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  Go back five years and I'd guess this is still true. I do not think Apple's policy has changed this.
  - hbn 3y ago
    I'd bet it's even more true now.
  - ribosometronome 3y ago
    https://www.zdnet.com/article/fcc-report-apple-iphone-activation-lock-significantly-reducing-theft-rates/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/fcc-report-apple-iphone-activa... This article predates some of the parts behavior but shows that similar efforts have deterred theft.
TylerE 3y ago
Personal anecdote: times I’ve had a phone need a repair besides a screen: zero Times I’ve been mugged and had my phone taken: one
- circuit10 3y ago
  Why do screens not count?
acover 3y ago
Being robbed at gunpoint is much worse than having to buy a new phone.
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  People were robbed at gunpoint before cell phones and will continue to be robbed at gunpoint even if every single manufacturer adopts this policy. This is not some magic bullet that stops crime. There is another commenter in this very thread describing being mugged at gunpoint and his mugger forcing him to go through the Apple unpairing process in order to make the phone completely flippable as a whole device. Not to mention that it is not infinitely worse. There is some relative amount of needing repair to being robbed at which it becomes a bad tradeoff. Where that point is is probably different for different people. But that line exists somewhere for everyone.
  - midoridensha 3y ago
    >People were robbed at gunpoint before cell phones and will continue to be robbed at gunpoint even if every single manufacturer adopts this policy. Only in crappy countries where lots of people own guns.
crazygringo 3y ago
> I'm going to go out on a limb and say that far far far more people have a phone that needs to be repaired than have a phone that gets stolen. I'd say the polar opposite, as long as you're excluding screen and battery replacement which aren't what's being talked about here. I don't know anybody who's ever had a non-screen/battery component replaced. On the other hand, I know tons of times someone's phone has been stolen.
- flaburgan 3y ago
  >as long as you're excluding screen and battery replacement which aren't what's being talked about here. You did not read the iFixit post then, it is what is being talked about here. The post has nice screenshots of the phone complaining that the battery is not "a genuine Apple battery".
stouset 3y ago
Luckily, for like $4/mo (and $29 per incident), Apple will replace the screen for you. You can break your screen every year and it will cost you less than the $100 that screen would cost on the open market.

weaksauce 3y ago

> What is the relative rates of occurrence of phone theft vs. phones breaking in a way that requires repair? i would think having a permanently useless phone would stop the first rate from ever increasing much. you are walking around with a grand in your pocket everywhere you go so to lower the risk of violent robbery is good.

hbn 3y ago

> I'm going to go out on a limb and say that far far far more people have a phone that needs to be repaired than have a phone that gets stolen. Perhaps because it's known to many thieves that iPhones are a useless thing to steal due to Apple's tight account-tied software locks?

MostlyStable 3y ago
Go back five years and I'd guess this is still true. I do not think Apple's policy has changed this.
- hbn 3y ago
  I'd bet it's even more true now.
- ribosometronome 3y ago
  https://www.zdnet.com/article/fcc-report-apple-iphone-activation-lock-significantly-reducing-theft-rates/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/fcc-report-apple-iphone-activa... This article predates some of the parts behavior but shows that similar efforts have deterred theft.

TylerE 3y ago

Personal anecdote: times I’ve had a phone need a repair besides a screen: zero Times I’ve been mugged and had my phone taken: one

circuit10 3y ago
Why do screens not count?

acover 3y ago

Being robbed at gunpoint is much worse than having to buy a new phone.

MostlyStable 3y ago
People were robbed at gunpoint before cell phones and will continue to be robbed at gunpoint even if every single manufacturer adopts this policy. This is not some magic bullet that stops crime. There is another commenter in this very thread describing being mugged at gunpoint and his mugger forcing him to go through the Apple unpairing process in order to make the phone completely flippable as a whole device. Not to mention that it is not infinitely worse. There is some relative amount of needing repair to being robbed at which it becomes a bad tradeoff. Where that point is is probably different for different people. But that line exists somewhere for everyone.
- midoridensha 3y ago
  >People were robbed at gunpoint before cell phones and will continue to be robbed at gunpoint even if every single manufacturer adopts this policy. Only in crappy countries where lots of people own guns.

crazygringo 3y ago

> I'm going to go out on a limb and say that far far far more people have a phone that needs to be repaired than have a phone that gets stolen. I'd say the polar opposite, as long as you're excluding screen and battery replacement which aren't what's being talked about here. I don't know anybody who's ever had a non-screen/battery component replaced. On the other hand, I know tons of times someone's phone has been stolen.

flaburgan 3y ago
>as long as you're excluding screen and battery replacement which aren't what's being talked about here. You did not read the iFixit post then, it is what is being talked about here. The post has nice screenshots of the phone complaining that the battery is not "a genuine Apple battery".

stouset 3y ago

Luckily, for like $4/mo (and $29 per incident), Apple will replace the screen for you. You can break your screen every year and it will cost you less than the $100 that screen would cost on the open market.