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I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. There have been a couple times I've had a

I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. There have been a couple times I've had a problem with my iPhone under AppleCare. I've gone to my nearest Apple Store, and pretty quickly walked out with a new iPhone that works perfectly and contains all my data and, for all practical purposes, is exactly as if my old one never broke. That seems pretty repairable to me, on the axes I care about. It does mean I have to pay for AppleCare, but my guess is that on average you're not going to get away much more cheaply with years of use of a more "repairable" phone. I'd be interested in seeing counterarguments. I'm not trying to dispute anyone's claims about repairability. I just honestly don't get it. [Update: the main thing I'm getting from responses is that people care about their being low-cost, easily repairable phones for people who can't afford iPhones and Apple Care; the enthusiasm is empathy-based. That makes a lot of sense to me. I don't know of a source for actually comparing long-term costs, though. Are you sure the repairable phones are actually cheaper to own, long-term? Arguments about the environment make less sense to me since the broken phone is refurbished and used again. I asked, and I got useful answers. Thanks, HN! I've gotten a lot of downvotes for this question, though, which mystifies me... why downvote an honest question? It seems unfriendly and uncharitable.]

schnuri 3y ago
It’s more about sustainability.
- Klonoar 3y ago
  I mean... no. Apple publishes breakdowns/reports of their recycling efforts and it's pretty damn good for what it is, and these devices now last a very long time if you don't feel like chasing the yearly upgrade train. The selling point of the Fairphone is moreso that it's: - Attempting to pay fair wages to workers - Not Apple, for those who just don't want an Apple device - More (user) repair-able These are all very valid reasons to want to use something like the Fairphone and I am glad it exists, and it might even be my next phone - but to imply that it wins out over the iPhone trade-in-and-get-it-recycled flow is just bonkers.
  - comte7092 3y ago
    More third party repairable as well. >to imply that it wins out over the iPhone trade-in-and-get-it-recycled flow is just bonkers. I made this point in another comment already, but for many people, it isn’t easy to access an Apple Store, and Apple is notoriously stingy with third party authorized repair
    - Klonoar 3y ago
      > Phone trade-in-and-get-it-recycled flow I'm not talking about the Apple Care/App Store get-it-fixed flow, I am talking about how when you buy a new iPhone you can quite literally just mail your (hopefully data-cleansed) phone to Apple and they'll recycle it properly. If you're buying your phone through Apple - which you should do, just because phone carriers are ripoffs - then you generally get a credit back to boot. For the average consumer this is great and encourages sustainable reuse of the core materials throughout the iPhone lifecycle and generally means there is no good reason for iPhones to bloat up landfills or anything.
      - AnthonyMouse 3y ago
        > For the average consumer this is great and encourages sustainable reuse of the core materials throughout the iPhone lifecycle and generally means there is no good reason for iPhones to bloat up landfills or anything. But they do though. A lot of this stuff is corporate PR. For example, recycling aluminum is the default -- it costs less than mining it. You don't get credit for that, it's saving you money and you were going to do it anyway. And the reason it's so cheap is that you can source it from things that are basically pure aluminum, like aluminum cans, even though they're then making something out of it that has to go through a complicated process to separate the diverse materials from each other again. They have a recycling program for their old devices, but to use it you have to buy a new one. And there's a reason for that -- it's not otherwise cost effective to do it. It's a promotion to drive new sales, because the process is complicated and inefficient. Because they're trying to turn the device back into raw materials after gluing and soldering them all together. Which is why they go into the landfill unless someone is subsidizing it. Whereas the best way to "recycle" a piece of electronics is to continue using it as a piece of electronics. Allow the memory or storage to be upgraded to extend its usable life. Have modular parts to minimize the materials necessary to replace before it can go back into service after being damaged, and minimize the cost of such repairs to increase the number of repairs that are economical before a new device has to be manufactured.
december456 3y ago
Its completely the freedom aspect for me. Sure, Apple wont let me down because that would impact their business, but what if they did? Its also a thousand times better to be 100% sure you can modify your electronics without any fear of getting rejected like its vehicle insurance.
gherkinnn 3y ago
As you just said. You walked out with a new phone. Imagine if you didn’t have to replace an entire phone over a broken triviality.
- biggc 3y ago
  It’s usually not a new phone, it’s refurbished. Apple will then refurbish the phone you came in with and use it to replace someone else’s broken phone
- garyrob 3y ago
  > Imagine if you didn’t have to replace an entire phone over a broken triviality. I can imagine it. It wouldn't make the slightest difference to my practical experience. And then, as another commenter mentioned, my phone is refurbished and used for someone else.
  - fsflover 3y ago
    It would make a big difference for the used natural resources though.
- microtonal 3y ago
  I only had an issue with an iPhone once (yellowing around the edges of the display), I took it to the Apple Store and they replaced the screen. Probably the bulk of repairs (display, battery, shattered glass) don't entail a full replacement.
graypegg 3y ago
AppleCare is a great service. I’ve had the exact same experience! The problem is then also ensuring all other options are artificially worse than AppleCare. Your local “mall guy” is just as capable of swapping out a battery, in theory.
softfalcon 3y ago
It's about making it accessible to everyone, not just you who can afford an iPhone and AppleCare. It creates jobs by letting independent repair shops legitimately fix and repair your devices. Small business is important to our economy. It also creates competition for service. Your AppleCare service is good... for now... how long before Apple becomes like IBM? Maybe it'll never happen, but it might! Also, by making the iPhone repairable, it sets a standard (and possible legal backing) to make every device repairable. This applies to different phones, your laptop, your car, the speakers you bought. It also allows someone to buy a part and replace it instead of chucking the whole device when some small part breaks. This helps reduce e-waste and general landfill garbage. It also allows folks who come under tough times to just buy a knock-off battery and have their cousin install it until they get their next pay-cheque and can afford to take their phone in for Apple Care. You're thinking only about yourself, what about people less privileged than yourself? What about people who rely on Apple to do the right thing so that their manufacturers follow suit (Android)? You can't just trust a company will always be good, sometimes you have to enforce or push for good.
- kube-system 3y ago
  I supported a few fleets of smartphones back in the windows mobile and blackberry days, when they all had replaceable batteries. Do you know what people did when the batteries died? They overwhelmingly bought a new phone. Just because something is technically modular doesn't mean that: 1. other people know how to diagnose the problem 2. other people want to spend time or effort repairing the phone 3. other people don't just want a new phone anyway While people on this forum are often power users or technically minded people who like spending mental cycles on their devices, this is not what other people are like. People who are purely users delegate the fixing of their devices to others.
  - kibwen 3y ago
    > back in the windows mobile and blackberry days Back in the day, phones were improving so fast that upgrading often was naturally incentivized. These days, the tech has plateaued and phones are a commodity. How often does the average person replace their fridge? How often does the average person replace their hot water boiler? That's how often I want to replace my phone; closer to every ten years than every two years.
SECProto 3y ago
"AppleCare+" costs more than my phone over a 2-3 year period, and it sounds like you still have to pay for screen replacement?
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  The more money people have the more sense seems to go out the window.
callalex 3y ago
It is insanely expensive. Remember that the median household income in the US is less than $70k before taxes. That means half the people are making less than that, sometimes very significantly less than that. I assume your household makes more than double that, correct? And that’s just the United States, which is very high income compared to most of the world.
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  I just had a discussion with an Apple fanatic on HN where I tried to explain that to him, in response to him claiming people in the US make more money than most other countries which is why everyone buys luxury iphones.
- garyrob 3y ago
  Yes. I can see that having inexpensive, repairable devices could be good for people who can't afford iPhones or AppleCare, whether in the US or elsewhere. What I'm wondering about is the enthusiasm for them among the HN crowd. Maybe many in the HN crowd are still students, or "Ramen-profitable"...?
  - callalex 3y ago
    Or posses empathy and want technology to work for everybody.
  - Scandiravian 3y ago
    I need a phone to be able to perform every day things like 2fa for my banking, just like I need other things like a fridge for my food I want to the keep the cost per year for these things as low as possible while fulfilling my base requirements. For the phone that's no vendor lock-in, cheap repairs, and ability to play YouTube, browse emails, and check the news The Fairphone is the best option for me. It does what it needs to and is reasonably cheap per year, so I can spend that money on things I actually care about
    - garyrob 3y ago
oever 3y ago
> a new iPhone that works perfectly and contains all my data and, for all practical purposes, is exactly as if my old one never broke. That is a very compelling convenience that all (phone) OS-es should strive for. I try out different phones and operating systems, but syncing the data and settings via a self-hosted device are not convenient yet. `adb backup` will give me an archive but it's a deprecated command and so far I've never been able to restore data with it. A system like NixOS is getting the applications in exactly the same version and configuration, but the same rigor is not there for the associated data. Ideally, I'd be able to run a plug-and-play server at home, link it to my phone and have it take backups without ever being visible until there's a problem with running the backups. Then, when the phone needs to be replaced, link it the new phone and continue where the old one left off, including all contacts and contact history.
- twism 3y ago
  What? I just got a pixel fold and during the setup it asks to connect my old device (pixel 5). After a few minutes I have a carbon copy of my old device save a few apps I sideloaded.
  - oever 3y ago
    That sounds like a smooth experience. It would be great if FOSS operating systems would work just as well. I'm assuming you were going from functional pixel 5 to a pixel fold and that both were running a Android with a lot of proprietary software that allows Google to track you so they convince you to buy the products of the customers of their advertising business. It's hard for competitors to offer an equally smooth experience. Would the data transfer worked as well if the original phone was broken or stolen?
m0llusk 3y ago
For some convenience is a factor. Apple stores tend to be in crowded urban areas or fancy shopping malls. In less central locations small operators and components shipped directly may be competitive offerings.
iopq 3y ago
The counterargument is that you have to pay for AppleCare. I don't pay for anything for my phone From another standpoint is that you're adding to a pile of e-waste
- garyrob 3y ago
  "The counterargument is that you have to pay for AppleCare. I don't pay for anything for my phone " But you have to pay for the new parts, don't you? What I'm saying is that I don't know of a head-to-head comparison of long-term maintenance of a Fairphone, including buying parts to fix it, compared to buying the cheapest iPhone and Apple Care. And when they give you a new iPhone, they refurbish the old, (and the "new" one they give you is actually refurbished), so I don't see how it adds to e-waste.
  - iopq 3y ago
    I bought a screen for $70 for an iPhone third-party screen and paid some guy in China $10 to fix it. You probably pay $199 for two years, yet they still charge you $29 for it
eptcyka 3y ago
Why should Apple have a monopoly on repairing a device you own?
comte7092 3y ago
Not everyone is close to an Apple Store, especially those outside of the US. There are only 2 stores in all of India, for example. Even in Western Europe, depending on your country, there might not even be one.
Derbasti 3y ago
I had a Fairphone 2 in Germany (where the next Apple Store was four hours away). I dropped it onto the metal blades of our radiator, which shattered the screen. I was due to go on vacation in two days. So I express-ordered the replacement screen from Fairphone, which arrived the next day, case closed. (A similar thing happened with a Pixel 4a a few years later, which had to be mailed in, and took a week.) My wife also had a Fairphone 2, and her headphone jack was a bit flakey. So after a few months we ordered a replacement module, which fixed the problem (for €30!). Afterwards, I emailed Fairphone as this issue had existed from the start. They refunded us the module. And I also fondly remember the updated camera module they sold for the Fairphone 2. Alas, these phones are too big for my tastes, which is why I no longer have one.
- garyrob 3y ago
  Another helpful response, thanks! I tried to mention it in an update to my original question, but that's now closed to editing.
palata 3y ago
> I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. It's good to have competition, and not many Android phones get 5 years of warranty like the new Fairphones. iPhones are great in that they get security updates for a long time, and they can be repaired if you can afford it. Fairphone is just a different, cheaper option.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
Nullabillity 3y ago
I replaced the battery of my FairPhone last night. I didn't need to make an appointment. I didn't need to travel. I didn't need to have yet another overpriced subscription. I didn't need to do it within business hours. I didn't need to get a massive pelican box of equipment shipped to me. I didn't need to make any expensive deposits. And I didn't need to beg anyone to please please please let me use the thing I bought.
PrimeMcFly 3y ago
> I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. It's about control. You're fine being in a walled garden and letting the company handle every aspect of the device for you. Others don't like being locked in and appreciate the freedom to fix or change things on their own.
GuB-42 3y ago
I actually want a durable phone more than a repairable phone. No need to repair a phone that doesn't break. But there is one exception, and that's the battery. Phone batteries always fail at some point, they are consumables, for chemical reasons. A user replaceable battery makes it much less of a problem. Even with non-standard form factors (a 18650 is not very practical for a phone), even if the manufacturer drop supports, someone will make a compatible battery. Plus, you get the option of backup batteries. So I don't really care about all the fuss about the Fairphone, except with that one feature that was once the norm, and that's the removable battery. Hopefully in a few years, it will be the norm again thanks to EU regulations, but I am not holding my breath for it.
lucideer 3y ago
> I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. I have a Fairphone for one reason & one reason only: it's not repairability, environmentally friendly material sourcing, nor software freedom. It's wages. They pay living wages in Fairphone factories. Fwiw, that's also the substantive contributor to the price bump.
amomchilov 3y ago
It’s a great user experience if you fall into the happy path. If you don’t (water damage on a MacBook, older than 3 year iPhone, …) it’s preposterously expensive and impractical. At that point, you don’t have any third party alternatives, because of all the intentional anti-competitive measures they take to snuff them out.
rldjbpin 3y ago
regarding the price, it is possible to replicate a third-party solution for a cheaper phone but with some compromise. can buy a budget phone and buy third party damage insurace (unsure how many scenarios they support and real-world experience) instead of this and compare the costs associated. i won't be surprised if that makes more sense to more people than not, besides the abysmal software support of course.

schnuri 3y ago

It’s more about sustainability.

Klonoar 3y ago
I mean... no. Apple publishes breakdowns/reports of their recycling efforts and it's pretty damn good for what it is, and these devices now last a very long time if you don't feel like chasing the yearly upgrade train. The selling point of the Fairphone is moreso that it's: - Attempting to pay fair wages to workers - Not Apple, for those who just don't want an Apple device - More (user) repair-able These are all very valid reasons to want to use something like the Fairphone and I am glad it exists, and it might even be my next phone - but to imply that it wins out over the iPhone trade-in-and-get-it-recycled flow is just bonkers.
- comte7092 3y ago
  More third party repairable as well. >to imply that it wins out over the iPhone trade-in-and-get-it-recycled flow is just bonkers. I made this point in another comment already, but for many people, it isn’t easy to access an Apple Store, and Apple is notoriously stingy with third party authorized repair
  - Klonoar 3y ago
    > Phone trade-in-and-get-it-recycled flow I'm not talking about the Apple Care/App Store get-it-fixed flow, I am talking about how when you buy a new iPhone you can quite literally just mail your (hopefully data-cleansed) phone to Apple and they'll recycle it properly. If you're buying your phone through Apple - which you should do, just because phone carriers are ripoffs - then you generally get a credit back to boot. For the average consumer this is great and encourages sustainable reuse of the core materials throughout the iPhone lifecycle and generally means there is no good reason for iPhones to bloat up landfills or anything.
    - AnthonyMouse 3y ago
      > For the average consumer this is great and encourages sustainable reuse of the core materials throughout the iPhone lifecycle and generally means there is no good reason for iPhones to bloat up landfills or anything. But they do though. A lot of this stuff is corporate PR. For example, recycling aluminum is the default -- it costs less than mining it. You don't get credit for that, it's saving you money and you were going to do it anyway. And the reason it's so cheap is that you can source it from things that are basically pure aluminum, like aluminum cans, even though they're then making something out of it that has to go through a complicated process to separate the diverse materials from each other again. They have a recycling program for their old devices, but to use it you have to buy a new one. And there's a reason for that -- it's not otherwise cost effective to do it. It's a promotion to drive new sales, because the process is complicated and inefficient. Because they're trying to turn the device back into raw materials after gluing and soldering them all together. Which is why they go into the landfill unless someone is subsidizing it. Whereas the best way to "recycle" a piece of electronics is to continue using it as a piece of electronics. Allow the memory or storage to be upgraded to extend its usable life. Have modular parts to minimize the materials necessary to replace before it can go back into service after being damaged, and minimize the cost of such repairs to increase the number of repairs that are economical before a new device has to be manufactured.

december456 3y ago

Its completely the freedom aspect for me. Sure, Apple wont let me down because that would impact their business, but what if they did? Its also a thousand times better to be 100% sure you can modify your electronics without any fear of getting rejected like its vehicle insurance.

gherkinnn 3y ago

As you just said. You walked out with a new phone. Imagine if you didn’t have to replace an entire phone over a broken triviality.

biggc 3y ago
It’s usually not a new phone, it’s refurbished. Apple will then refurbish the phone you came in with and use it to replace someone else’s broken phone
garyrob 3y ago
> Imagine if you didn’t have to replace an entire phone over a broken triviality. I can imagine it. It wouldn't make the slightest difference to my practical experience. And then, as another commenter mentioned, my phone is refurbished and used for someone else.
- fsflover 3y ago
  It would make a big difference for the used natural resources though.
microtonal 3y ago
I only had an issue with an iPhone once (yellowing around the edges of the display), I took it to the Apple Store and they replaced the screen. Probably the bulk of repairs (display, battery, shattered glass) don't entail a full replacement.

graypegg 3y ago

AppleCare is a great service. I’ve had the exact same experience! The problem is then also ensuring all other options are artificially worse than AppleCare. Your local “mall guy” is just as capable of swapping out a battery, in theory.

softfalcon 3y ago

It's about making it accessible to everyone, not just you who can afford an iPhone and AppleCare. It creates jobs by letting independent repair shops legitimately fix and repair your devices. Small business is important to our economy. It also creates competition for service. Your AppleCare service is good... for now... how long before Apple becomes like IBM? Maybe it'll never happen, but it might! Also, by making the iPhone repairable, it sets a standard (and possible legal backing) to make every device repairable. This applies to different phones, your laptop, your car, the speakers you bought. It also allows someone to buy a part and replace it instead of chucking the whole device when some small part breaks. This helps reduce e-waste and general landfill garbage. It also allows folks who come under tough times to just buy a knock-off battery and have their cousin install it until they get their next pay-cheque and can afford to take their phone in for Apple Care. You're thinking only about yourself, what about people less privileged than yourself? What about people who rely on Apple to do the right thing so that their manufacturers follow suit (Android)? You can't just trust a company will always be good, sometimes you have to enforce or push for good.

kube-system 3y ago
I supported a few fleets of smartphones back in the windows mobile and blackberry days, when they all had replaceable batteries. Do you know what people did when the batteries died? They overwhelmingly bought a new phone. Just because something is technically modular doesn't mean that: 1. other people know how to diagnose the problem 2. other people want to spend time or effort repairing the phone 3. other people don't just want a new phone anyway While people on this forum are often power users or technically minded people who like spending mental cycles on their devices, this is not what other people are like. People who are purely users delegate the fixing of their devices to others.
- kibwen 3y ago
  > back in the windows mobile and blackberry days Back in the day, phones were improving so fast that upgrading often was naturally incentivized. These days, the tech has plateaued and phones are a commodity. How often does the average person replace their fridge? How often does the average person replace their hot water boiler? That's how often I want to replace my phone; closer to every ten years than every two years.

SECProto 3y ago

"AppleCare+" costs more than my phone over a 2-3 year period, and it sounds like you still have to pay for screen replacement?

PrimeMcFly 3y ago
The more money people have the more sense seems to go out the window.

callalex 3y ago

It is insanely expensive. Remember that the median household income in the US is less than $70k before taxes. That means half the people are making less than that, sometimes very significantly less than that. I assume your household makes more than double that, correct? And that’s just the United States, which is very high income compared to most of the world.

PrimeMcFly 3y ago
I just had a discussion with an Apple fanatic on HN where I tried to explain that to him, in response to him claiming people in the US make more money than most other countries which is why everyone buys luxury iphones.
garyrob 3y ago
Yes. I can see that having inexpensive, repairable devices could be good for people who can't afford iPhones or AppleCare, whether in the US or elsewhere. What I'm wondering about is the enthusiasm for them among the HN crowd. Maybe many in the HN crowd are still students, or "Ramen-profitable"...?
- callalex 3y ago
  Or posses empathy and want technology to work for everybody.
- Scandiravian 3y ago
  I need a phone to be able to perform every day things like 2fa for my banking, just like I need other things like a fridge for my food I want to the keep the cost per year for these things as low as possible while fulfilling my base requirements. For the phone that's no vendor lock-in, cheap repairs, and ability to play YouTube, browse emails, and check the news The Fairphone is the best option for me. It does what it needs to and is reasonably cheap per year, so I can spend that money on things I actually care about
  - garyrob 3y ago

oever 3y ago

> a new iPhone that works perfectly and contains all my data and, for all practical purposes, is exactly as if my old one never broke. That is a very compelling convenience that all (phone) OS-es should strive for. I try out different phones and operating systems, but syncing the data and settings via a self-hosted device are not convenient yet. `adb backup` will give me an archive but it's a deprecated command and so far I've never been able to restore data with it. A system like NixOS is getting the applications in exactly the same version and configuration, but the same rigor is not there for the associated data. Ideally, I'd be able to run a plug-and-play server at home, link it to my phone and have it take backups without ever being visible until there's a problem with running the backups. Then, when the phone needs to be replaced, link it the new phone and continue where the old one left off, including all contacts and contact history.

twism 3y ago
What? I just got a pixel fold and during the setup it asks to connect my old device (pixel 5). After a few minutes I have a carbon copy of my old device save a few apps I sideloaded.
- oever 3y ago
  That sounds like a smooth experience. It would be great if FOSS operating systems would work just as well. I'm assuming you were going from functional pixel 5 to a pixel fold and that both were running a Android with a lot of proprietary software that allows Google to track you so they convince you to buy the products of the customers of their advertising business. It's hard for competitors to offer an equally smooth experience. Would the data transfer worked as well if the original phone was broken or stolen?

m0llusk 3y ago

For some convenience is a factor. Apple stores tend to be in crowded urban areas or fancy shopping malls. In less central locations small operators and components shipped directly may be competitive offerings.

iopq 3y ago

The counterargument is that you have to pay for AppleCare. I don't pay for anything for my phone From another standpoint is that you're adding to a pile of e-waste

garyrob 3y ago
"The counterargument is that you have to pay for AppleCare. I don't pay for anything for my phone " But you have to pay for the new parts, don't you? What I'm saying is that I don't know of a head-to-head comparison of long-term maintenance of a Fairphone, including buying parts to fix it, compared to buying the cheapest iPhone and Apple Care. And when they give you a new iPhone, they refurbish the old, (and the "new" one they give you is actually refurbished), so I don't see how it adds to e-waste.
- iopq 3y ago
  I bought a screen for $70 for an iPhone third-party screen and paid some guy in China $10 to fix it. You probably pay $199 for two years, yet they still charge you $29 for it

eptcyka 3y ago

Why should Apple have a monopoly on repairing a device you own?

comte7092 3y ago

Not everyone is close to an Apple Store, especially those outside of the US. There are only 2 stores in all of India, for example. Even in Western Europe, depending on your country, there might not even be one.

Derbasti 3y ago

I had a Fairphone 2 in Germany (where the next Apple Store was four hours away). I dropped it onto the metal blades of our radiator, which shattered the screen. I was due to go on vacation in two days. So I express-ordered the replacement screen from Fairphone, which arrived the next day, case closed. (A similar thing happened with a Pixel 4a a few years later, which had to be mailed in, and took a week.) My wife also had a Fairphone 2, and her headphone jack was a bit flakey. So after a few months we ordered a replacement module, which fixed the problem (for €30!). Afterwards, I emailed Fairphone as this issue had existed from the start. They refunded us the module. And I also fondly remember the updated camera module they sold for the Fairphone 2. Alas, these phones are too big for my tastes, which is why I no longer have one.

garyrob 3y ago
Another helpful response, thanks! I tried to mention it in an update to my original question, but that's now closed to editing.

palata 3y ago

> I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. It's good to have competition, and not many Android phones get 5 years of warranty like the new Fairphones. iPhones are great in that they get security updates for a long time, and they can be repaired if you can afford it. Fairphone is just a different, cheaper option.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

Nullabillity 3y ago

I replaced the battery of my FairPhone last night. I didn't need to make an appointment. I didn't need to travel. I didn't need to have yet another overpriced subscription. I didn't need to do it within business hours. I didn't need to get a massive pelican box of equipment shipped to me. I didn't need to make any expensive deposits. And I didn't need to beg anyone to please please please let me use the thing I bought.

PrimeMcFly 3y ago

> I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. It's about control. You're fine being in a walled garden and letting the company handle every aspect of the device for you. Others don't like being locked in and appreciate the freedom to fix or change things on their own.

GuB-42 3y ago

I actually want a durable phone more than a repairable phone. No need to repair a phone that doesn't break. But there is one exception, and that's the battery. Phone batteries always fail at some point, they are consumables, for chemical reasons. A user replaceable battery makes it much less of a problem. Even with non-standard form factors (a 18650 is not very practical for a phone), even if the manufacturer drop supports, someone will make a compatible battery. Plus, you get the option of backup batteries. So I don't really care about all the fuss about the Fairphone, except with that one feature that was once the norm, and that's the removable battery. Hopefully in a few years, it will be the norm again thanks to EU regulations, but I am not holding my breath for it.

lucideer 3y ago

> I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone. I have a Fairphone for one reason & one reason only: it's not repairability, environmentally friendly material sourcing, nor software freedom. It's wages. They pay living wages in Fairphone factories. Fwiw, that's also the substantive contributor to the price bump.

amomchilov 3y ago

It’s a great user experience if you fall into the happy path. If you don’t (water damage on a MacBook, older than 3 year iPhone, …) it’s preposterously expensive and impractical. At that point, you don’t have any third party alternatives, because of all the intentional anti-competitive measures they take to snuff them out.

rldjbpin 3y ago

regarding the price, it is possible to replicate a third-party solution for a cheaper phone but with some compromise. can buy a budget phone and buy third party damage insurace (unsure how many scenarios they support and real-world experience) instead of this and compare the costs associated. i won't be surprised if that makes more sense to more people than not, besides the abysmal software support of course.