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It's a shame we haven't figured out how to do "modular" smartphones where the motherboard can be swapped out, like with framework laptops. I'd be happy with a p

It's a shame we haven't figured out how to do "modular" smartphones where the motherboard can be swapped out, like with framework laptops. I'd be happy with a phone from 10 years ago on all axes except CPU/GPU/RAM and corresponding security updates.

suprjami 2y ago
Google's Project Ara was this. A modular smartphone where you could swap any component out with plug-in modules. I met a Google employee at a conference in 2016 and he let me play with his Ara for a bit. It felt fantastic. I'd have bought one in an instant. Google cancelled the project. I do wonder about the longevity of such a device. I still have all my Android phones from the very first HTC G1 and anything with a removable component feels pretty rattly now. When Nokia 5110 were on the market and you'd owned one for a while, you needed to pack the battery with double sided tape so the contacts didn't disconnect, causing the phone to power off. I guess that sort of thing is why Google binned the idea.
- Retr0id 2y ago
  I'm envisaging something slightly less plug-and-play, more like "take your phone into the shop to get it upgraded" - which would allow for things like maintaining the waterproof sealing we've come to expect from modern phones.
- quitit 2y ago
  I recall Nokias which eventually let even a modest drop send the battery off in one direction and the phone in another. With the 7110-style nokias turn into e-sprinklers flinging the sliding cover off too.
- pzo 2y ago
  I liked the concept for also the reason that such 2nd hand market for modules would be great for DIY and arduino and raspberry pi like projects. Such phones could have a second life for other purposes or at least some parts could have second life. They mentioned some difficulty and bulkiness but then I wish such concept has been applied for tablets that we change less often and have more space.
- hulitu 2y ago
  > I do wonder about the longevity of such a device. It was loved by the Automotive industry. The cancelation lead to the use of BLE for car access (and so the data keeps flowing to Google).
saidinesh5 2y ago
Let alone user swappable soc and ram.. we even lost the modularity that came with micro sdcards and user replaceable batteries in so most phones these days...
mjburgess 2y ago
I think modularity made more sense in an area where significant performance gains happened in hardware every 6 months. It makes very little sense with a 6+ year horizon -- at that point you're upgrading everything anyway. Now, modularity is really a right-to-repair issue, not anything that provides a meaningful benefit to upgrading. And for that things just need to be "modular" enough to repair by a specialist.
mtmail 2y ago
https://shop.fairphone.com/fairphone-5 https://shop.fairphone.com/fairphone-5 has 5 year warranty. Parts are replaceable but there's no choice of parts, with a bit more tools one would be able to do the same replacements on an iphone. https://www.fairphone.com/en/2023/08/30/is-the-fairphone-5-the-most-sustainable-phone-in-the-world/ https://www.fairphone.com/en/2023/08/30/is-the-fairphone-5-t...
- microtonal 2y ago
  During my last Android excursion, I investigated Fairphone, but people seem to have a lot of issues with them? Like shutting frequently down during the summer due to heat, phone calls often not coming through, etc.

suprjami 2y ago

Google's Project Ara was this. A modular smartphone where you could swap any component out with plug-in modules. I met a Google employee at a conference in 2016 and he let me play with his Ara for a bit. It felt fantastic. I'd have bought one in an instant. Google cancelled the project. I do wonder about the longevity of such a device. I still have all my Android phones from the very first HTC G1 and anything with a removable component feels pretty rattly now. When Nokia 5110 were on the market and you'd owned one for a while, you needed to pack the battery with double sided tape so the contacts didn't disconnect, causing the phone to power off. I guess that sort of thing is why Google binned the idea.

Retr0id 2y ago
I'm envisaging something slightly less plug-and-play, more like "take your phone into the shop to get it upgraded" - which would allow for things like maintaining the waterproof sealing we've come to expect from modern phones.
quitit 2y ago
I recall Nokias which eventually let even a modest drop send the battery off in one direction and the phone in another. With the 7110-style nokias turn into e-sprinklers flinging the sliding cover off too.
pzo 2y ago
I liked the concept for also the reason that such 2nd hand market for modules would be great for DIY and arduino and raspberry pi like projects. Such phones could have a second life for other purposes or at least some parts could have second life. They mentioned some difficulty and bulkiness but then I wish such concept has been applied for tablets that we change less often and have more space.
hulitu 2y ago
> I do wonder about the longevity of such a device. It was loved by the Automotive industry. The cancelation lead to the use of BLE for car access (and so the data keeps flowing to Google).

saidinesh5 2y ago

Let alone user swappable soc and ram.. we even lost the modularity that came with micro sdcards and user replaceable batteries in so most phones these days...

mjburgess 2y ago

I think modularity made more sense in an area where significant performance gains happened in hardware every 6 months. It makes very little sense with a 6+ year horizon -- at that point you're upgrading everything anyway. Now, modularity is really a right-to-repair issue, not anything that provides a meaningful benefit to upgrading. And for that things just need to be "modular" enough to repair by a specialist.

mtmail 2y ago

https://shop.fairphone.com/fairphone-5 https://shop.fairphone.com/fairphone-5 has 5 year warranty. Parts are replaceable but there's no choice of parts, with a bit more tools one would be able to do the same replacements on an iphone. https://www.fairphone.com/en/2023/08/30/is-the-fairphone-5-the-most-sustainable-phone-in-the-world/ https://www.fairphone.com/en/2023/08/30/is-the-fairphone-5-t...

microtonal 2y ago
During my last Android excursion, I investigated Fairphone, but people seem to have a lot of issues with them? Like shutting frequently down during the summer due to heat, phone calls often not coming through, etc.