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Apple fined 6.6 Mil $$ because of 3rd party parts in Ause-land!

Apple fined $6.6 million after iPhones and iPads stopped working because they had third-party parts

The winds are changing!!

Answer this question I have this problem too

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@danj Good for the Aussies but I do not think that the winds will be changing soon. For a company that is making $1,444 per second ($5.2 million per hour, $127 million per day, or $45.7 billion per year, based on 2016 net income figures) source the fine will be covered in about 1.2 hrs. Sure does not sound like such a big fine to me now. Just like any other snake in the grass, they will just burrow deeper and find another way of screwing their customers. This will continue until the fight for the Right to Repair gets settled.

However, it is good information for all of us.

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@oldturkey03 - Just like an avalanche all it takes is a small change to start a chain reaction! I'm hoping this is the start. Yes, looking at the numbers it's not that big a fine but then again this is only effects Australia.

I'm hoping the right of repair gets settled for us too! Access to proper docs and parts.

But... There is an second story here that I think we are missing!!

Apples (and the others) move to unitize to fewer parts in the construction will still make repairs expensive for the ones that prefer to replace parts vs digging into fixing the micro-circuits many modules are made up with. Which means understanding circuits will be more important skill set. Thats OK for the pro's but what about the Janes & Joes who want to fix their own laptop or phone? They won't have the needed tools and in some cases the fixtures to work on it. Just look at what you need to fix the new iPhone X logic board.

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@danj exactly, hence my reluctance to believe that there will be any change benefitting the repair world or the end users.

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@oldturkey03 - I still try to see the world as a half full glass than a half empty one ;-}

We still need good schematics & board views as well as diagnostics that really tell us something. The next issue is if we will have access to the discreet custom components.

I hate telling people they bought a 2k throw-away computer!

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@danj not seeing it as half empty at all. Looking at things from the industry perspective, it is a perfect example of profit before anything else. Planned obsolescence, proprietary parts and tools, unsupported software and all the other things we encounter daily are not specific to Apple. They have been around for a very long time and will continue to be around. All I am saying is that there will be no change based on a "few" dollars paid as a fine. Look at how many billions Apple owes to the EU etc. Money is no object for companies that size. Apple is not alone with that. Microsoft is just as guilty (actually right now I think they are the epitome of evil) and so is HP, Dell, Google, Bose and everybody else. Go ahead , live a little. Buy a 60 inch Vizio or Toshiba and see how repairable they have become. The issue at hand is that if you can not legally get schematics, boardviews and parts lists, we are going to continue to buy 2K throwaways. Trick with that one is that they do not make us buy it. We volunteer!

The only change we will see if we succeed with the goals outlined by companies like iFixit and others. We must continue to fight for the Right to Repair.

I don't believe that this is pessimistic on my part at all.

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Dan will be eternally grateful.