Glad to see my state (Maryland) on the list. But what does this mean for me if the Bill passes? That Apple can't sell iPhones in Maryland without providing access to schematics and parts needed to perform repairs? Surprised California is not on the list, but makes sense if all the big tech companies are heavily opposed.
Some of the arguments against say “Apple will never make truly repairable phones! If we let these laws pass, they’ll just take those sweet sweet phones away and we won’t be able to buy them anymore!”
But, realistically it will probably mean that Apple gets some sort of “temporary” thing in place that lets them circumvent the law until such point that they do the bare minimum to be able to convince lawmakers that “See? We’re doing good. Certainly you can change the law just a little so that we’re allowed to do that. Right?”
Could it be that Apple's latest "repair support" effort was a way to get ahead of these rulings?
I wouldn't be surprised if the laws couldn't be adhered by Apple by simply enhancing their repair certification/support process.
That or, possibly more ominous, if John Deere/Apple could simply make a brute force effort to have judiciary overturn the laws when they're challenged in court.
Anything is repairable if you've got the tools and the know-how, but things like glue instead of screws are hostile to user repairs.
I've had to open a Surface that wasn't booting to recover data from the SSD and the adhesive on the screen was so strong I had to snap pieces of glass off with a screwdriver to get to it. Even the photos in the iFixit guide showed fractures in the screen. Heat guns only get you so far with some of these glues, and solvents can damage the plastics.
A lot of electronics are potted in epoxy or something similar, true, but things like conformal coatings and/or rubber seals are actually much more common. Industrial equipment often needs to be both repairable and water/dustproof and uses these methods.
Screen assemblies, circuitry, batteries, etc. Both Apple and Samsung have moved to serialized chips/circuits to lock out 3rd party replacement (even if the part is identical). Folks have done swaps of OEM components to different iPhones and they don't just fail - they sporadically glitch. [1] It's categorically anti-consumer behavior.
They also often buy up proprietary access to caps, ICs, and other mainboard components so none are available to the 3rd party market. Independent computer repair shops have to tear down old (non-serialized) machines or rely on parts from questionable origin to even be able to attempt repair.
Aside from the last two points, aren't a lot of these the result of progressing the state of the art? To get a fast SOC that has all the gizmos and gadgets and fits in a small, waterproof container you have to make some unsavory design decisions.
