No, my point was that you don’t need the official repair kit at all if you’re willing to improvise like we’ve been doing forever. The author of this article is being dramatic to try to make a point.
> Apple is also charging $69 for a $5 battery -- their normal repair fee. That's unfair.
Honestly I don’t see any problems with any of this. A $70 replacement battery option for my $1200 iPhone that I’m owning for 3-4 years seems entirely reasonable. Renting the professional level gear as an option if I want it. For $49 is an unbelievable gesture of goodwill. Are you really demanding that Apple sell batteries for $5?
At this point, I’m not convinced the HN crowd would be happy with any solution any company could offer, aside from making phones twice as big and using screws and offering $5 batteries for these $1200 phones just in case someone needs to replace the battery after 3 years.
The problem is that $69 is the same price of replacement at the store, so apple is dumping their labor cost just to dissuade people from using DIY/3rd party repair.
> Apple is also charging $69 for a $5 battery -- their normal repair fee. That's unfair.
Honestly I don’t see any problems with any of this. A $70 replacement battery option for my $1200 iPhone that I’m owning for 3-4 years seems entirely reasonable. Renting the professional level gear as an option if I want it. For $49 is an unbelievable gesture of goodwill. Are you really demanding that Apple sell batteries for $5?
At this point, I’m not convinced the HN crowd would be happy with any solution any company could offer, aside from making phones twice as big and using screws and offering $5 batteries for these $1200 phones just in case someone needs to replace the battery after 3 years.