Apple answers the call for iPhone repairability
Marketplace Tech
American Public Media
4.6 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 October 2024
⏱️ 8 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
There’s a movement to make it possible to repair our gadgets ourselves instead of having to send them back to the company that makes them or, you know, just get a new one. The “right to repair” movement in consumer electronics has made real gains in recent years. Several states, like California, New York and Oregon, have passed legislation requiring it. And it looks like Apple’s newest iPhone — the 16 — has made strides in that department. Marketplace’s Meghan McCarty Carino spoke with Kyle Wiens, CEO of the online repair guide iFixit, about the iPhone 16’s improved repairability.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | iPhone repair just got a little easier. |
| 0:05.0 | From American Public Media, this is Marketplace Tech. |
| 0:08.0 | I'm Megan McCarty Carino. There's a movement to make it possible to actually repair our gadgets ourselves instead of having to send them behind |
| 0:27.1 | the curtain of the company that makes them or you know just get a new one. |
| 0:32.2 | The so-called right to repair for consumer electronics has made some real |
| 0:36.4 | gains in recent years. Several states like California, New York, and Oregon have passed legislation requiring it. |
| 0:44.4 | And it looks like Apple's newest iPhone, the 16, has made some strides in that department. |
| 0:50.4 | That's according to Kyle Weens, CEO of the online repair guide website I Fix It, which gave the iPhone 16 a score of 7 out of 10 for repairability. |
| 1:02.0 | So starting a couple years ago, Apple has been systematically working to improve repairability of the iPhone. |
| 1:08.0 | The first thing they did was made it so you could open it from the front or the back, which makes it easier to replace things. |
| 1:13.5 | It used to be if the back glass on your iPhone broke. |
| 1:16.4 | It was a $550 repair, which is crazy for just a piece of glass. |
| 1:21.4 | It doesn't actually do anything, it's just glass. So most people weren't fixing that. for just |
| 1:25.0 | a glass. |
| 1:26.0 | it's just glass. So most people weren't fixing that. They were just put a case on it, |
| 1:27.0 | but that's not ideal. |
| 1:28.0 | And then what they've done with the new iPhone 16 |
| 1:30.0 | is they actually changed the glue that they use on the battery. |
| 1:33.0 | So the glue used to be this kind of awkward stretch release adhesive. |
| 1:37.0 | They've made it so that you can attach a power supply to the glue on the battery and the glue just releases and the battery falls out. |
| 1:44.0 | Why is the battery such an important component on smartphones to be kind of easy to repair or replace? |
| 1:52.8 | Our smartphones, the battery is most of the space inside your phone is taken up by the battery |
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