> Anybody saying this is a response to recent anti-trust headlines doesn't understand how a company the size of Apple works. When an announcement like this is made, it means this program has been in the works for YEARS.
I know how companies of this size work. When they have regulatory/pr/legal risk, they can move really fast for their size. Don’t know if that’s the case here, but given it only covers subset of parts of few latest models, limited to USA initially, and will likely take a few years to properly expand, it could totally be rushed in timeline of under a year.
The legend going around, is that the iPhone's screen was changed from plastic to glass a week before the announcement (6 months before launch). Nowadays, things like the cameras get finalized 2-3 years before the phone comes out (according to John Gruber) because of how complex finding suppliers, etc. is, but obviously if they find big issues 6 months before release, they can adapt and make late changes. But that's hardware.
There's zero reason they would need years to come out with this self-repair announcement, when all it is right now, is a blog post, announcing something that'll come out "in 2022".
Apple is not known for good web services. The App Store being a fork of iTunes Store and the Mac App Store building on the same unstable foundation. Sure they are getting better and better, but still...
Apple will want to scale this from the web or from on-device apps. Previously we've seen that Apple is detecting each part by serial number, so even mixing genuine parts disable a lot of features [1]. So, now it becomes clear part of their reason: If they can detect all the genuine parts, they can ship for self repair and it will work for the intended customer and not for other devices. This reduces chances of cloning, theft and scams, while guaranteeing quality (and guaranteeing their revenue on replaced parts too).
IMO, yes, it would require years for them to announce this. There is all the checkout part, they would need to issue the right part with the correct serial number to the exact customer and charge taxes accordingly. All this logistics is centered on software Apple has a bad reputation at best, and very slow process of development from what is seems from the outside.
> "The legend going around, is that the iPhone's screen was changed from plastic to glass a week before the announcement"
It's not a legend. Apple even mentioned the switch to glass in a press release at the time [1]. The original prototype iPhone shown at the announcement event had a plastic screen, but the version that shipped 6 months later had glass:
A plastic screen would have been a complete disaster. Apparently none of you owned an iPod pre-iPhone days. The screens got scratched if you looked at them funny.
I once wanted to try using the backs of iPods as part of a keyless entry system. We all carried iPods anyway, and everyone's iPod had a different scratch pattern on back, so have a system where you hold your iPod back up to a camera and enter a PIN. The scratch pattern tells the system who is requesting entry. If they enter the PIN for that person let 'em in.
>according to John Gruber.... because of how complex finding suppliers
The same John Gruber claims AirPod $159 were sold at near cost. Which leads to a whole world of misinformation passed along as fact in all AirPod discussions.
He may get a few things right in terms of design and software. But seriously his creditability in terms of hardware and supply chain is practically zero.
And no, camera or lens dont get get finalized 2-3 years before the phone comes out.
But I agree it absolutely does not need years. And if anyone has been following Apple for a long period of time should know this PR means it wasn't prepared for YEARS. Not to mention they are basically opening up their repair programme from 3rd party to end users. The only thing that take time rather than a flip of a switch is user instruction and legal clearing.
It's also worth pointing out that they will be ramping up this program over an extended period of time. It's not like this is landing fully formed. This is an early announcement of something that is still having the details worked out.
Win-win-win for Apple with this move. New revenue stream of expensive parts. Those iphone repair shops scattered all over the country that are getting pissed at you - just made them your customers. Keeps people with broke phones in the ecosystem. Puts down calls for legislation about right to repair. Takes a shot at the third-party parts market. Preserves the ability to have the firmware reject 'non-genuine' parts.
Yeah, unfortunately you are spot on - this move is created to kill the growing criticism against its increasingly hard to repair devices, while also ensuring that they have a ready excuse to reject parts bought from third-party's and be forced to buy only costly parts from Apple. Except for the availability of exorbitantly priced "genuine" parts, nothing will really - they continue to design more and more hard to repair devices with more soldered parts, with no real ability to customise or upgrade the hardware or software from non-Apple sources.
I know how companies of this size work. When they have regulatory/pr/legal risk, they can move really fast for their size. Don’t know if that’s the case here, but given it only covers subset of parts of few latest models, limited to USA initially, and will likely take a few years to properly expand, it could totally be rushed in timeline of under a year.
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