I must admit I'm having trouble relating to the strong desire to have a phone that's more repairable than an iPhone.
There have been a couple times I've had a problem with my iPhone under AppleCare. I've gone to my nearest Apple Store, and pretty quickly walked out with a new iPhone that works perfectly and contains all my data and, for all practical purposes, is exactly as if my old one never broke. That seems pretty repairable to me, on the axes I care about.
It does mean I have to pay for AppleCare, but my guess is that on average you're not going to get away much more cheaply with years of use of a more "repairable" phone.
I'd be interested in seeing counterarguments. I'm not trying to dispute anyone's claims about repairability. I just honestly don't get it.
[Update: the main thing I'm getting from responses is that people care about their being low-cost, easily repairable phones for people who can't afford iPhones and Apple Care; the enthusiasm is empathy-based. That makes a lot of sense to me. I don't know of a source for actually comparing long-term costs, though. Are you sure the repairable phones are actually cheaper to own, long-term? Arguments about the environment make less sense to me since the broken phone is refurbished and used again. I asked, and I got useful answers. Thanks, HN!
I've gotten a lot of downvotes for this question, though, which mystifies me... why downvote an honest question? It seems unfriendly and uncharitable.]
There have been a couple times I've had a problem with my iPhone under AppleCare. I've gone to my nearest Apple Store, and pretty quickly walked out with a new iPhone that works perfectly and contains all my data and, for all practical purposes, is exactly as if my old one never broke. That seems pretty repairable to me, on the axes I care about.
It does mean I have to pay for AppleCare, but my guess is that on average you're not going to get away much more cheaply with years of use of a more "repairable" phone.
I'd be interested in seeing counterarguments. I'm not trying to dispute anyone's claims about repairability. I just honestly don't get it.
[Update: the main thing I'm getting from responses is that people care about their being low-cost, easily repairable phones for people who can't afford iPhones and Apple Care; the enthusiasm is empathy-based. That makes a lot of sense to me. I don't know of a source for actually comparing long-term costs, though. Are you sure the repairable phones are actually cheaper to own, long-term? Arguments about the environment make less sense to me since the broken phone is refurbished and used again. I asked, and I got useful answers. Thanks, HN!
I've gotten a lot of downvotes for this question, though, which mystifies me... why downvote an honest question? It seems unfriendly and uncharitable.]