Opinion: Apple isn't ripping anyone off

[straight_stewie]

On 1/10/2019 at 2:56 PM, campy said:

The big issue with Apple is that they have been lobbying for years to take away a consumers right to repair or use of 3rd party repair services.

This is slightly off topic, but that's actually a wider notion in the industrial/tech sector as a whole. John Deere for years has been trying to claim that they cannot allow farmers to service their own (newer) tractors because that would require releasing software tools, and Deere is making the claim that the farmers don't have any rights involving the software in the machines that they buy.

 

On 1/10/2019 at 2:14 PM, Henker said:

And everyone is going wild in the comments that people who buy Apple are stupid because they rip you off...

But in my opinion this is not a ripoff. It's a standard for their post warranty repair process.

Well, the point that Apple doesn't rip people off at all is debatable, but I have to agree with you that this is not a rip off. IMO it would be really stupid of a business to unilaterally repair all damage regardless of the cause or the extent. The line has to be drawn somewhere. Apple chose "when your device decides to go swimming", which I think is a fairly agreeable line.

[Ashley MLP Fangirl]

@corrado33 alsolutely agreed. i don't like the 'new' apple either. i wish they went back to the 2011-2012 formfactor of laptops. there's a lot of space in there if you remove the optical drive, so you'd actually ba able to fit a cooling system that can cool a decent 45W cpu, and can fit a keyboard with decent travel.

[JoostinOnline]

Louis Rosssmann is a better technician than I am, and I agree with plenty he says, but he's just so damn angry all the time that I can't stand to listen to him for more than a few minutes. He's like a powder keg.

[TheFishBucket]

Lol this post is funny

[Sauron]

On 1/10/2019 at 9:14 PM, Henker said:

They offer post warranty repair service, but it has boundaries. The policy is that they won't go fishing around for root cause analysis. In order to accept an item for repair, it must meet certain qualifications. Checking for water intrusion is one of them. All CBC has proved is that there is a market for computer repair. This is sensationalism, not journalism.

That would be all fine and good... EXCEPT Apple explicitly discourages going to third party repair shops and has repeatedly claimed their authorized service centers offer the best of the best. They don't tell you "we don't have the expertise to diagnose this, therefore we'll substitute the whole motherboard". They tell you substituting the motherboard is the only way to fix it and that will be 1100$ thank you very much.

[Tristerin]

Not reading this thread - consumers are the problem, not Apple.  Apple is doing what the Consumer allows, and will do so as long as it remains the most profitable road.  Including getting sued.  If the lawsuits pennies to the dollars it wont change its habits.

 

People speaking with their wallets instead of their opinions however are the fastest and best way to make change in a world directed by Capitalism.

 

Capitalism is the legal racketeering of the rich.

 

EDIT - I started to read peoples opinions until people kept mentioning the word "wrong".  Right and wrong are super subjective and opinionated.  And can change with the wind of Society (enter; Slavery).

 

 

[wasab]

I will offer you my 2 cents. Apple..... Is......a....rip....off.

[Arika]

14 hours ago, corrado33 said:

a big -snip-

so you're saying i can just completely disregard peoples opinions here on this forum because it's known that they hate the product they talk about?

 

the amount of

• anti-Microsoft
• anti-Intel
• anti-NVidia

posts on this forum absolutely dwarf the anti-Apple ones.

 

The people i tend to disagree with most on the above topics would be @LAwLz @Delicieuxz and @jagdtigger. does that mean i should disregard their opinions? Absolutely not. there have been a number of things that i have changed my mind on because of the opinions of these 3, i still have disagreements but you need that, nothing is worse than an echo chamber. your own bias's can cloud your judgement, so you need people with opposing opinions to offset that.

 

People have the right to be upset with Apple, in fact it's generally the people that are the harshest that you should listen to, because 9 times out of 10 they actually have a legitimate reason for their "disdain" as you put it.

 

my Tech Philosophy has always been "judge the product, not the company". i Dislike Apple, i don't like their business practices, but i still bought an iPad like a month ago because it was better than the Android alternatives. you don't have to boycot an entire company's products just because you don't like them, especially if they offer something you want/need.

 

As for Louis, he repairs these things everyday, he makes a living repairing them, so hes in a better position to criticize how they are made than most people. most people don't care how much it costs to repair their PC if it means a lot to them, Apple just makes it unnecessarily hard to repair.

[XR6]

It's down to opinion really, isn't it?

I personally think Apple products are just giant scams. Apple seem to have taken the quote "you get what you pay for" and thrown it in the bin.

You're not paying upwards of £1-2k on a quality product. Take LTT's video on the iMac Pro for example. Would a company that really cares about its customers release a product  that has no replacement parts and nobody that can actually fix them? It costs £4899 for the lowest spec model, and they have practically no support for it. 

Sure, business is business, but when designing your product, it should also be about the consumer.

[Syntaxvgm]

I can deny the holocaust too and call it my opinion but my opinion would be stupid. 

[Rodinski]

Quote

But in my opinion this is not a ripoff.

How is a product whose warranty control designed to fail not a rip off?  If you live in a relatively humid area, it will void your warranty and Apple will refuse to repair.  The moment you break the seal, it could be void of warranty because of "water damage".  Please explain how you see a product designed to fail represented of a quality product?

[r2724r16]

On 1/10/2019 at 3:14 PM, Henker said:

But in my opinion this is not a ripoff

Here's a summary of my past experience(s) with Apple: I've dropped and damaged many Apple devices (including iPhones, iPads, and iPods) and not once have I have I had to go to an Apple store to get them fixed because they were sturdy and well-built products, they just didn't break.

 

If someone's Apple device gets damaged, they probably made a stupid mistake (like not wearing a case, spilling water on it, etc.). Having used Apple products in the past (and I still use them in the present), I can tell you that their devices are robust and do not easily break.

 

Yes, Apple's repairs ARE a ripoff, there's no debate to be made on that. But if someone's Apple device breaks because of a stupid mistake, it's their fault and they deserve to pay the "Apple fee" in order to fix it. This is just my opinion, feel free to share yours.

[SenKa]

As a non AASP PC Tech Worker (Who sees plenty of apple products on my workbench): Apple is very much ripping off customers. Their charges are exorbitant and they go out of their way to make sure their policy is withheld on their terms. No non-AASP shop has direct access to apple parts supplies, only 3rd party or what little OEM products are sold elsewhere (often counterfit or otherwise illegitimate). Any PC company could lock down hardware the way apple does. Only allow WindowsOS, only provide parts to authorized service shops and create a difficult certification process like Apple does. But other than Microsoft themselves, nobody does. Why is this? It is anti-consumer and borderline legal.

 

Through thinly veiled claims of product and individual security they create anti-consumer practices only matched by Tesla and John Deere. Both have the same certification ideals and parts availability to individuals or non-certified companies. Meaning essentially nothing.

 

Even assuming that Apple doesn't like non-AASP people/businesses for an actually legitnimate reason (Possible data loss from the T2 chip, risk of inadequate tools damaging devices. Both of which I will admit are possible), they simply refuse to allow their consumers to hold on to devices for very long. Their policy for software support is 2 years (save for extreme circumstances), and hardware is 3-4 years. Once this time is passed, you're simply screwed if you wan't anything done. The only exceptions are when Apple loses class action lawsuits (6 series batteries and bending, so on). I tried this myself with my personal Macbook Pro that needed a logic board replacement. i got shut down, told to call an AASP and pray to god they have the part sitting on a dusty store shelf.

 

In comparison, if I were to call Lenovo right now and ask for any part for my X201 Tablet I would be offered every reasonable accommodation they could offer. Samsung openly sells components for every phone dating back to the S7 without any process other than a buy button. I could go on samsung's site and build myself a note 8 if I really wanted to. Would it be economical? No, but they're willing to allow anybody to fix their devices.

 

In summary: Apple offers 0 right to repair for end users, makes even AASP shops struggle to do their jobs (See: iMac Pro certification, parts ordering system, etc.), and forces those of us who don't wan't to or can't spend the time and money for a one-company certification to purchase products of questionable quality and legitimacy to repair devices. Apple themselves forces their own userbase to stay on a 2-3 year upgrade plan regardless of actual hardware benefits for the sole sake of more money in exec's pockets. Anti-Consumer? Yes. Illegal? I recommend calling your local congressmen and congresswomen and campaign for more consumer-orientated RTR and Consumer-Trust laws.

 

That is all,

 

SK

[Umberto]

15 hours ago, corrado33 said:

What really annoys me is the sheer disdain that LMG has for apple. Ever notice that when they make a video about a product they don't like that's NOT apple the product name is never in the title? But when it's an apple product, they plaster the name ALL OVER the clickbaity title. Because they know all you apple haters out there will sop it up and get the ad revenue flowing in. 

 

Apple dis videos seem to be LMG's cash cows. And from what I considered a once relatively unbiased tech review channel, it makes me sad. 

Clickbait thumbnails and anti-apple sentiment, that's what drives traffic and what the pcmasterrace audience wants to hear. They are running a business after all. 

[SenKa]

1 minute ago, Umberto said:

Clickbait thumbnails and anti-apple sentiment, that's what drives traffic and what the pcmasterrace audience wants to hear. They are running a business after all. 

They do have legitimate anti-consumer practices as outlined in my post above. But I will admit that their ecosystem is beautiful so long as you walk between Apple's lines. macOS is more polished than Windows has been, and integration between mobile and desktop experiences is an order of magnitude better than Windows ever will be unless Windows mobile comes back.

 

Apple deserves hate, but as do Google, Microsoft, Huwei, Facebook, and Samsung. All major tech companies have their blemishes in record; Apple is just an easy punching bag.

[Guest]

I just want to chip in to say that I think many of you guys posting here are doing yourselves a great disservice by being "loyal" to a manufacturer. They just build stuff to make money, there's no need to start a religion around them. If you're such a shill that you literally have an apple logo as your avatar, you're honestly kind of hopeless. 

 

Anyhow, it doesn't matter if Samsung or any other company is similarly bad about repairing their products, that's a bad argument. Yes, other companies suck at repair and yes, like them, Apple IS "ripping you off", along with Samsung, Huawei and all the other big players. This is well known. The real thing which is at stake here is the "right to repair".

 

It's undeniable that Apple, Samsung, Huawei, LG are in this game to have your money. There's not a huge amount of money for them in repair, as it's a source of income that's directly in competition with their products. In fact, it's pretty clear and they're not trying to hide the fact that they want you to buy their products as often as possible, not repair them. So yeah, it's par for the course. Apple is incompetent, by design, at repairing their own products. But then again they all are, everywhere. Razer is the same with their peripherals, home appliances tend to last a few years and they're not particularly handy to repair.

 

And so this is why Louis Rossmann is pushing for a right to repair legislation. Big tech have the upper hand because they have so much leverage on the market that they're actively preventing people from repairing their own devices, and Apple is especially guilty of that. And people who say this boils down to capitalism and there's nothing that can be done, there are currently heaps of pro-consumer laws that protect you from certain unfair behavior by large corporations.

 

[Umberto]

5 minutes ago, Bynming said:

If you're such a shill that you literally have an apple logo as your avatar, you're honestly kind of hopeless. 

[wasab]

On 1/25/2019 at 6:56 PM, Umberto said:

It's okay. I mean I have a penguin(probably Tux's brother or something) with an AK47 as my avatar.