Apple allegedly breaks camera functionality on iPhone 12 when the camera is replaced by an end user

[Bombastinator]

34 minutes ago, Rohith_Kumar_Sp said:

Sony XPeria XZ2, XZ2 Premium, XZ3 and XZ2 Compact , Samsung Galaxy S10+, etc 

...that..does beg the question then...

[Blademaster91]

3 hours ago, Blade of Grass said:

 

There seems to be a lot of baked assumptions in here that the device doesn't need recalibration when significant input devices are changed, but with absolutely no evidence to support that theory beyond "well the old one didn't need it!" and "it's not a $10,000 DSLR"--neither being particularly strong arguments for why calibration is not beneficial. Can any of you speak to the precision of the input devices that are in the iPhone? Or how the multi-camera system works and the calibration required between cameras for it to work correctly? No? Then why try and assert that calibration is definitely not needed and it's just Apple trying to swindle people? A swapped camera mostly working when replaced, but advanced features having issues, sounds kinda exactly like what would happen if it was not calibrated correctly. From my understanding the multi-camera systems use a mix of hardware and software features to work optimally, it is not a stretch to believe that the hardware side of things needs to be calibrated to work properly.

The assumptions that the camera needs calibration doesn't hold any water when the iphone 11, which also has HDR does not need calibration, and well looking at other things apple has done to stifle third party repair. And Apple has been swindling people for years with their phones so this isn't anything new.

3 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

And apple saying so would be ‘splaining.   As to me buying one, either way it drastically raises cost of ownership of the device.  The primary advantages of Apple phones are better security and lower TCO.  They last longer and tend to have fewer problems even though they cost more initially.

That explanation would just be PR to appease consumers, because Apple has given security as an excuse to screens and batteries, even though there are ways for other repair services to repair devices without the risk of using low quality parts. The security excuse seems to be more of a nice sounding way of locking down hardware to the point where the buyer rents the device, instead of actually owning it.

[OfficialTrident]

I definitely feel like there's more to this than meets the eye, I know it will be a classic apple response but would be interesting to see what they say about this in the upcoming future.

[Blademaster91]

On 10/29/2020 at 11:10 PM, Bombastinator said:

 It’s not like they charge an unreasonable fee for a battery change. 

It isn't about the fee the Apple store is charging. If you think that is the reason you're missing the point here. The point of right to repair is being able to own your hardware and have the option to repair it yourself.

On 10/29/2020 at 11:10 PM, Bombastinator said:

re: proof.  

Evidence is not always proof and circumstantial evidence is almost never proof.  I’m growing tired of the “I want it NOW NOW NOW!” I’m hearing here.  I even grow to suspect that part of the reason it’s “NOW NOW NOW!” Is the the people doing the complaining know damn well that it would be impossible for a company to react this fast so they’re trying to get their kicks in first.  If it had been even several weeks after this was discovered and there was no reply there might be a better argument. 
 

That last one I referred to as a “suspicion”.  It isn’t any harder than the the circumstantial evidence you’re referring to as proof.

It isn't about "now". If Apple weren't doing this on purpose they wouldn't have made the decision on pairing the camera to the phone in the first place, doing that would've taken some decision making and someone had to approve the camera sensor being locked to the phone.

And apple has a history of locking down their phones on purpose to prevent any repair outside the first party stores, so that is evidence enough based on previous things Apple has done. At least it is in my opinion.

[Kisai]

39 minutes ago, Blademaster91 said:

The assumptions that the camera needs calibration doesn't hold any water when the iphone 11, which also has HDR does not need calibration, and well looking at other things apple has done to stifle third party repair.

You do realize there are more cameras on the 12 than the 11 right? The telephoto camera is the Pro. The Lidar stuff is on the Pro, the night mode is on the pro.

 

The front-facing camera likely is integrated into the security system because of FaceID, the rear cameras however do likely require some kind of calibration. Simply going "the previous model didn't" ignores the fact that those are different camera sensors. The Dolby Vision HDR recording is a feature of the 12's, and is rather convoluted just on the display end https://hometheaterreview.com/understanding-dolby-vision-calibration-part-one/ , never mind the camera.

 

So perhaps each camera is calibrated individually and stored in firmware.

 

If swapping modules induces a failure condition then that's a bug. If it affects security features than it should be disabling the security feature (eg revert to passcode) when the part fails.

[wanderingfool2]

1 hour ago, Kisai said:

So perhaps each camera is calibrated individually and stored in firmware.

 

If swapping modules induces a failure condition then that's a bug. If it affects security features than it should be disabling the security feature (eg revert to passcode) when the part fails.

Based on the source video, it appears as though it is able to actually properly function (in the sense of switching to video 0.5x and then going to photo allows 0.5x to work).  At this point, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if this was a subtle way of preventing 3rd party repairs.  I get that calibrations might have to be done...but if they have software that can do it then they could have easily built it into part of the OS.

 

The FaceID stuff I kind of get (but only to the extent that it should disallow it after noticing a swap, but you can then re-set it back up again afterwards).  I would even be okay with a warning popping up saying it isn't the original part (not nag-ware but some way to check).

[Blade of Grass]

On 11/3/2020 at 1:59 PM, Blademaster91 said:

The assumptions that the camera needs calibration doesn't hold any water when the iphone 11, which also has HDR does not need calibration, and well looking at other things apple has done to stifle third party repair. And Apple has been swindling people for years with their phones so this isn't anything new.

I didn't say it was for the HDR, I assume it would be for the multi-camera/LIDAR system. 

 

Also, just because a previous version of the phone didn't need it, doesn't mean a newer one doesn't... requirements can change, issues can be determined, etc. 

[Orange1]

On 11/2/2020 at 9:41 PM, GoldSrc said:

Think, what's so different from 2 modules from 2 brand new equal phones? Nothing, so why should there be a problem if you just swapped them?

Profits is the problem