Because they welded the one consumable that needs replacement to force you to buy new every few years: the battery
this post was submitted on 11 Jul 2023
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Luckily for us Americans, the Europeans have their head on straight and can force companies to fix this by the end of the decade. So that'll be nice at least
I don’t think a phone where the battery is welded to the body exists.
I know you’re probably being hyperbolic, but sealing a phone’s body construction to make it waterproof is very different from ‘welding’ the battery in.
Gaskets, o-rings, and screws exist. The waterproof argument is a weak one that doesn't hold water. There's no reason why it needs to be glued together and past phones have had waterproofing with a removable back and replaceable battery.
They've been a "not user serviceable" component since before phones got water proofing.
Additionally plenty of things can be disassembled with screws and such, that are waterproof..... Watches come to mind.
The fact that they're making it impossible for we the people and owners of the products, to change the battery isn't a technological limitation, nor a practical one. They did it so people will be forced to seek help to get a new battery, at which time, the vendor/carrier/whomever, can simply upsell the end user.
They did it to sell more phones. If you believe anything other than that, I have some land in Alaska to sell you.
The point is that virtually every mobile on the market has a non-replaceable battery, and that's a huge factor driving over-consumption via planned obsolescence.
They do? That sucks. I've only had iPhones and have gotten the battery replaced in both of them. It's increased the lifespan of my phones by a couple of years, but it doesn't double it. I usually start to sick of my hardware after about 5 years.
The person you’re replying to is trying to push the narrative that modern smartphones (iPhones in particular) have bodies that are sealed with adhesive in order to force people to upgrade sooner, instead of to provide waterproofing/dustproofing.
That claim makes no sense in light of how Apple meaningfully supports phones for significantly longer than any other major OEM and goes to great lengths to preserve the usability of older devices. That doesn’t deter people from making that claim because they’d much rather believe apple bad, and other phone manufacturers bad because they’re trying to copy apple.
Inb4 but x phone from 2016 had a removable backplate and was “waterproof,” or but y phone with 0.01% market share is serviceable with a spudger and is “waterproof”.
Apple literally admitted it engages in planned obsolescence practices and has been fined in multiple jurisdictions for doing so.
Not sure why you feel the need to support shady business practices. There are designs that achieve waterproofing/dustproofing while still enabling replaceability. The obvious question then is why would the majority of manufacturers choose a design approach which restricts replaceability?
Gosh, that narrative is one of the most pea-brained things that I’ve seen circulating on the internet in my lifetime.
As the link you provided clearly states, apple was fined for not disclosing to users that iOS was underclicking the CPUs on phones that had batteries that were too degraded to provide the required power consistently under heavy load.
Anyone who used an Android phone from that era can tell you about how a >12 month old phone would start randomly powering off between 10% and 30% remaining charge. When a lithium ion battery degrades, it’s no longer able to output its original nominal voltage in a sustained way. Instead, I’ll output the requested voltage, then suddenly the voltage will drop. When the CPU in an older phone was under heavy load, it would put heavy load on the battery, and the battery would fail to provide consistent voltage, which would cause the phone to power off.
On the Android side of things, we could try to replace the battery if we knew that was the issue, but most people would just feel pressured to buy a new phone.
The obvious solution to that problem is just to undervolt the phone’s CPU if the battery isn’t capable of providing consistent peak voltage. Doing this is objectively the opposite of planned obsolescence, it lets people use older phones reliably for longer.
Ironically, a small minority of weirdos are so desperate to hate Apple that they spun a feature that’s obviously intended to increase the longevity of an iPhone into an entire narrative about apple slowing your phone down to get you to buy another one. Which doesn’t stand up to scrutiny, because not undervolting the CPU in a phone where the battery can’t provide consistent peak voltage is way more likely to push people to want to replace it.
I hate consumerism and mega corporations way more than most, and I’m definitely not suggesting that Apple is any kind of moral or ethical company. They’re a company that exists to maximize profits at the expense of anything else, on the backs of exploited workers.
But when the most widespread complaints about a company are things that make the complainers look like idiots who are desperately searching for something to complain about regardless of how disconnected from reality it is, it makes it seem like there aren’t any legitimate complaints about the company. If I were wearing my tinfoil hat, I’d be inclined to speculate about whether that’s actually intentional. The ‘Apple is slowing down my phone to make me buy a new battery’ narrative is so ridiculous that I can almost believe that Apple’s behind it to draw attention away from valid criticisms.
In Canada, for years, you were almost a fool for not upgrading your device every two years. The "regular" plans we all had involved a 2-yr contract in which time your phone would be paid off. But after that term was up, the monthly bill remained exactly the same. It was stupid, but a lot of Canadians just said, "Welp. Might as well upgrade then." Then the CRTC here stepped up and told the big three carriers here to knock it off.
I had a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+ that I held onto for three and a half years. That was the longest I'd ever kept a smartphone. It was going strong too. Alas, I found out security updates were knocked down to quarterly from monthly. And after this year, it would receive nothing more. I reluctantly looked into the Galaxy S23 Ultra as a replacement and thanks to a good deal, I have that phone now. It's an amazing device too and I hope it carries me for another 3+ years.
I buy used flagships.
A 1.5 year old flagship costs the same as a brand new midrange phone, but is significantly better.
I just got a S21 Ultra for cheaper than I would have paid for an A54. (Also Exynos is hot fucking garbage. I wanted to get away from Samsung altogether, but the price on this made sense and I has a snapdragon. Significantly better)
A free phone from your carrier is never actually free. You will be paying for it over the next 6 months to 2 years.
Vanity, marketing and buying shit unnecessarily.
I have a Fairphone 3 that I got in January 2020. Its a great device. I want to using it daily for between 5 to 10 years. And I have no doubt it will do that.
Meanwhile my brother has bought 3 Samsung devices in that time. And each one still works fine. He doesn't need a new phone each time but he will still insist on it.
I bought a Redmi Note 11 pro last year and it's a great phone! Really though, buying new phones every year is something only well off people can afford (or people who are ok getting into lots of credit card debt). There really is no point right now, newer phones just aren't that much better and in fact smartphone sales worldwide are slowing down exactly because everyone who wants a good enough smartphone already has one. My current phone does absolutely everything I need, in fact it's much more powerful than my first laptop ever was, I can emulate most retro consoles, watch uhd videos, use any app I need, listen to all the music I want, I can even do things like use microsoft office on it. I don't need a new one, this works just perfect for me. The only thing that would make it better is to get it rooted so I can install a custom rom and get rid of xiaomi's bloatware infested android rom
Because the megacorps who make the phones like money and that's how they get it.
From an individual perspective, unless you can afford it and like having the new phones, there's basically no point in upgrading every year.
I finally dropped my S10e too many times. I tried switching to my backup phone which was a Pixel 2 but it is pretty limited in terms of bands for my carrier. So I bought a Pixel 6a. I would love a Zenfone 9 but it is a tad pricey.
Would I have upgraded of my phone hadn't died? Probably. It stopped receiving security updates. The battery was starting to not last all day. There were some things it was starting to get slow on. The camera was okay in good lighting but shit in bad lighting.
Newer phones are not actually selling all that well. Still good but there aren't really likes it the door on release day like there used to be. People are keeping their phones for a lot longer now or opting for midrange ones.
I drop my phone so often that how easy or hard it is to replace the screen on my own and how cheap a replacement is factors onto deciding to buy a phone.
I have never upgraded every year, I used to every two years, then three. Now I’ve had my iPhone 11 for almost four years, and I’m planning to keep it for 5. It will probably still get new OS updates for another 1 year after that (total of 6).
There is no reason to update your phone every year.
I spoke about this with a person, who wanted to get a new phone and replace their 3yo model. Ultimately, they just wanted a new thing, because it'd make them happier. That's irrational.
It's not irrational when almost every piece of media we see is somehow designed to make us want The New Things. Companies spend a lot of money working out how to convince us that we're dissatisfied with what we have.
Also, it's kind of sensible to upgrade after three years, when the device you have is still feasibly worth something on the second hand market.
Every year no.... Every two, except for some brands and maybe too models... They don't have updated after the 2 years, now it's slightly better as usually there is a couple more years of security updates but that's it.
I can't see why you can't see the difference. I've been swapping every few years from the lowest tier phone that's recently come out and each change feels like night and day each and every time. Perhaps you should stop buying overpriced phones?
Buying cheaper phones for the purpose of feeling the need to upgrade them sooner doesnt really make sende though, does it?
I have had three phones in the span of ten years. All of them were gifted to me via the line provider. I don't know what you are talking about, mate,
There was a couple years where I could trade in last year's Samsung for like $100 below the cost of the new phone, and they'd give me $250 in accessories with that. It was honestly just the cheapest option for a bit.
I buy a new phone when my current one breaks. So like every five years.
Lots of people are bad with money or don't prioritize the same things I do. I try not to worry about this. I worry about other unimportant shit like why do people roll for stats in DND 5e.
Because my simple or brain likes shiny new things.
Right there with you. I'm a sucker for the new shiny and I actually kinda hate it.
In my experience, batteries start to deteriorate after about two years or so.
The big reason is updates. Phones will only get Android and security updates for so long. After that point, you buy a new phone or run the risk of being exposed.
Yeah I should bite the bullet and get a Pixel, they normally get the longest updates support or am I wrong? This habit of going for a budget phone and it becoming unusable/unsafe after 3 years is just a hidden cost I'm in denial over 😞
The Pixels get 3 years of major version upgrades and 5 years of security updates from Google. After that point if the battery is still working well enough for you, you could always try installing something like Graphene OS on it.
I only upgrade my phone when it starts to lag and slow down. My last phone I replaced the battery when the life started dropping.
The camera technology advances significantly every year, so it really matters if you’re a photographer.
Beware of your phone going out of support and losing security updates. Android manufacturers tend to drop devices after 2-4 years, Apple after 4-5.
Exactly this. I bought a Oneplus 7 Pro for AUD $750 ($500 USD) in early 2020 and tried to "upgrade" to an iPhone 13 Pro recently. Ended up giving it to my husband and have no plans on getting a new phone again until this one dies. This phone was the last good Oneplus phone before they started transitioning to...whatever they are now. I've rooted it, I've switched ROMs a few times, I've unrooted it and gone back to stock ROM. Love this 2019 phone that seems to be unlike anything else available in the market rn.
I like having high-end cameras and screens on my phones.
I keep my phones in excellent condition and sell them whenever I upgrade, which doesn’t make it a crazy expensive process.
The main reason to do it is when the manufacturer no longer releases security updates for the phone. Given the security history and the typical corporate attitude of caring little for the customer, I want to minimize the risk posed by not having a very out of date operating system.
There is a HUGE difference in 4 and 12 GB of ram if you're using 20 different apps at once that are all running background tasks.
The camera raw megapixel are of little significance these days but things like optical zoom or a larger sensor and aperture make a lot of difference.
The main reason to upgrade otherwise is unsupported OS versions. you'll stop getting security updates leaving your phone vulnerable to attack.
Your carries never gives it to you cheap. At best they sell you it at cost. More likely they sell it to you at MSRP. the cost is wrapped up in your monthly, and they hope people are too stupid or lazy to notice.
Never say never. After buying my OnePlus 9 pro, my carrier transferred the money to me instead of from me. Realizing the mistake, they immediately transfered it back again, but that only resulted in a 0 and thus I never actually paid for the phone :)
In most other cases you are right though.
When I find a good deal on a used/refurbished/open box phone on eBay I grab it and throw it in my drawer until my current phone breaks or becomes considerably difficult to use. I haven't paid more than $250 for a phone in a long time.
The convenience of not replacing the battery.
I'm in a good financial position and swapping the battery isn't rocket surgery, but it's a bit of a risk I'm not willing to take. Plus Pixel phones go on a decently deep discount in September before the next model is released.
And I wait until the battery is bloated so it's kinda a safety thing too.
Many people upgrade every year because of perceived obsolescence.
The only time I ever "upgrade" is when I break a phone beyond reasonable repair. If batteries were easier / more cost effective to replace, I would keep this Pixel 4a a few more years. The battery is starting to lose capacity now, I'll have to check on the cost of battery replacement before too long.
Considering a Fairphone next time I do upgrade.
Batteries are cheap to replace.
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