Apple has told the U.S. House Judiciary Committee that the company loses more money than it makes when repairing devices such as MacBooks, iPhones, and iPads.
Answering questions from US politicians investigating anti-competitive practices, Apple said it had lost money on repair services since 2009… But the company also said customers were “free to obtain repairs from any repair shop of their choice.”
In September, Apple was sent a list of questions by a US House Judiciary Committee, which is investigating “competition in digital markets.” Responding to the US committee, Apple said: “Repairs performed by untrained technicians might not follow proper safety and repair procedures and could result in improper function, product quality issues or safety events.”
Asked whether it took any action to block consumers from seeking an unauthorised repair, the company said: “Apple does not take any actions to block consumers from seeking out or using repair shops that offer a broader range of repairs than those offered by Apple’s authorised technicians.”
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in August:
This is not a “we want to make a profit on battery replacements” issue. Apple has and makes more than enough money on myriad other products and services. This is a safety issue.
Scams abound in the unauthorized iPhone battery business and theses batteries are capable of doing much damage if not properly handled and installed.
Earlier this year, ZDNet’s Adrian Kingsley-Hughes reported that iPhone owners who purchase replacement batteries from third-party outlets need to be careful because it’s possible for them to be ripped off as it’s easy to take old iPhone batteries and “reset” them to make them look like new units. Kingsley-Hughes also reports that “the third-party market is also awash with cheap and nasty counterfeit batteries that are potentially unsafe.”
Which is why we cringe every time some frangamdroid loser shuffles aboard our plane with a piece of Samsung junk (which are notorious for battery explosions and fires)… It’s only a matter of time. — MacDailyNews, July 26, 2019