Published in El Pais, 6 November 2018.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the ever-increasing costs of smart phones with which all the major manufacturers were guilty of. My solution to this problem was to hold on to your phone longer than usual as the benefits of upgrading are no longer worth the cost. Some however take it to the extreme and are walking around with phones that are more than 5 years old and Apple is starting to take notice.
The company is starting to roll out what it is calling the “Vintage Repair” pilot where stores are offering to repair apple devices long deemed obsolete like the iPhone 5 and 4s, devices that are six and seven years old respectively, this is an about face from its previous policy of declaring any product older than 5 years obsolete and ceasing repair services.
One must wonder why Apple would do this? We are talking about the same Apple that slowed down phones if their battery got too old, a move many thought was a way of encouraging customers to upgrade prematurely. It is not a continued effort to restore its image but mainly as a source of revenue from a new target market. The fact is if someone is still clinging to an iPhone 5 chances are they do not plan to upgrade any time soon and when they do it will likely be a used one at that. Meaning Apple has little chance of turning these people into customers. At least this way they can start to draw revenue from them, even if it means extending the life of an old phone.
The pilot is only to take place in the U.S and Turkey and as of now they will turn away anyone coming in looking for repairs when they do not have the parts, meaning repairs are not guaranteed. If the project is successful however, they may take it more seriously and make stocking stores with old parts more of a priority. This could be good news for people who find nothing wrong with their so called “out of date” phone as even if you live in a part of the world where Apple does not have stores, the increase in demand for old parts should make it easier for your local repair store to acquire what you need should you ever be in need of their services.
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