back to article Right to repair? At least you still have the right to despair: Camera modules cannot be swapped on the iPhone 12

Right-to-repair campaigners have discovered that Apple's iPhone 12 rejects replacement camera modules in the absence of a proprietary software tool. Aussie YouTuber Hugh Jeffreys found that when a camera module is transplanted from one iPhone 12 to another, it exhibits behaviours that make it almost impossible to use the …

  1. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    That's what you get

    That's what you get for buying Apple. Proprietary connectors and accessories, intentionally hard to repair, and artificial obstacles being put in the way when you do decide to repair despite the difficulty.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: That's what you get

      Try repairing any bit of complex optics yourself. For example a modern camera lens. They need specialist jigs to ensure proper alignment of the elements otherwise, the lens is useless.

      However, Apple really do need to open up their repair biz to third parties. It used to be like that but now? It sucks.

      1. Donn Bly

        Re: That's what you get

        However, the lens and the image sensor are a single module on the iPhone and just about every other smartphone, and have previously been user-replaceable. I've replaced them in the past because of scratches on the lens, etc. With this model, the camera continues to be PHYSICALLY replaceable, but they have locked it up electronically.

        The fact that they are making such things non-replaceable is just to enforce their monopoly over service parts and repair, to make it so that you have to buy a new phone instead of repairing an existing one.

        It is no different than buying a car and then being told you can never replace the headlamps or windshield, and if one breaks you have to recycle the car and buy a new one, or take it to a factory-authorized repair center and then they can decide whether they want to bother repairing it or not.

      2. a_yank_lurker

        Re: That's what you get

        While lenses are not easily repairable this is not about actually repairing the lens but replacing a module which houses the lenses. The correct analogy would be you can only use the lenses that are paired with your DSLR/mirrorless camera. Other lenses would never work unless ypu paid extra to have them paired. In reality very stupid and not done with cameras.

    2. oiseau
      Facepalm

      Re: That's what you get

      That's what you get for buying Apple.

      Not only Apple.

      In another life many years go, I was in charge of first tier IT support at a government office, task which also involved taking care of everything from basic IT supplies to keeping the local file server in shape and backed up to putting together the yearly budget for which I was responsible.

      I also kept boredom away by also doing hardware maintenance where I was able to.

      One day, one of a pair of frequently used HP ScanJet SCSI scanners stopped working.

      It was a simple and very solid piece of hardware (and HP was a different HP), out of warranty but only three or four years' use and in excellent condition.

      Local HP service staff refused to repair it for reasons related to parts availability or something like that but offered to exchange it for a newer (pos) model plus 90% of the new model's price.

      Before taking any action, I decided instead to take out the scanner's mainboard for a trip to a reliable electronics repair shop of my acquaintance and see what they could do.

      As expected, the problem was easily identified, with a failed chip to be replaced.

      Labour cost for this was a fraction of the new scanner's price but ...

      The failed chip had a label stuck on top with a unknown proprietary number on it.

      Taking the label off revealed the chip's number had been roughly scraped off to prevent identification.

      Needless to say, the next scanner I specced for purchase was not HP.

      A good thing, for the other scanner failed later that year.

      O.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's what you get

        Philips used to do that too since way back: scrape the tops off the IC packages in their consumer and T&M gear too.

        Contrast Tektronix in the same era which not only kept component markings standard but published full schematics, repair and calibration guides for free to anyone. (HP were not bad at that time either.)

        1. circusmole
          Thumb Up

          Re: That's what you get

          I had a similar experience with Quad (the audio company). My Quad power amplifier stopped working on one channel and I fancied a go at repairing it myself. I wrote to Quad about the problem and they sent me a full set of schematics and the specifications of all the electronic components in the amplifier. I found a dud transistor and replaced it. Seriously impressed with Quad. (This was several years ago, I hope they are currently as helpful).

    3. VicMortimer Silver badge
      Stop

      Re: That's what you get

      "That's what you get for buying current technology. Proprietary connectors and accessories, intentionally hard to repair, and artificial obstacles being put in the way when you do decide to repair despite the difficulty."

      Fixed that for you.

      This is NOT an Apple problem. This is a problem with the entire industry. The only fix is right to repair laws. Boycotting Apple won't do anything, and you'll just have equally unrepairable gear from Huawei instead.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's what you get

        I thought these artificial restrictions were already illegal under EU rules..

      2. sanmigueelbeer

        Re: That's what you get

        This is NOT an Apple problem. This is a problem with the entire industry. The only fix is right to repair laws. Boycotting Apple won't do anything, and you'll just have equally unrepairable gear from Huawei instead.

        Aside from Apple, other big American brands against this are John Deere and Caterpillar.

        These companies are always trying to squeeze more dollar to boost up their profit. Right-to-Repair (or lack of) is one way to double-cross book money from customers.

      3. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: That's what you get

        This is NOT an Apple problem. This is a problem with the entire industry. The only fix is right to repair laws. Boycotting Apple won't do anything, and you'll just have equally unrepairable gear from Huawei instead.

        So go to Motorola instead, iFixit do official repair kits for them.

      4. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: That's what you get

        "This is NOT an Apple problem. This is a problem with the entire industry. The only fix is right to repair laws. Boycotting Apple won't do anything, and you'll just have equally unrepairable gear from Huawei instead."

        This is massively true, all of this !

        I'm always wondering why people all of a sudden, realize programmed obsolescence has been here for decades !

        1992, I was a young lad doing military conscription. One of the other bedroom mates, graduated in electronic engineering, explained to me one engineer from, (well, I can name the company, no-one will sue me after all these years :), french Thomson TV, told him (asking to never repeat it) the company was routinely manufacturing cathodic tubes meant to only last 14-16 months of average use.

        Only enough to go past warranty !

        So Apple is only one grand grand children of the inventors of the concept.

        And I'm not even sure 1992 was the beginning of this, may have been before.

  2. chivo243 Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    no problem

    I know plenty of apple repair dudes, they wouldn't think twice about helping out...

  3. David 132 Silver badge
    Happy

    D'awww

    "The Register has asked Apple to comment. We'll update the story if we hear back."

    Awww. That's adorable. So trusting. The naïve innocence of youth. I bet you also write to Santa and the Great Pumpkin in expectation of a response!

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
      Joke

      You forgot to add

      that everyone just love Pumpkin flavoured Latte's. /s Well, it is that time of year after all.

    2. sanmigueelbeer

      Re: D'awww

      The Register has asked Apple to comment. We'll update the story if we hear back.

      *cricket*, *cricket*, *cricket*

      The silence is deafening.

      1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: D'awww

        What silence? All I can hear is that bloody noisy cricket chirping away!

        1. Kane
          Boffin

          Re: D'awww

          "What silence? All I can hear is that bloody noisy cricket chirping away!"

          Fun story time, unrelated in every way to the main story here.

          My wife and I went on a short break to Gran Canaria a number of years ago, and one evening we decided to leave the confines of the hotel to seek sustenance. When walking back to the hotel later that evening we noticed a massive amount of cricket noise on the side approach to the hotel entrance, The weird thing was that at no point along the journey did the noise lessen, as you would expect from approaching crickets directly. When I pulled at a couple of bushes lining the walls of the hotel I discovered, Lo! and Behold! They were piping the noise in (out, technically). Little speakers, all in a row.

    3. cb7

      Re: D'awww

      It would be unprofessional if El Reg didn't give Apple the chance to present their side of the story.

      The fact that Apple refuse to engage says more about their snooty attitude than anything else.

      Yes, they will and do lose some repeat business once people realise how they get ripped off, but, Apple doesn't really care about those as long as fanbois/sheeple keep buying iTings.

      1. FIA Silver badge

        Re: D'awww

        It would be unprofessional if El Reg didn't give Apple the chance to present their side of the story.

        The fact that Apple refuse to engage says more about their snooty attitude than anything else.

        It's also a running joke, The Reg got blacklisted years* ago now.

        (Oh, christ, finding that link has made me feel old, I still mentally add the 'Kicking' to Pat Gelsinger's name whenever it comes up, and wondered where that came from..... I've found references from 22 years ago!)

        * that could legitimatly say 'decades'

  4. JDPower Bronze badge

    Such an Apple approach - "Look, we ARE making our phones more repairable. See, access is easier, components are easier to remove. Replace them? Oh no, that's software locked now but look - you can take them out!"

  5. Gene Cash Silver badge

    Support right-to-repair legislation

    Also, Google forbids camera APIs now to 3rd-party apps in the latest version of Android. You can use the app god Google gave you or sod off.

    So they all suck.

    1. Psmo
      Facepalm

      Re: Support right-to-repair legislation

      Ah that's what that was.

      Getting the same issues, and the YouTube app I use is malfunctioning too.

      I guess my experiment with Google-light Android is coming to an end.

      1. Dan 55 Silver badge

        Re: Support right-to-repair legislation

        If you're talking about NewPipe the bottle-neck is F-Droid approval. You can download it from github but as the signature is different you can't just update over 20.1 to 20.2, you'll have to goto Settings > Content > Export, export everything, uninstall 20.1, install 20.2 and import.

        And then you'll have the opposite problem, you won't be able to update it from F-Droid, you'll have have to download from github from then on unless you go back to F-Droid's signature using the same procedure.

        At the moment as the video list works and I can't be bothered with that palaver so I just share to Firefox to play it.

        1. Dave 126 Silver badge

          Re: Support right-to-repair legislation

          'Youtube Vanced' (Geddit?!) still largely works as it should - though occasionally it hangs when opening a YouTube link from Chrome.

    2. Martin an gof Silver badge

      Re: Support right-to-repair legislation

      I presume that doesn't apply if you install something like LineageOS? I'm vaguely looking for a new phone and the ability to install Lineage (or similar) is one of my criteria. If doing so prevents access to the camera then maybe I'll just have to save up and look at a Gemini instead - would love one to be honest, but they're quite a long way off my ideal price...

      M.

    3. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: Support right-to-repair legislation

      > Also, Google forbids camera APIs now to 3rd-party apps in the latest version of Android.

      Does it? Do you mean the Pixel algorithms? I don't have the latest version of Android, but I did sideload Gcam onto my Galaxy- the Google Pixel camera app, courtesy of good folk at XDA. Obviously I don't have the custom pixel silicon for accelerating the computational photography. It's worth using in some situations.

  6. Mike 137 Silver badge

    None of this is really about phones

    It's about securing a market for anything in aid of (vast) profit, so whatever prevents the "consumer" saving money (i.e. not paying them) is bad news and must be prevented. Meanwhile they do lip service to being "green" by allowing you (at last) to dismantle the kit, but much good may it do you.

    If fridge and washing machines sales had been as profitable as IT, all these vendors would have built white goods empires.

  7. Jolyon Ralph

    One positive aspect

    Although I'm far from an Apple apologist (happy Huawei P20 Pro user) I can sort of understand the logic here - now that it's easy to block stolen phones from being reused (at least on reputable networks) many of handsets stolen in muggings etc are stripped for parts. Perhaps this is one reason why Apple are trying to tie things down more?

    In general though the means probably don't justify the ends in this case.

    1. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

      Re: One positive aspect

      HP have been doing this with PCs and laptops for years. The dreaded Feature Byte string can't be changed by the user and it defines the usable hardware in the system. It means you need to use their service or an approved service centre to replace or upgrade much of their kit.

    2. Warm Braw

      Re: One positive aspect

      Firstly, if you don't have the right to repair the phone as you see fit, it's not your phone whether it's in your possession or someone else's.

      Secondly, the best way to prevent dodgy parts being used in repairs would be to make legitimate parts readily available.

  8. Oh Homer
    Childcatcher

    Vote with your wallet

    Not defending Apple - I despise them and everything they stand for with every fibre of my being - but consumers need to stop rewarding bad behaviour by persistently buying anti-consumer products.

    If any given anti-consumer measure is industry wide, then stop buying that type of product entirely, and make sure the companies know exactly why.

    It's not like any of these shiny toys are actually necessary for survival, and in any case the companies in question will soon back down once they see their precious bottom line swirling down the toilet.

    As long as we continue supporting these gangsters, we only have ourselves to blame.

    1. Richard 12 Silver badge
      Megaphone

      Re: Vote with your wallet

      Actually, a smartphone is now pretty much necessary for survival, as you can't engage with a lot of Government schemes like JSA, Tax Credits etc without access to the Internet, not to mention online ordering selling and checking what today's new laws are about leaving home.

      While you and I can of course use our desktops, laptops or Raspberry Pi to do that, for a great many people their only Internet access is via their phone.

      Without that, they are basically screwed.

      1. Andytug

        Re: Vote with your wallet

        Indeed - then they can also be derided by most of the media and government: "you can't possibly be poor - look, you own a smartphone!".

        1. Dave 126 Silver badge

          Re: Vote with your wallet

          Then its to the consumer to make an informed decision. Data they need to make such a decision include:

          - reliability of phone

          - durability of phone

          - reputation of vendor for fixing faults (of workmanship and materials variety) within the guarentee period without hassle

          - cost / benefit analysis of expanded warranties / insurance for, eg, broken screens

          - cost / value of repairs, battery changes outside of warranty by vendor

          - ditto, by 3rd party

          - duration of software support / security update period

          - prospect of fully functioning phone still being fit for purpose (i.e, fast enough, enough RAM for everyday apps) in, eg, three year's time

          - resale value of phone (if user does that sort of thing)

          Of all these things, the ease of repair by a 3rd party is but one point. I haven't don't the analysis (even though every phone has internet access and a spreadsheet app!), so can't say if my Samsung offers better value for money over an iPhone (though I can confidently say my hard case and glass screen protectors have paid for themselves many times over, as has my choice of a waterproof phone!)

  9. nautica Silver badge
    Boffin

    The answer is exceedingly simple--

    The "Right to Repair" will never be enforced by legislation; it will only be enforced by you, the buyer, when you decide to walk away and to--under no circumstances--buy that particular product or set of products.

    Of course, there's no accounting for, nor logical argument which will work on, that clear-headed army of critically-thinking individuals which absolutely has to have an Apple product, no matter what...

    ****************************************************************************

    "There is no problem so complicated that you can't find a very simple answer to it if you look at it right."--Douglas Adams,‭ ‬The Salmon of Doubt

    "...What happens when you develop tools that do not necessarily align with the survival model? You end up with things that are, for the lack of better word, utter crap...”--dedoimedo; Winds of change? Winds of mediocrity.

    “In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups...it is the rule.”--Friedrich Nietzsche

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: The answer is exceedingly simple--

      > Of course, there's no accounting for, nor logical argument which will work on, that clear-headed army of critically-thinking individuals

      To make a logical choice of cost / benefit, you need more data and do the analysis. Making a choice based on just one factor isn't logical. See above.

  10. GraXXoR

    Forgive my cynicism, but...

    It almost feels as if Apple using software to skirt the right to repair hardware rule.

    EU; You must make parts easily replaceable. You must limit gluing and sealing to bare minimum.

    Apple; chuckles in AES-256

  11. Simon R. Bone
    Unhappy

    Catching Up

    Not that it's good but isn't this what the car industry has been doing for decades ie. make most of your money on the servicing and fit parts that only approved dealers have tools to fix.

    1. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: Catching Up

      Well yeah, that was pointed out in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It should also be noted that many car repairs are done under insurance, so the direct cost of parts is hidden from the consumer but reflected in insurance premiums. However, in the UK garages can fit third party parts without invalidating a car's warranty.

  12. gnasher729 Silver badge

    Nobody has any need to repair the camera on an iPhone 12 for the next year (or the next two years in most of Europe, Australia and some other places) because Apple will have to fix it under warranty.

    So whatever tools are needed, if they are not available when out-of-warranty repairs start, that's when you complain.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "Nobody has any need to repair the camera on an iPhone 12 for the next year (or the next two years in most of Europe, Australia and some other places) because Apple will have to fix it under warranty."

      I'm guessing that the warranty doesn't cover impact damage from dropping it, etc ... ;)

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