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Over at Vice/Motherboard is an article on the expected lifetime of apple phones, based on the proceedings in a class action lawsuit over problems with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices.
When it released its iPhone 7 Environmental Report a year ago, Apple wrote that it "conservatively assumes a three-year period for power use by first owners," which is "based on historical customer use data for similar products."
Greg Joswiak, Apple's VP of iOS, iPad, and iPhone Marketing, told Buzzfeed last month that iPhones are "the highest quality and most durable devices. We do this because it's better for the customer, for the iPhone, and for the planet."
But in court, Apple argues that it is only responsible for ensuring the iPhone lasts one year, the default warranty you get when you buy an iPhone.
The case in question is related to problems with the touch screen, as the soldering connections to the controller IC fail. However this failure only occurs after months of normal usage.
In that court case, currently being litigated in California, the plaintiffs attempted to argue that "consumers reasonably expect that smartphones will remain operable for at least two years when not subject to abuse or neglect because the overwhelming majority of smartphone users are required to sign service contracts with cellular carriers for two year periods."
Apple's motion to dismiss in that case noted that the plaintiffs' phones broke more than a year after they were purchased, which is after the warranty expired. If your phone breaks after the warranty is up, well, you're out of luck, Apple argues.
Arturo González, the lawyer representing Apple in the case, wrote in the motion [...] that it is "not appropriate for courts to rewrite the express terms of a warranty simply because of a consumer's unilateral expectations about a product."
More background on the case from last October in Fortune
(Score: 4, Funny) by frojack on Wednesday September 13 2017, @05:27PM
Pretty much exactly how I see it.
The warranty protects you against defects in "materials and workmanship", and a few other things that are specifically mentioned. (With due regard for the LONG list of exclusions).
It should cover things like "you're holding it wrong" or "you're bending it wrong" - both afflictions suffered by iPhones over the years, as well as fire in the pants Samsung fails. There are implied assumptions about suitability for purpose etc etc that have been added by legislation in some places.
Its unusual for have a purely electronic device just fail with no abuse. Its expected to have a battery fail. Its expected that some memory devices may degrade.
Cell phones are an odd combination of various MTBF items.
Once its in your hands, its pretty much your responsibility to take care if it.
You have far more influence over the device life than the manufacturer, it was in their hands for mere weeks. In yours for years.
I don't know what this "power user" of which apple speaks is. I rather suspect it is a teen age girl.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.