03-29-2019, 12:54 AM
https://www.extremetech.com/computing/28...ll-failing
Quote:Apple has once again acknowledged that its MacBooks are equipped with a failed keyboard design. The problem — which the company has now been failing to solve since 2015 — is arguably deliberate at this point, reflecting either a refusal to grapple with the reality of the problem or a pointed attempt to shake customers down for more money.
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I don’t believe Apple is sorry about this and I don’t think you should either. Consider the facts of the situation and Apple’s overall conduct over the past few years.
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As all of this has played out, Apple has been focused on ramping up its services revenue. The price of AppleCare has shot up. So has the cost of repairs if you don’t have it.
I don’t think Apple is attempting to build products that are secretly more likely to fail, so much as it’s deliberately building hardware that’s expensive to repair. Driving up the cost of out-of-warranty repairs is an excellent way to push people towards AppleCare. In 2017, analysts estimated that AppleCare sales accounted for 17 percent of Apple’s $31.3B in Services revenue. In 2018, Services revenue hit $37.1B.
If Apple was “sorry,” it would stop designing products with $600 – $700 in out-of-warranty repair costs. If it cared about safeguarding the user experience, it would go back to doing so by designing top-notch hardware as opposed to lying to the public (either directly or via omission) about the consequences of its own design changes.
If Apple wants the technical press to believe its apologies, it can stop designing hardware with the kind of flaws that shouldn’t pass muster in a $200 Chromebook and start building machines that deserve to be counted among the best in the business. Until it does, its apologies are worthless.

