SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc is giving a whole new meaning to
locking your phone with its new screws.
In line with its infamous philosophy of maintaining absolute
control over its products, sources said U.S. Apple stores are
replacing screws on iPhone 4s brought for servicing with
tamper-proof screws to prevent anyone else from opening the
device.
Kyle Wiens, chief executive of iFixit, a prominent Apple repair
and parts supplier, said the purpose of the new screws is to keep
people out of the iPhone and prevent them from replacing the
battery. He said he noticed in November that screws were being
switched.
"If you took your car in for service and they welded your hood
shut, you wouldn't be very happy"," he said, comparing it to
shutting owners out of their iPhones.
IFixit, based in San Luis Obispo, California, has become famous
in the technology world for performing "teardowns" of Apple
devices, often within hours or minutes of a new product launch. The
company promotes repair to cut down on electronic waste that goes
to landfills.
According to two people with first-hand knowledge of the
practice, when a customer brings an iPhone 4 into a U.S. Apple
store for repair, tech staff swap out commonly-used Phillips
screws, with which the device is shipped, and replace them with
so-called "Pentalobe" screws.
Customers are not told about the switch, these people said.
It was not clear how widely used the replacement screws are, but
one of these people said the screw swap was begun in the fall and
is now standard practice at U.S. Apple stores. This person said the
iPhone 4 shipped with Pentalobe screws in Japan.
Apple had no comment for this story, but it is well-known that
Apple discourages individual modifications of its products.
The iPhone 4 went on sale last summer and became Apple's
fastest-selling version of the iconic device, starting at $199 with
a two-year wireless contract. More than 16 million iPhones sold in
the quarter ending December.
Apple will replace iPhone batteries free if the device is under
warranty, but otherwise charges $79.
Wiens said that with the old screws the iPhone 4 battery was
easy to change although that was not known to many customers.
"Apple wants to be in the business of selling you the new battery,"
Wiens said.
The world's largest technology company acts swiftly to protect
its secrets. When an iPhone prototype was found by an outsider in a
bar last year and sold to tech blog Gizmodo, Apple kicked up a
furor and investigators raided a journalists' home.
Pentalobe screws require a screwdriver that is not commercially
available, Wiens said. The screw is similar to a commonly used Torx
screw, but has five points instead of six.
Wiens said iFixit, which sells repair kits for iPhones and other
Apple products, searched everywhere for a Pentalobe screwdriver
before specially commissioning a supplier to make one for them --
and even that is not a perfect match, he said.
The Pentalobe screw first appeared on the battery section of a
Macbook Pro laptop in 2009, Wiens said. It also can be found on the
exterior of Apple's new MacBook Air notebook.
-- Reuter