Apple locks Macolytes out of HDD upgrades

Perverts standard connector to monopolise HDD sales:

[quote]
Expanding on its efforts to remove all user control over the innards of
its iDevices, Apple appears to have made it difficult to swap out the
hard drive in its latest line of iMacs without finding yourself
listening to screaming, interminable fan noise.

In a posting on his company's blog, an Other World Computing rep says
that Apple has changed the standard four-wire SATA power connector for
the new iMac's internal drive to a proprietary seven-wire config.

That's annoying enough, but the wizards of Cupertino have also decided
to manage drive-temperature control through a combination of that cable
and firmware in the drive itself.

"From our testing," the blog post reads, "we've found that removing this
drive from the system, or even from that bay itself, causes the
machine's hard drive fans to spin at maximum speed and replacing the
drive with any non-Apple original drive will result in the iMac failing
the Apple Hardware Test (AHT)," a software staple of Mac troubleshooting
for over a decade.

Caption:
Your new iMac's hard drive – not replaceable, not upgradeable
(source: iFixit – click to enlarge)

The implications of this change are annoying in the extreme to fanboi
tinkerers. Should you want to upgrade your iMac's internal drive with a
larger one, or should that drive happen to fail, you are S.O.L. – you'll
need to go to Apple for repair unless you enjoy listening to screaming
fan noise 24/7.
[/quote]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/0...ment_woes/

Related:

[quote]
Apple is making it more difficult for iPhone 4 owners to perform simple
DIY repairs by replacing common Phillps head screws with a rare
"pentalobe" screws. While newer iPhone 4s have included the screws from
the factory, it is also Apple policy to replace any Phillips head screws
with the new pentalobe screws whenever an iPhone 4 is taken in for
service.

"This screw head clearly has one purpose," iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens told
Ars. "To keep you out."
[/quote]

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2...repair.ars

Apple seems to have a serious problem understanding the simple concept
of transfer of property.

What a bunch of goons.

It's not just consumers who suffer from Apple's tyranny, either:

[quote]
The claws are out. Adobe’s Platform Evangelist, Lee Brimelow retaliated
today against Apple blocking Flash developers on the iPhone with a post
on his Flash Blog.

Brimelow holds little back, lambasting the company for trying to exert a
“tyrannical control over developers…more importantly, wanting to use
developers as pawns in their crusade against Adobe.” He says any real
developer could not support Apple’s moves in “good conscience.”

“Personally I will not be giving Apple another cent of my money
until there is a leadership change over there. I’ve already moved most
of my book, music, and video purchases to Amazon and I will continue to
look elsewhere. Now, I want to be clear that I am not suggesting you do
the same and I’m also not trying to organize some kind of boycott.”

Brimelow may not be explicitly calling for a boycott (although he is
requesting a change in leadership— is he looking at you Jobs?). But he
is issuing a call to arms to developers. The lines are clear: you either
stand with us or against us and if you’re against us (and complicit in
Apple’s policies) then you’re not a real developer.

And if his sentiment wasn’t clear throughout the post, he caps it all
off with: “Go Screw Yourself Apple.”
[/quote]

http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/09/ad...f-apple-2/

K. | "The poor have flat-screen TVs."
http://slated.org | ~ Libertarian propagandist Keith
Fedora 8 (Werewolf) on šky | Curtis, explaining why he thinks
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