iFixit

Apple’s Latest Battery Fiasco, Ugly HDTV Antennas, and Old-School Lawn Mowers — Repair Radio Episode 11

On this episode of Repair Radio, we’re discussing Apple’s latest attempt to discourage repair, how to build a cheap, ugly, but effective HDTV antenna, and we’re kickin’ it old-school with lawn mowers. We’re also answering some of your burning questions.

How to Listen

Hosts: Craig Lloyd, Kevin Purdy, and Whitson Gordon
Music: Gypsy and DeeJae Dutch (@ArchaicsHipHop)

News Topics

  • We Tore Down the New Nintendo Switch. What’s Different? — As we wait for the Switch Lite’s September 20th launch, Nintendo quietly refreshed its existing Switch gaming console, sneaking in better battery life. How did they accomplish that, you ask? We can take a pretty good guess, but we had to see for ourselves.
  • Apple Is Locking iPhone Batteries to Discourage Repair — By activating a dormant software lock on their newest iPhones, Apple is effectively announcing a drastic new policy: only Apple batteries can go in iPhones, and only they can install them.
  • How to Fix Your Bad TV Reception with a Homemade HDTV Antenna — Almost everything about the modern TV experience has become smaller and better. TVs, game consoles, even streaming devices are thinner and more powerful. There is one area where smaller is not better, however, and that is antennas.

Listener Questions

“The charging port on my iPhone 6 Plus stops working intermittently. Is the charging port bad? Or could it be the charging cable or the charging brick?”

First, check for lint that could be stuck in the Lightning port. This is a common cause and you can remove it using a toothpick or our Halberd Spudger. Barring lint, absolutely try a different charging cable or charging brick. If your iPhone still doesn’t charge, the Lightning port could need replacing. Luckily, we sell a Fix Kit for the iPhone 6 Plus’s Lightning port.

“Do you like exposing companies when they lie about their products?”

In short, yes. And we believe companies should be exposed for purposely hindering third-party repair. We want companies to do better, which is why we call it out.

“Will you have cheap screen repair kits for the iPhone XR and XS Max soon?”

We have a replacement screen for the iPhone XR, and while we don’t have a Fix Kit for it yet, you can buy the screen adhesive for the XR and the tools separately, giving you everything you need to do the repair. The XS Max has been harder to source, but we’re working on it.

Have a Question You Want Answered on Repair Radio?

You can email your repair questions to repairradio@ifixit.com, or tag us on Twitter and include the hashtag #RepairRadio in your tweet. Your question can be anything repair-related, whether it’s how to fix something, tools you should buy, maintenance advice, or anything in between. We’ll pick some of our favorite questions and answer them on the podcast! And if you have general feedback about the podcast, we’d love to hear that too!