iFixit says the Switch 2 is even harder to repair than the original
iFixit says the Switch 2 is even harder to repair than the original
Be extra careful with your new console.
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I implore people to watch the teardown guide itself, which is way more nuanced than the clickbaity The Verge article.
I'm not a fan of the use of glue in the joycon sides and the fact that the color strips under the controllers are hiding screws. The bigger complaint is the battery glue, especially because you can imagine aftermarket parts with bigger capacity could be a thing here. I definitely wouldn't open this thing unless it has a problem.
Some components are still modular, which is nice. I can't imagine the sticks not having changed design is great, but it's entirely possible they're way more durable, which the teardown acknowledges. Keep in mind that, while all controllers can drift, most controllers don't fail that way. It's possible to build this type of stick without widespread issues. Time will tell, though.
I'm not a fan of the use of glue in the joycon sides and the fact that the color strips under the controllers are hiding screws.
I'm not even surprised when I find screws under stickers or rubber pads anymore, it's become all too common. And like a dad, at this point it doesn't make me angry, just disappointed.
It does tell me a lot about what to expect from the manufacturer though. Anyone who actively hides their screws is no longer on my side, they've just branded themselves as an adversary. At that point I know I'll be better off buying 3rd party replacement parts, I know to ignore any "recommendations" from the company.
The switch 2 gives out complete apple vibes. It's repairability is pretty horrid after watching the teardown guide.
Controllers will fail sooner or later and will have to be replaced. Here it will end up replacing the whole stick just due to glueing small parts of the controller.
Battery will also fail sooner than later. The whole thing yells planned absolesence...
It absolutely does not. Nintendo hardware is built like a freight truck. The teardown guide references the JerryRigEverything "durability test" and I am pretty sure unless you use it to bash someone's head in this thing will last (and even then).
What it reeks of is Nintendo wanting to make things cheap and sell you multiple of them. Which they do. My launch Switch 1 lasted until I got a Lite and then an Oled and I expect this one will do pretty much the same. That doesn't mean their joycon won't need fixing or replacing (and I did have to open and mod my Lite, which wasn't easy).
I think Nintendo hasn't adjusted its industrial design to modern repairability concerns yet, which is a very Nintendo thing (and definitely not the same as Apple artificially holding down the repair ecosystem to itself artificially). I like neither option, but I'd take Nintendo's approach over Apple's any day. They absolutely need to comply with modern right to repair regulations, though, and that will mean doing more than they're currently doing.
What it reeks of is Nintendo wanting to make things cheap and sell you multiple of them
That's the "apple like" planned obsolesence part I was refering to. Think about airpods for example.
The teardown doesn't touch on part serialization, although the ability to brick your device if they "feel like it" is on PAR with Apple.
Although I'm not sure we should be arguing about which of the two is shittier when both are already deep in non compliance of "modern right to repair regulations (lmao)"
No, big differences at play here. Nintendo won't plan obsolescence, they will give you a base version at launch (multiple, if they can, since they're handheld devices and a single family may conceivably want a couple) and then they will iterate on the form factor with a cheaper, slimmer alternative and a bigger, premium alternative. None of those will stop working or break at any point, though. They don't care about them being replaced. In fact, they prefer if they aren't, given they make a cut of the software, too.
They are planned to stack on each other. Sell you multiples for multiple users. Apple can't do that trick, because everybody already owns a phone and the software is backwards compatible and interoperable, so they need to push you to replacement hardware. Nintendo's on a different business.
The remote bricking is not planned obsolescence, it's Nintendo's draconian opinion that they own every part of the hardware and the software fundamentally, so emulation, user modding and jailbreaking are crimes against humanity. They are wrong, but they will continue to enforce it aggressively even beyond what is legally established. This is because it goes fundamentally counter to their hardware design, which relies on cheap-but-robust devices you can give to kids that are built with imaginatively repurposed older tech. They see enthusiasts improving on their price-optimal design as a threat and will send ninjas to stab you if you disagree.
I disagree, but there are degrees of separation here. Nintendo still needs to be forced to provide replacement parts, specs and so forth, though.
I feel like you're biased in favor of Nintendo. "They make durable products" while also being infamous for the joysticks drifting. Those don't seem to gel together. Maybe they're hard to totally break, but they seem to be fine with selling products that degrade pretty quickly.
If you design a product to be intentionally difficult to repair, using subpar parts, is it not planned obsolescence? I really don't get what you are about there. Unless you require some sort of an internal clock to force brick the device to be considered planned?
Everything else is correct and I agree.
It's not planned obsolescence if your device is meant to last for decades. You could argue about the joycon if they had done that on purpose, but given that they ended up having to replace a bunch of them it seems pretty likely that their business model is to sell you four pairs to play with friends, not to keep reselling you more as they break.
Nintendo's business is not based on the product becoming worse artificially to upsell you on a replacement. Their model is to keep making incremental replacements and then drop a generational upgrade every decade or so. That's not how planned obsolescence works. You don't get artificial performance degradation, deliberately fragile parts or artifical restrictions to repair via signed components. People can (and many do) repair Nintendo hardware on third party repair services with third party replacement parts, and from what iFixIt is saying that doesn't seem to have changed.
Which is not to say Nintendo put ANY thought into repairability here. They clearly expect you to buy a Switch 2 and keep it until you buy a Switch 2 Lite. This thing is very new and that may yet change in both directions. But so far all I see here is the same old "we built this to be cheap and durable", which is fundamentally not Apple's "you'll buy one of these every two years and if it breaks you will come to us for a replacement and like it" approach.