Apple Adds Tamper-Resistant Screws on iPhone
FEATURE
Apple has garnered attention the past few days over a low-tech upgrade to its popular iPhone 4.
The technology giant has drawn user scorn over its switch to a tamper-resistant screw design.
Apple has reportedly transitioned from a basic Phillips head to a proprietary pentalobe design featuring a “five-point head with a round shape resembling a daisy,” Wired.com reports.
“They chose this ‘Pentalobe’ fastener specifically because it was new, guaranteeing repair tools would be both rare and expensive,” said iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens. “The iPhone 4 originally shipped with Phillips screws, but Apple has transitioned completely to this new security screw.”
iFixit published a scathing review entitled “Apple’s Diabolical Plan to Screw Your iPhone,” accusing Apple of thwarting user fixability with the “insidious” new screw.
“Contrary to what has been widely reported elswhere, this is not a security Torx screw,” according to iFixit. “Security Torx have a post in the middle. Apple would never use a real Torx security screw with a post for two reasons: they’re ugly, and the posts break off easily with screw heads this small.”
“This screw head clearly has one purpose: to keep you out,” Weins blogged. “Otherwise, Apple would use it throughout each device. Instead, they only use it at the bulwark—on the outside case of your iPhone and MacBook Air, and protecting the battery on the Pro—so they can keep you out of your own hardware.”
Industry analysts responded more reasonably, noting that tamper-resisant screws are widely used to discourage home repairs on high-tech hardware.
Included in Weins’ criticism was an iFixit link to a new $9.95 tool kit to fit the pentalobe screwheads. The kit is named the “iPhone 4 Liberation Kit.”
The new fasteners reportedly first appeared in the battery lock of mid-2009 MacBook Pro laptops, CNET reports. The pentalobe reappeared again in the 2010 MacBook Air, which used the screw on the lower case. ©2011 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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