Pentalobe screwdriver Apple iPhone

Apple screws iPhone customers with un-unscrewable screws Pentalobe screwdriver

Apple has been quietly replacing the standard screws on the iPhone 4 with a rare type of screw you can't even get a screwdriver for - seemingly in a bid to stop customers opening up their own phones.

The iPhone 4 originally came with standard (if rather small) Phillips-head screws - making it relatively easy for customers to open up their own phones to perform basic DIY repairs.

But more recent versions - and phones that have been returned to Apple for repairs - have instead featured five-pointed 'pentalobe' screws, for which there are no widely-available screwdrivers that can unscrew them.

Gadget fans are speculating that this is a deliberate move by Apple to stop customers getting access to their own phone, to ensure that only Apple technicians can carry out repairs.

Gadget DIY site iFixit says: 'there isn’t a single reputable supplier that sells exactly the same screwdrivers Apple’s technicians use—which is Apple’s point. They picked an obscure head that no one would have.'

It's not the first time that Apple have rolled out the pentalobe screws to defeat customers wanting to get into their devices - larger versions of the screw also appeared on the MacBook Pro in 2009, stopping owners from replacing the battery. The new screws first started appearing on Japanese iPhone 4s last year - and now they have started cropping up on iPhones in the US and the UK.

That includes phones that have been brought into Apple for repair - iFixit reports that the phones will come back with the screws swapped out.

iPhone owners faced with the awkward screws do have a couple of options - iFixit is offering an 'iPhone 4 Liberation Kit' that includes screwdrivers that, while not a perfect fit for the pentalobe, will manage to unscrew them with a bit of effort. And Gizmodo think they've tracked down a wholesaler that offers a screwdriver that will fit - although they don't guarantee that it will work.

News From: www.metro.co.uk

Do you feel screwed over by Apple?

Yesterday, we reported on a bit of a brouhaha over Apple adding tamper-resistant screws to its products, most recently the iPhone 4.

Some critics say the company switched from standard Phillips and Torx screws to proprietary pentalobe screws to thwart DIY fixes and keep consumers relying on Apple repair services.

iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens went so far as to title a blog post on the matter "Apple's Diabolical Plan to Screw Your iPhone." "Apple chose this fastener specifically because it was new, guaranteeing repair tools would be both rare and expensive. Shame on them," he wrote.

Granted, a good number of gadgeteers--likely including many Crave readers--feel strongly about having the right to open up gear at will to remove and replace batteries, memory, and drivers (or just have a good look at the inner workings).

But as one tech service rep who posted on ipodnn pointed out, a surprising number of people open up their gadgets before bringing them in for warranty service, leading to more damage than the problem that led them to open up the machine in the first place.

Whatever Cupertino's motivation for switching to the more rare pentalobe screws (we're still waiting to hear back from the company in its own words), some say Apple should be able to do whatever it damn pleases with its products. After all, no one's forcing people to buy them.

News From: news.cnet.com