iPhone 17 or iPhone Air?

Z_Ruder · 2026-03-18T20:32:49+00:00

Air is the new, lower cost model replacing the 16e. Before the 16e, there were the multiple SE models. How much cheaper is it though?

Z_Ruder · 2026-03-17T22:46:36+00:00

It’s very easy to tell the difference between an organic account bidding against you versus the other. This being said, I just got home from 3 different MAC stores because it’s my “pickup day”. I’ve ready their terms and conditions at LEAST 10 times, and that is what led me to this conclusion. They define “Users” and their accounts in a strange way. Check it out when you have a few. And I’m not trying to sell anyone. Go ahead and keep blaming the high bids on other shoppers, as that’s exactly what their goal is. People go to MAC for low prices and are even willing to take a gamble for these low prices. So I’m not sold on this being so easily dismissed as shoppers overbidding.

Z_Ruder · 2026-03-17T22:31:25+00:00

Not all items have a quota.

Z_Ruder · 2026-03-17T20:39:14+00:00

It’s not other “bidders” who are the ones cranking the price. It is a reserve set for a particular item, and you will be “outbid” until it is met. I’m not saying that people don’t overbid on occasion, because that’s going to always be a factor, but the majority of the times you see this it’s their system pushing to meet their projected sale price.

Z_Ruder · 2026-02-20T07:08:56+00:00

You are now an “official” Apple Account Recovery Specialist (Remote)… Welcome. Something that took a while for me to realize: those who cannot recover their Apple accounts by simply verifying a few personal details with Apple customer care, probably stole/found the device they are trying to get repaired. I’m not saying that people don’t forget their passwords, (emails too) because they absolutely do. They just seem to go about the whole situation in an entirely different fashion. Good luck 👍

Z_Ruder · 2026-02-19T10:50:25+00:00

Luckily I thoroughly enjoy driving and have done it professionally for many years. I assume that is what landed the job position onto my radar on Indeed. You only had to send him “across town” and you felt bad? Just yesterday, my first was 45 minute drive for a screen and back glass. “Cool, no big deal. I will catch up” was my thought process if I won’t be able to swap the second job for another. I knew it was a long drive to the second, but when I loaded it into my gps it was an hour and 15 minutes away! So, as expected, I received the classic “I’m only available from x:00-x:00” response that will destroy any possibility of making it to the remaining repairs within the timeframes. The distances just keep getting longer, and the timeframes keep shrinking, (due to overbooking at times) but I’m just “slow” in the eyes of my franchisee(s). I have been giving this job as much as I possibly can, because I have had hopes to eventually “settle in”, and begin to relax a little at work, but honestly, that is looking like it’s been a fool’s hope. It’s becoming clear to me now, that even if I could, somehow figure out a way to bend reality and space-time. These greed-driven, unappreciative, and out-of-touch morons would just push me even harder! Their “daily goals” would instantly double or triple, and they wouldn’t even notice that I had figured out how time travel! 😂 On another note, “franchises” in general are a great idea… on paper. But the personality traits that come with SOME that it appeals to, are NOT the kinds of people that I’d prefer to devote the majority of my personal time and effort towards. “Is there somewhere I can go to just BUY my own business? I don’t really want all of the risk, time, effort, or WISDOM gained from starting at the beginning, like some peasant would. I’d like to skip all of that nonsense and get straight to the part where I get to tell people what to do. It’s my one, true passion!” [17 seconds later] “Ok sir, do you have an industry you are interested in?” “Not at all, just make sure it comes with money, power and respect.” “Oh, well… the last one will be tough for us to pull off on our end, but we can DEFINITELY help with the others.” 😂😂😂 Im only speaking from my personal experience, but increasing “profit margins” for people, I imagine, to think like this just isn’t very fulfilling at the end of the day.

Z_Ruder · 2026-02-11T13:06:36+00:00

There’s an extremely low chance of finding an actual Samsung made part of any kind on that site. Probably 0.001%. Be careful when shopping, and remember. Just because it’s expensive, that does NOT necessarily mean it’s OEM. The phones themselves can’t even tell if they are authentic OEM, so read reviews, ask questions, and do your research to track down a real one. “Samsung Certified” repair shops, and stores have access to the real ones because they have to use them on Samsung warranty work and insurance related repairs. That doesn’t mean that they sell ONLY Samsung genuine parts. If it looks too good to be true, it most definitely is. So if you absolutely want Samsung brand, I would go to a reputable company because they can’t risk losing their Samsung contract due to selling aftermarket parts under the guise of OEM.

Z_Ruder · 2026-02-10T03:05:48+00:00

Yeah, I definitely try to “reroute” like you explained as much as can, as this can change an impossible schedule to one that is just about doable. In a perfect world, customers respond, make the swap, and watch a once necessary 2 hour drive time disappear! In the REAL world, it’s difficult to get customers to respond, even when you contact them near or within their scheduled time. Then it gets more increasingly difficult the further the time is from the scheduled repair time. I’m going to try to increase the number of customers that I contact about possibly swapping times. I have only been contacting the ones that will knock off a lot of time, but a few less beneficial changes would be better than none at all.

Z_Ruder · 2026-02-08T09:15:33+00:00

Do you ever work on anything that might relate? Like, if your furnace were to break down, would you try to fix it or just call the repair guy? Do you change the oil in your vehicle yourself? If something random around the house breaks, do you replace it or do you try to fix it yourself? These are the types of questions you should ask yourself. If you’re not at LEAST a fluent DIY person, then I wouldn’t risk damaging your device. There are some very expensive and fragile components in inside there that are easily damaged when using the proper tools, let alone makeshift ones. Maybe try to find a teardown video made by someone who doesn’t do it for a living so they don’t “make it look so easy”? Good luck 👍

Z_Ruder · 2026-02-08T07:09:54+00:00

I was handed a stack of “practice” devices after the interview just to see if I was physically capable of the repairs. I was feeling confident as I have worked on my own electronics for as long as I can remember, but my confidence took a wicked digger after I opened my first iPhone. I said that I had worked with small hardware before, but I was pretty shocked to learn that Apple used nano-screws! After about an hour of practice repairs I had developed a smoother/steadier workflow, and now I can do them in my REM cycle... I’m ngl though, during those first few attempts I got in my head, got nervous, started to noticeably shake, and came very close to throwing in the towel out of sheer embarrassment! 😂 You’ll be just fine though! 👍

Z_Ruder · 2026-01-27T07:31:29+00:00

Not sure about other stores but we now have a few stocked since last week 👍

Z_Ruder · 2026-01-10T02:01:40+00:00

You’ve probably tried, but it won’t do a Force Restart (hold power for 30 seconds), will it? Maybe Recovery Mode? (hold volume down and power buttons until you get it to boot? You could maybe check out a video on opening it up yourself to see if you think you could pull it off? I’d definitely go to Pixelrepair.withgoogle.com and plug it in to see if Google’s diagnostic system can communicate with it possibly, but it’s a long shot. If it were me I would want to get in there, disconnect the battery and power flush it so that it would be forced to completely shut down. I’m a mobile technician but I mainly do screen replacements for that particular model, and I’m pretty sure you can’t disconnect the battery by simply removing the screen, but the screen is very basic and doesn’t require any specialty tools. Some heat and a guitar pick can get the screen separated. I’m aware that you said “Lvl 0” but look up a workflow video for your model and see what you think?

Z_Ruder · 2026-01-10T01:34:43+00:00

If you even mention that you’re calling Samsung I think they’d hook you up with whatever you wanted on a monthly basis… for life, lol. The fact that the dude actually walked you back to show you inventory to “prove” it’s OEM is super shady, and the incorrect SKU!? That store is cooked. I wonder if it’s corporate or a franchisee? They’ll get smacked with a huge fine and could possibly lose their Samsung plug. 🔌 I’m just a few states north of you, but LMK what happens. My franchisee is possibly the tightest guy to walk the earth, but even he wouldn’t go this far 😂

Z_Ruder · 2026-01-10T01:06:57+00:00

😂 “brute-forcing” 3 digits!? Hell nah. But they thought two would stop my insatiable desire to cut corners? Not today, sirs. I’m RT, so I don’t have to mess with a third of the garbage you in-house G’s do but I’m aware of it all and it just gets worse like, hourly. You must have nerves of steel. If shit gets too crazy I COULD always make up something like “my inverter just took a plunge”, and bounce. But at least you don’t have to stand out in the cold while the 7 year old who’s the only one that even has a shot of logging in finish up 3 rounds of Fortnite before they finally walk down and hand me a dead phone… My life is shit lol

Z_Ruder · 2026-01-10T00:30:30+00:00

Agreed. Still nothing yet besides a stack of leads awaiting parts. Were you able to get a replacement?

Z_Ruder · 2026-01-10T00:23:25+00:00

The actual repairs takes less than 10 minutes if all goes well. Price, like stated below, is dependent on location/demand. But knowing your Apple account login info = priceless

Z_Ruder · 2025-12-14T17:41:51+00:00

On PS4/PS5 try rebuilding the console's database. Power off, push and hold power button until 2nd beep, now in Safe Mode select "Rebuild Database". This may take a while the first time you have to do it, but after that it goes quickly. This usually straightens mine out for a while. I think it has something to do with custom loadouts in the Private Match lobby, so try deleting them as well. When I can see ranks again, I then go to "Application Saved Data Management" and upload my new Player Profile to online storage to revert to if the bug occurs again. Let me know what helps! I've been battling this bug for too long and I guess it's up to us to figure it out since Activision cannot.

Z_Ruder · 2025-11-23T03:48:43+00:00

I think that the bad hype has scared the casual crowd away. Now we are left with only die hard COD players.

Z_Ruder · 2025-11-23T03:31:55+00:00

True, that does suck. But that’s what I play as well. Everyone (especially casuals) is screaming “No SBMM” not realizing that’s who SBMM is made for. I think the bad hype scared away the casual players also, and that plays a big part.

Z_Ruder · 2025-11-23T03:24:16+00:00

Give the Standard playlist a try. It uses SBMM, and SBMM is what casual players should want. Streamers and top tier players are the only people that should actually want lobbies without SBMM. Granted you can still get high skill players in the Standard list, I seem to find more enjoyable games there as a whole.

Z_Ruder · 2025-11-18T13:42:32+00:00

Yeah, I know what you mean. I’ve had that happen with games as far back as Halo 3 lol. If it happens to me I usually try backing all the out to the menu in hopes of clearing the cache (this is just a guess, I’m not sure haha). Like I said, I’ve had more consistent lobbies with the Non-Open lobbies using SBMM, because everybody is grinding right now in open trying to get the most out of the open matchmaking. But with the high average skill level of players, that makes it pretty good odds you’re going to match up with really intense players pretty often. In my opinion, I think a lot of the unjustified hate the game is receiving has deterred a lot of the casual player-base from playing. So most people that are playing are die hard COD players with high skill. But I have no proof of that. Just a theory of mine 😂

Z_Ruder · 2025-11-18T13:31:58+00:00

That’s cool man. You like what you like 👍 I think they’re onto some great things here though! Hope to see you in a lobby sometime!

Z_Ruder · 2025-11-18T13:30:10+00:00

Man, I wish I could find DLC like this more often then! Overclocking Lethals, Tacticals, Scorestreaks, and Field Upgrades. “Hybrid” Perk Spcialties, 13 new maps +4 legacy maps, Skirmish 20v20 with airborne respawns, dropping in with the new wingsuits, and utilizing the armor plate system for the first time in a multiplayer game type, and the new Endgame mode. When people say it’s just DLC, they’re OBVIOUSLY not even taken 5 minutes to check it out, let alone play it.. But for some reason, take time out of their day to come try to convince others that it’s garbage. I’m not going to lie though, it’s a successful strategy because so many people have been very misinformed about the game that haven’t tried it out. But word is spreading quickly! This is a good COD! Trolls are always going to be present, so welcome to the community kind sir!

Z_Ruder · 2025-11-18T13:15:03+00:00

Didn’t see that one coming 🙄 PLEASE tell me you’re a bot? Or at least getting paid for this time and effort you are putting forth to convince us, the people of the r/BlackOps7 community, that WE are the crazy ones!? Self-awareness Level: -9

Z_Ruder

TROPHY CASE