If you're such a big fan of unnecessary electrical waste, I assume it's OK if I dumb a few tons of heavy elements in your back yard?

Repairability is not just about an individual saving a few dozen bucks here and there, but also about environmentalism. The more repairable common electronics are, the longer they stay in use by someone, somewhere, the less waste generated from buying new devices that are just marginal upgrades from the previous.

Demonstrably false. 2017 phones are not significantly different on the inside than 2012 phones,and lots of 2012 phones are extremely easy to repair with inexpensive parts you can order om eBay. I just recently repaired a nexus 5 with a busted USB port, worn out battery shattered camera glass and very ugly back cover for just 25 bucks. The difficulty of repair in phones is mainly because certain manufacturers insist on using pretty materials instead of durable materials. When a phone isn't even waterproof, there is no good reason to make them difficult to open, other than to make them difficult to repair so that they can sell you a brand new phone instead of you replacing a 5 dollar USB port.