Programmed obsolescence / planned obsolescence / perceived obsolescence are the methods by which Apple wants you to buy a new phone, mostly software based.
Seriously? What are the other causes then?
You can search the forum. Check the Help sections to see what problems/breakages there are.
Of course if you mean physical damage, but thatās the point, most is not physcial damage by dropping, unless that was in the bath or a swiiming pool 
Drop test according to MIL810G test standard
Fairphone 4 - Sustainable. Long-lasting. Fair. | Fairphone
Oh, I thought we were talking about phones in general. My bad.
Hmmā¦ I think weāre missing a point there. Of course, we should try to take care. But you are never sure you wonāt have a defective component at some point, e.g the plug which may die with the age (this happens to all phones). I know someone who abandoned his phone after 3 years because his speaker died for an unknown reasonā¦ and he couldnāt repair it because it would have cost more than half of the price of the phone, probably to replace a daughterboard in a specialised repair shop. Most of the time, you donāt need a repair, and you might never have needed oneā¦ yet. Also, iPhones are very good quality, so they may be defective or have problems less often. Nevertheless, it does happen and when it happens to you and you canāt repair your phoneā¦ youāre stuck.
This is personal preference. Itās high quality but completely closed source, no modifications such as custom ROMs allowed, and Iād hate thatā¦
Edit: typo
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So what, just hop over to the shop (Murena) where you can buy itā¦
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Iām also very careful with my stuff. But there is no guarantee that things wonāt get damaged or wears out. I probably wonāt replace any part of my FP. But that doesnāt mean a company should make it hard to repair it. We should be able to use our devices as long as possible. Our phones are made of rare resources, so if you would like to continue have a nice life and a phone, we need longer software support and repairability.
All custom ROMs are by the way Android based. Post market OS is an exception, if itās available. iOS or Android. Both have stolen many designs and features, theyāre basically the same these days. I prefer Android, mostly because of the open source nature. Which is in decline unfortunately.
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I think this is also a very important point.
Some iPhones from users who take care and are lucky have a long lifetime. Nevertheless, for the users who have problems, Apple makes it hard to repair it. This, together with Appleās aggressive marketing to buy the latest phone, makes the average sink. This is what counts. Fairphoneās estimated average according to a third party is 5,5 years (source: latest impact report of FP), unfortunately I donāt think such a figure exists for Appleā¦
Some iPhones last very long yes, but some are changed for a newer model after two years and a month because the repair is about as expensive as a new phone.
If Apple made it really easier for phones to be repaired (not their greenwashing self repair kit), some would probably reach 10 or 12 years.
And UBports, and Sailfish (though SF has closed source components) 
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And thereās a bunch of other Linux-based ones like Mobian & Manjaro. They almost invariably rely on some closed source because of the widespread practice in phones to have kernel drivers be supplied as just closed binary blobs. This is also an aspect that has a significant impact on the longevity, thereās device drivers in the Linux mainline kernel that have been there for decades, offering support long after any proprietary driver support from the vendor has ceased. Unfortunately Fairphone is limited in how much it can do about this and also at a worse position than Apple & Google when it comes to it.
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Iād like to protect Ć”nd have a phone thatās easily repairableā¦ but it seems there is no (official) waterproof case for the Fairphone (yet). There are several for the iPhone.
Somewhere else on this forum, someone said that Fairphone targets a niche market. Which market is this? People who care about resource use? People who care about fair trade? People who want to really own their phone?
I mean, I like fairphone and all and I might eventually someday buy one, but how do I āsellā it to people who arenāt into all that?
I also still wonder how long it will take before the market dries up.
Thatās the basic of the business, resource use is more a flag.
Donāt sell it to otherās. The repairabilty is available in other phones. The only difference is the Fair trade in mineral extraction and production line wages.
People who care about those issues do not need it to be sold to them they will want it as soon as they are aware, given a few extra pennies to spend.
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So, if Apple suddenly decides to change their mineral extraction and/or supply chain and/or production line and would make modular iPhones with easy to repair phones, they could become a competitor to the Fairphone?
Yeah, I know it sounds ridiculous. The board of Apple and itās shareholders will probably not accept such major changes, because it would hurt their profitability. After all, Apple isnāt a B Corporation.
They would, but some odd freaks like me donāt buy Apple products and if there is a choice Iād still choose Fairphone.
Is there something like another fair company comparable to Fairphone that makes fair desktop computers?
As far as I know you can get a lot of open source software on those devices, but I rarely read something about a computer with fair minerals and such.
But maybe thatās a bit offtopic.
No.
Thereās a ācousinā company that makes Fairtrade focused charging cables
and a company that makes modular laptops
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If you are ok with something with a bit less computing power (tablet), then you might want to check out this:
I suggest you to watch related youtube videos.
I suppose thereās another niche manufacturer that offers similar repairability but in general I donāt really think that is true. Sure, some mainstream phones can be repaired but often not really at reasonable prices or with reasonable effort.
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Repair costs usually have to do with taxes on incomes of the people that repair the phones. If those state policies change, repairing a phone will become cheaper.
Thatās a very odd view. All money is effectively a tax, a way of people communally using a counting system.
Some states, maybe China and India, have lower wages and so can repair the Westās items cheaper, despite the extra carriage costs.
So which people are you referring to that could do with less taxes to support your idea?
And do you consider you are paying ātoo muchā for repairs ?