iFixit matches Apple's $29 battery swap cost, covers pre-iPhone 6 devices

AppleInsider

Looking to equal or beat Apple in the aftermath of its iPhone battery apology, iFixit has dropped the price of its do-it-yourself battery swap kits to $29 or less. More significantly this includes kits for the iPhone 4S, 5, 5s, and 5c, which are excluded from Apple's discounted battery replacements.

Each iFixit kit includes a battery with a one-year warranty, and all the necessary tools, such as a driver, steel bits, and tweezers. Prices range from $29 for the iPhone 7/7 Plus down to $16.99 for the iPhone 4S.

On Thursday, Apple issued an apology for its recently-revealed practice of throttling older iPhones with degraded batteries. From January hrough Dec. 2018 the company is dropping the price of out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29, but only for people with an iPhone 6 or later.

It's also planning an iOS update for early 2018, which should let people check whether the state of their battery is triggering low performance.

Apple is facing 15 lawsuits in the U.S. and abroad over its throttling practices, as well as a government probe in South Korea. A common claim in the lawsuits is that whether or not it was intentional on Apple's part, the slowdowns prompted people to buy newer iPhones.

The most serious legal case is being pursued in France, where planned obsolescence is not just unpopular but illegal. In theory some Apple executives could serve prison time, though penalty options also include fines.

mustseeuhdtv

Apple should really make $29 the permanent price for replacing the batteries.

davidalgregory

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. Of course, then millions would get off of the 2 year upgrade cycle. Finally, what about iPod Touch & iPads?

stuke

I concur with MustSeeUHDTV.  The designs we all loved came at that one very annoying aspect...no DIY battery maintenance.  The sad fact is now it has bitten Apple in the butt, and they have to do something to make the lifetime of their products survive post-warranty (AppleCare+ 2 year) periods.  Or, for some countries even longer.  Slowing down the device (and therefore the performance...noticeably or not to the consumer) so the battery is pampered has ignited in their face.  Consumers (with troves of lawyers) jumped all over this within hours of Apple's announcement last week.  Those lawsuits will continue building.  This will put AntennaGate to shame in magnitude.

ericthehalfbee

Why would I order a kit for $29 from iFixit (and then do the work myself and risk damaging my device) when I can have an Apple authorized technician do the repair for me for the same price?

ericthehalfbee

stuke said:

I concur with MustSeeUHDTV.  The designs we all loved came at that one very annoying aspect...no DIY battery maintenance.  The sad fact is now it has bitten Apple in the butt, and they have to do something to make the lifetime of their products survive post-warranty (AppleCare+ 2 year) periods.  Or, for some countries even longer.  Slowing down the device (and therefore the performance...noticeably or not to the consumer) so the battery is pampered has ignited in their face.  Consumers (with troves of lawyers) jumped all over this within hours of Apple's announcement last week.  Those lawsuits will continue building.  This will put AntennaGate to shame in magnitude.

Everything you just said is complete garbage.

axcess99

@Ericthehalfbee, 1) no apple store/technicial at a reasonable distance 2) I think ifixit covers more models than apple does for older phones.

riverko

DavidAlGregory said:

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. Of course, then millions would get off of the 2 year upgrade cycle. Finally, what about iPod Touch & iPads?

Well, first thing is the quality of every phone with swapable batteries - almost none were easy to open and than of course the build quality was not that high. Second is the potential risk...
And I don’t know, but I always use iPhone for 4 years - no need to replace until it loses support for the latest iOS update - unless of course it is more social status...

axcess99

DavidAlGregory said:

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. Of course, then millions would get off of the 2 year upgrade cycle. Finally, what about iPod Touch & iPads?

So how much bigger+heavier would you make the phone to accommodate that compartment? Would you still make the compartment and the battery waterproof? Or how much less of an all day battery are you going to use? Maybe you just would always carry two batteries or be ok with running out of juice some days (running out would result the same behavior that the throttling mitigates, just for the whole life of the phone instead of the tail). This is a game of g, mm, and mAh; You have to give up something. Don't leave out all the negative tradeoffs when suggesting this sort of thing.

esummers

DavidAlGregory said:

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. Of course, then millions would get off of the 2 year upgrade cycle. Finally, what about iPod Touch & iPads?

There is a reason nobody does that anymore.  A battery compartment makes the phone bulky and less durable.  Why have a replaceable battery if your phone bends before you need a new one.  Older phones mainly allowed swaps to increase runtime, not for easy repairs. Making the phone sealed also allows it to be waterproof.

edited December 2017

soli

MustSeeUHDTV said:

Apple should really make $29 the permanent price for replacing the batteries.

Why? Can you explain how it benefits Apple to, say, have a 10 year old iPhone (or a 6 year old iPad, 17 year old iPod or a 26 year old Powerbook) that gets a battery replacement for $29? Do you know who would end up paying for this massive loss leader that would allow for a $29 permanent price for replacing batteries?" The customer pays for it through higher costs of new devices to make up for the entitled assholes that think that the iPhone they bought in 2007 should still work the same today and any time in the future because they're cheap and selfish.

slurpy

The vast improvements to every aspect of Apple maps since it launched has been stunning.

DavidAlGregory said:

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. Of course, then millions would get off of the 2 year upgrade cycle. Finally, what about iPod Touch & iPads?

Yep, the absolute failure of the iPhone has clearly proven that people believe swapping batteries is a priority. /s It's fucking hilarious how people on forums smugly state that Apple "should" have done, as if the iPhone isn't the most massive consumer electronic success of the past few decades. Let's forget that the iPhone is the most successful smart phone on the planet (and has been with every single iteration) because of this hilariously overblown and dishonestly reported "scandal".

strangedays

MustSeeUHDTV said:

Apple should really make $29 the permanent price for replacing the batteries.

How much do you attribute to the cost of the battery, profit on the battery, and the cost and profit on the labor? 

strangedays

DavidAlGregory said:

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. 

Oh jesus, just get yourself a knockoff device and be done with it. Tho even the knockoffs are using integrated shell designs because it makes for less crappy devices.

Batteries are serviceable. You can readily do it yourself, or if you dont like using tools hire a shop to. Just like your car. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Stop whining.

strangedays

stuke said:

I concur with MustSeeUHDTV.  The designs we all loved came at that one very annoying aspect...no DIY battery maintenance.  The sad fact is now it has bitten Apple in the butt, and they have to do something to make the lifetime of their products survive post-warranty (AppleCare+ 2 year) periods.  Or, for some countries even longer.  Slowing down the device (and therefore the performance...noticeably or not to the consumer) so the battery is pampered has ignited in their face.  Consumers (with troves of lawyers) jumped all over this within hours of Apple's announcement last week.  Those lawsuits will continue building.  This will put AntennaGate to shame in magnitude.

Nonsense. The batteries are very much a DIY service if thats your thing. As are oil changes, and changing a tire.

indiekiduk

If they knew the thin battery in the 6/6s had a design flaw why did they not make the 7 or 8 thicker? Is it because Apple is too obsessed with making the devices thin?

strangedays

slurpy said:

The vast improvements to every aspect of Apple maps since it launched has been stunning.

DavidAlGregory said:

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. Of course, then millions would get off of the 2 year upgrade cycle. Finally, what about iPod Touch & iPads?

Yep, the absolute failure of the iPhone has clearly proven that people believe swapping batteries is a priority. /s It's fucking hilarious how people on forums smugly state that Apple "should" have done, as if the iPhone isn't the most massive consumer electronic success of the past few decades. Let's forget that the iPhone is the most successful smart phone on the planet (and has been with every single iteration) because of this hilariously overblown and dishonestly reported "scandal".

More than that -- the iPhone is the most successful CE good of all time, and arguably the single most successful product of all time based on revenue, profit, corp growth, etc.

strangedays

indiekiduk said:

If they knew the thin battery in the 6/6s had a design flaw why did they not make the 7 or 8 thicker? Is it because Apple is too obsessed with making the devices thin?

What design flaw? Batteries aging and using up their chemistry is not a design flaw. It's what we call "physics". 

Does your car have a design flaw because you'll eventually have to replace its battery as well in order to maintain peak power draw?

indiekiduk

StrangeDays said:

indiekiduk said:

If they knew the thin battery in the 6/6s had a design flaw why did they not make the 7 or 8 thicker? Is it because Apple is too obsessed with making the devices thin?

What design flaw? Batteries aging and using up their chemistry is not a design flaw. It's what we call "physics". 

Does your car have a design flaw because you'll eventually have to replace its battery as well in order to maintain peak power draw?

Its a design flaw because no iphone had unexpected shutdowns until the thinner 6 on iOS 10.2 where the new software went beyond the limits of the design

edited December 2017

seanismorris

StrangeDays said:

DavidAlGregory said:

Had Apple designed the iPhone with a battery compartment where owners could swap batteries without special tools this could have been avoided. 

Oh jesus, just get yourself a knockoff device and be done with it. Tho even the knockoffs are using integrated shell designs because it makes for less crappy devices.

Batteries are serviceable. You can readily do it yourself, or if you dont like using tools hire a shop to. Just like your car. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Stop whining.

Technically yes batteries are serviceable, but it is a pain in the ass.  I recommend taking it to Apple (I do).  My sister takes it to Ifixit and sometimes they get it back with something else not working (like the camera).

For anyone with a phone older than the 6/6s (and can’t get OS updates) they need a new phone not a new battery.

If had a IPhone 4 (for example) I disable Bluetooth & WiFi and just use it as a phone...

soli

indiekiduk said:

If they knew the thin battery in the 6/6s had a design flaw why did they not make the 7 or 8 thicker? Is it because Apple is too obsessed with making the devices thin?

1) I have no idea what you mean by thin batteries having a design flaw that a thick battery doesn't but I can say you absolutely don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

2) If you actually paid attention you'd notice that Apple has increased the thickness of their devices many, many times in recent years, which obliterates all your "obsessed about thinness" bullshit.