Apple bringing in more labor to cope with surge of iPhone battery replacements
In the wake of Apple dropping the price of out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements to $29, demand has become so high that the company is stretching its retail resources to cope -- possibly even hiring outside contractors.
"Additional Apple employees are sometimes sent to high-volume stores, or allotted labor hours per-store are increased, to help with a surge of battery replacements," Apple sources not authorized to speak on behalf of the company told AppleInsider regarding reports that Apple needed help to deal with the volume of battery replacements.
Stores local to AppleInsider staffers aren't using any third-party contractors to perform the replacements.
In December, Apple was forced to admit that it changed iOS to throttle iPhones with weak batteries, officially for the sake of preventing sudden shutdowns. This generated significant backlash, including a barrage of lawsuits and investigations by the governments of Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, South Korea, and the U.S..
Simultaneously, Apple has reduced the cost of battery replacements through the end of 2018, and released iOS 11.3. The operating system upgrade includes battery monitoring functions -- among them the ability to disable throttling except in extreme circumstances.
AppleInsider's sources may conflict with ones for 9to5Mac, who claim that Apple is using a mix of its own workers plus third-party contractors to handle the overflow of replacement requests. The latter are reportedly receiving training, but still causing "growing pains" in some shops.
By late February wait times were averaging 3 to 4.5 weeks. The average wait for devices that need to be checked in is still over a week according to queries made by AppleInsider, with owners of the iPhone 6 Plus having to bear the longest waits.
"Additional Apple employees are sometimes sent to high-volume stores, or allotted labor hours per-store are increased, to help with a surge of battery replacements," Apple sources not authorized to speak on behalf of the company told AppleInsider regarding reports that Apple needed help to deal with the volume of battery replacements.
Stores local to AppleInsider staffers aren't using any third-party contractors to perform the replacements.
In December, Apple was forced to admit that it changed iOS to throttle iPhones with weak batteries, officially for the sake of preventing sudden shutdowns. This generated significant backlash, including a barrage of lawsuits and investigations by the governments of Brazil, Canada, France, Italy, South Korea, and the U.S..
Simultaneously, Apple has reduced the cost of battery replacements through the end of 2018, and released iOS 11.3. The operating system upgrade includes battery monitoring functions -- among them the ability to disable throttling except in extreme circumstances.
AppleInsider's sources may conflict with ones for 9to5Mac, who claim that Apple is using a mix of its own workers plus third-party contractors to handle the overflow of replacement requests. The latter are reportedly receiving training, but still causing "growing pains" in some shops.
By late February wait times were averaging 3 to 4.5 weeks. The average wait for devices that need to be checked in is still over a week according to queries made by AppleInsider, with owners of the iPhone 6 Plus having to bear the longest waits.
Comments
At the two closest Apple Stores to me I’ve heard they have assigned extra hours for battery repairs (in one store) and pulled staff from other areas of the store to assist with batteries (former Geniuses moving back to the GR on a temporary basis). I haven’t heard of any non-Apple help being brought in.
If your tires are rated for 40,000 miles, you have put 30,000 on them, it would make sense to replace them if the price was discounted by 60%. You get full tread and would get another 40,000 miles. Same logic holds true for this battery deal. And it is a deal.
(FYI I have an SE with a 90% battery and my wife has a 6 with an 80% battery. Both are running just fine.)
Yay! Apple is creating jobs in 'Merica!!
/s
My iPhone 6s (bought in Hong Kong) was shutting down expectedly last year after two years and I replaced the battery of my iPhone 6S for free under an Apple program for iPhone bought in China. My wife did the same for her 6S. The battery replacements rejuvenated the 6S’s and I am continuing to use mine when I travel overseas and her 6S is still my wife’s only cell phone. I bought an iPhone 8 for U.S. use and am very happy with its rapid battery charging, better camera, and higher speed. While the X is a better smartphone with its OLED screen and Face ID,
Actually a battery that has less than 80% is according to Apple's diagnostics, consumed. What that means is the device could power off unexpectedly if there is a large draw on it. This was the issue they tried to prevent by having the OS slow down the processor in order to prevent it from powering off. It's too bad that they're so secretive that they didn't spend the time to educate the consumer on how your device uses its battery and educate the consumer that updating the OS is a one way street. There is no going back after Apple stops signing the older OS.
I've heard of stories where customers tell the technicians that they don't use their phone that much when in reality the device is always working to connect to the network and check email, use location services, have wifi and Bluetooth on, have brightness turned up, set it to never lock the display, etc.
The other issue is until you erase your device and set it up as new and not use your backup, you won't be sure if you're problem is corrupt software that is causing slowness and freezing.