Apple not requiring failed iPhone battery diagnostic test before $29 replacement
Apple stores are reportedly offering their discounted battery replacements to any iPhone owner willing to pay the fee regardless of whether or not an old battery passes testing, and some users are reporting partial refunds on earlier battery exchanges -- but this is not a universal policy.
The company has issued instructions to store staff on the matter, French site iGeneration noted on Tuesday. Apple launched $29 replacements last week, a month ahead of schedule.
Out-of-warranty replacements normally cost $79, but public outcry -- including a flurry of lawsuits -- followed its admission that it throttles iPhones with weak batteries, nominally to prevent sudden shutdowns that could damage electronics. Lawsuits have charged that intentionally or not, this prompts people to buy newer iPhones.
iGeneration added that Apple is also offering refunds to people who recently paid full price. AppleInsider, however, has confirmed that the refunds don't represent a universal policy, and are at present handled on a case-by-case basis.
Apple is only selling $29 swaps to people with an iPhone 6 or better, and only through Dec. 2018. Owners of older hardware will probably have to turn to third parties.
The company has issued instructions to store staff on the matter, French site iGeneration noted on Tuesday. Apple launched $29 replacements last week, a month ahead of schedule.
Out-of-warranty replacements normally cost $79, but public outcry -- including a flurry of lawsuits -- followed its admission that it throttles iPhones with weak batteries, nominally to prevent sudden shutdowns that could damage electronics. Lawsuits have charged that intentionally or not, this prompts people to buy newer iPhones.
iGeneration added that Apple is also offering refunds to people who recently paid full price. AppleInsider, however, has confirmed that the refunds don't represent a universal policy, and are at present handled on a case-by-case basis.
Apple is only selling $29 swaps to people with an iPhone 6 or better, and only through Dec. 2018. Owners of older hardware will probably have to turn to third parties.
Comments
I'm also hoping Apple speced a better battery in the iPhone 8 and X as well as worked on their chipset power draw requirements in designing the A11 Bionic. No way Apple engineers think it is acceptable to throttle a phone that is just over a year old; that was a stopgap measure to cover for a design flaw in the 6, 6S, and 7.
Actually, the oppose is surely true, Apple introduced this new resource management system to prevent phones from suddenly shutting down. Now if someone has a phone that randomly shuts down they are surely highly likely to buy a new phone.
So if Apple wanted users to replace their phones as early as possible they would have done nothing. Phones that seemingly randomly shut down in the middle of whatever you are doing are useless.
Apple introduced a system that resurrects these phones and makes them usable. A great many people that would have got a new phone when faced with shutdowns were able to keep it for longer. A much smaller number of people would have been able to detect the slowdown and upgraded as a result, many of these people would have upgraded anyway if they faced the shutdown problem.
So the lawsuits hang on hypothetical arguments about what people would or would not have done in an alternate reality.
Never-the-less it is absurd that Apple faces lawsuits for essentially fixing phones that are “broken” due to spent resources. What Apple did was keep these devices working for longer - This is the opposite to the “planned obsolescence” accusations in France.
OMG this is not a friggin' design flaw. Will you people STOP spreading this misinformation! Learn about batteries before you post stupid shit like this. Please!
If Apple designed these older phones in such a way that the CPU demand overwhelms a 1-2 year-old battery, that seems like a design defect to me.
I can read it now in my mind. iOS 11.2.2 is released and the swarm says their iPhones are even slower now because Apple did it gain!
can I still go to apple store and replace it for 29$!?
Youre misunderstanding, they aren't throttling peak power draws on the 7 now, they're just added it to the list of models that can potentially throttle peak power draw when the battery eventually becomes used up. Unless you're performing like double or triple full charging cycles a day on your 7, you can't be there yet.
Here is an excerpt from a log I kept on my iPhone 6S regarding battery shutdowns just over a year ago;
Dec 2nd @8am
Went from 51%->shut off
Plug in charger, screen displayed empty battery, Apple Symbol and password screen. Entered password and battery now shows 50%
Start of iOS 10.2 upgrade 27% and plugged in
End of iOS 10.2 upgrade 6% and still plugged in!
Battery meter now on 12% in time taken to write this!
Dropped to 5% in 5 minutes while in pocket not being used!
Wed 14th
Low battery warning - 5 mins later down to 14% with no activity
Fri 22nd
Battery showing 38% when screen went black and phone switched off. Plugged in, phone rebooted and was showing 37% straight away
Friday 29th
Battery showing 36% when screen went blank and phone switched off. Plugged in but after 5-10 minutes the screen was still black. Plugged & replugged the cable and phone rebooted and was showing 62% straight away
Tue 3rd
Battery showing 10% when screen went blank and phone switched off. Plugged in but after 1hr screen was still black and phone hadn't turned on despite pressing home & side buttons. Unplugged Lightning cable and plugged back in. Phone rebooted and now showing 64%
Sun 22nd
Battery showing 35% when screen went blank and phone switched off. Plugged in, phone rebooted and was showing 34% straight away
After being on charge for 30 mins still showing 34%
Thurs 2nd Feb
Took phone off charge this morning at 99% after being on charge all night. Within minutes it was down to 93%. Rebooted phone and noticed it dropping down from 85, 84, 83, 82 in just seconds!
etc. etc.
Then at some point this year after suffering for months I haven't had a single shutdown.
Rubbish battery life yes (can be flat by lunchtime) but no shutdown which would indicate to me there has been a software change as batteries don't suddenly get better overnight! Not that lasting only half a day can by any stretch of the imagination be considered getting better but at least it doesn’t shut down suddenly any more.
This iPhone 6S was on the original serial number list for the FOC battery replacement long before this latest battery fiasco came about. I finally took it to the Apple Store this morning and long story short when I went back to collect it they had refused to replace the battery because the liquid ID tags inside the phone were red which indicated moisture/liquid ingress so they wriggled out of their responsibility there.
I would gladly have paid the £25 to get the battery replaced while it was open on the bench despite the promised FOC warranty replacement but that wasn't even an option apparently.
And to add insult to injury when they emailed me the zero cost receipt it stated Customer Declined Repair!