Apple running low on iPhone 6 Plus batteries, postponing some swaps until March

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2018
People wanting to swap out the battery on an iPhone 6 Plus may in some cases have to wait until March or later, owing to a shortage of replacement units.




Delays are only impacting stores that have already run out of iPhone 6 Plus batteries, according to sources and data obtained by AppleInsider. But, many locations polled by AppleInsider still have batteries for the iPhone 6 Plus in stock.

We were told in the course of our investigation of the reports, that in cases where customers are being told to wait a few days, the issue is likely only a heavy workload. Anything longer may be a sign that a shop has run out of a particular model of battery.

Apple has seen intense demand following its introduction of $29 out-of-warranty battery swaps. The deal is a temporary one, expiring at the end of December, intended to appease the public following the company's admission that it slows down iPhones with weak batteries. Nominally this is to protect against sudden shutdowns, but the company is facing dozens of lawsuits for not warning owners, failing to give them a choice, and/or nudging them into buying new iPhones, whether intentionally or not.

Apple stores have been hit by battery fires twice this week, presumably because of the influx of service requests combined with the risks of lithium-ion batteries.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    JWSCJWSC Posts: 1,203member
    Apple Store in Tucson is out.  Looks like I’ll be waiting a while.   :/
  • Reply 2 of 27
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    Who said March, did Apple say that or is this complete speculation. 

    If if they are installing batteries all day long there may be local shortages for sure, there is no source for this, even as a Timor , in the article. More click bait?
  • Reply 3 of 27
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    foggyhill said:
    Who said March, did Apple say that or is this complete speculation. 

    If if they are installing batteries all day long there may be local shortages for sure, there is no source for this, even as a Timor , in the article. More click bait?
    It isn't speculation. We have our own sources, we often get tipped, and we do our own research.

    Other venues have said other things about it, that we can't verify.
    edited January 2018 fastasleepGeorgeBMacmuthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 4 of 27
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    foggyhill said:
    Who said March, did Apple say that or is this complete speculation. 

    If if they are installing batteries all day long there may be local shortages for sure, there is no source for this, even as a Timor , in the article. More click bait?
    It isn't speculation. We have our own sources, we often get tipped, and we do our own research.
    Maybe mention it in passing , otherwise it is not really great journalism 

    Doesn’t Mean you have to name names.
    knowing if you got info first hand or second hand (or just reporting some unsourced Rumor). and maybe where approximatively that source is, is a minimum.

    say,

    talking to many anonymous sources at Apple stores
    or
    talking to anonymous Apple logistics employees in several us ports 
    or talking to Apple sources in Chinese ports
    or 
    according to sources at the factory building Apple 6 batteries

    the story takes a different connotation also depending on who you talk to

    i suppose that second hand info is always sourced precisely and clearly. I did not check. But often those stories have slight editorial spins which seem to depend on unsourced info (you know the source obviously, but we don’t like here). This is always good to add as corroboration (a bit like all the presidents men, except less dramatic and watergatey ;)
    edited January 2018
  • Reply 5 of 27
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Well, who would have expected that? Duh. Blind hysteria causing the lemmings to flock at the prospect of a near freebee. Already seeing cliams that the battery swap didn’t speed the phone back up. Evil, degenerate Apple!
    GeorgeBMacsmiffy31watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 6 of 27
    its actually quite amusing to see Apple apologists on AI use the word lemmings. ;)
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 7 of 27
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,801member
    Tim should have known this was gonna happen! If Steve were here this wouldn't have happened! /s
    GeorgeBMacwatto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 8 of 27
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    lkrupp said:
    Well, who would have expected that? Duh. Blind hysteria causing the lemmings to flock at the prospect of a near freebee. Already seeing cliams that the battery swap didn’t speed the phone back up. Evil, degenerate Apple!
    I'd normally be in your camp, but yesterday my business partner was complaining about the speed drop on this iP6S after upgrading to IOS11.  

    So check this out.  He has an iP6S, I have the iP6+ (year older).  We installed DasherCPUX in order to check the CPU speed.  His phone is approx 1.5yrs old, mine is 3+ years.  Original battery.

    His phone was running at half the rated speed while the battery showed 89%.  My iP6 with a 3-year-old battery was running at 100% CPU speed with 24% on the battery.  We were speechless.  

    We also installed another app (battery life) that checks the battery health.  My phone was at 89% useful life, and his was at 91%.  My phone battery can barely last 12 hours before it hits 1% life.  So I'm not sure what the heck is going on, but honestly Apple has some more explaining to do, or they need to really assess the algorithms being used to throttle phones.

    I originally gave Apple some slack because I do now that batteries are a finicky thing and understand why Apple is doing it.  On the flip side, with nothing else to explain it, by friend's phone is being throttled down to 1/2 its speed and there is no way to force it back to 100%.  

    So I told him to take it into an Apple store to check it out, and now articles like these about Apple having a battery supply problem is not helping.  So what to do?
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 9 of 27
    ivanhivanh Posts: 597member
    Good job Roger. It’s the first article I saw talking about the Battery-Throttling-Gate that involves iPhone 6 Plus.  

    While all friends of mine holding iPhone 6 Plus encounter severe throttling in UI (user interface) speed, only some of them found CPU frequency slowdown as shown in CPU DasherX app, and some of them encountered dropdown in benchmark as shown in Geekbench 4 app.  Most of the the iPhone 6 Plus have battery capacity as strong as over 90%, or even fully charged and still being connected to charging sources, but still slowed down! Restarting those iPhones 6 Plus didn’t help regaining UI speed. Only UI speed is throttled and it induces dis-satisfaction that urges my friends to “upgrade” to iPhone 8 Plus it iPhone X.

    While new versions of iOS and Xcode “optimise” for the latest iPhone models every year, it may also imply that new versions of iOS and Xcode may deoptimized for older iPhones and other iOS devices selectively.  Some processes can be run on Multi-Core instead of Single-Core, if Apple wants to “re-optimise” / “revitalise” older iPhone models.

    Besides, Apple should be responsible for providing security updates for iOS 10, iOS9 & iOS 8, though new features are for iOS 11 and later, if Apple really does not have any intention for “planned obsolescence “.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 10 of 27
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    its actually quite amusing to see Apple apologists on AI use the word lemmings. ;)
    Why not use the term when appropriate? We already know that Windows and Android users are the real lemmings of this word, blindly buying what most of the rest of the world does without thinking. Users who buy Apple actually made a choice. 
    magman1979watto_cobrajony0
  • Reply 11 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    foggyhill said:
    Who said March, did Apple say that or is this complete speculation. 

    If if they are installing batteries all day long there may be local shortages for sure, there is no source for this, even as a Timor , in the article. More click bait?
    It isn't speculation. We have our own sources, we often get tipped, and we do our own research.

    Other venues have said other things about it, that we can't verify.
    Thanks Mike...
    I notice that some attribute to Apple as well as AI the same values and integrity that other, lesser organizations adhere to.  It's a bad assumption.  I have seen nothing but the highest of values and integrity from both Apple and AI...

    Thank you AI for your great reporting!
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 12 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    macxpress said:
    Tim should have known this was gonna happen! If Steve were here this wouldn't have happened! /s
    Actually, I think you're correct.  I doubt that Steve would have provided nearly free batteries, nor would he have issued the implied apology carried by those battery replacements. 

    He would have simply said:  "We protected your phone from the worn out battery that you neglected to change.  Suck it up!"
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    sflocal said:
    lkrupp said:
    Well, who would have expected that? Duh. Blind hysteria causing the lemmings to flock at the prospect of a near freebee. Already seeing cliams that the battery swap didn’t speed the phone back up. Evil, degenerate Apple!
    I'd normally be in your camp, but yesterday my business partner was complaining about the speed drop on this iP6S after upgrading to IOS11.  

    So check this out.  He has an iP6S, I have the iP6+ (year older).  We installed DasherCPUX in order to check the CPU speed.  His phone is approx 1.5yrs old, mine is 3+ years.  Original battery.

    His phone was running at half the rated speed while the battery showed 89%.  My iP6 with a 3-year-old battery was running at 100% CPU speed with 24% on the battery.  We were speechless.  

    We also installed another app (battery life) that checks the battery health.  My phone was at 89% useful life, and his was at 91%.  My phone battery can barely last 12 hours before it hits 1% life.  So I'm not sure what the heck is going on, but honestly Apple has some more explaining to do, or they need to really assess the algorithms being used to throttle phones.

    I originally gave Apple some slack because I do now that batteries are a finicky thing and understand why Apple is doing it.  On the flip side, with nothing else to explain it, by friend's phone is being throttled down to 1/2 its speed and there is no way to force it back to 100%.  

    So I told him to take it into an Apple store to check it out, and now articles like these about Apple having a battery supply problem is not helping.  So what to do?
    What to do?
    Have your friend take it to an Apple store to be checked.  It's obviously not a battery issue and not part of the slowdown Apple initiated in order to protect phones from worn out batteries...

    No need for conspiracy theories...
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 27
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    ivanh said:
    Good job Roger. It’s the first article I saw talking about the Battery-Throttling-Gate that involves iPhone 6 Plus.  
    I told you last week, twice. We had an article last week that included it last week as well, before you asked.

    We also talked about the CPU not being at full speed all the time normally, and why.
    edited January 2018
  • Reply 15 of 27
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    ivanh said:
    Good job Roger. It’s the first article I saw talking about the Battery-Throttling-Gate that involves iPhone 6 Plus.  

    While all friends of mine holding iPhone 6 Plus encounter severe throttling in UI (user interface) speed, only some of them found CPU frequency slowdown as shown in CPU DasherX app, and some of them encountered dropdown in benchmark as shown in Geekbench 4 app.  Most of the the iPhone 6 Plus have battery capacity as strong as over 90%, or even fully charged and still being connected to charging sources, but still slowed down! Restarting those iPhones 6 Plus didn’t help regaining UI speed. Only UI speed is throttled and it induces dis-satisfaction that urges my friends to “upgrade” to iPhone 8 Plus it iPhone X.

    While new versions of iOS and Xcode “optimise” for the latest iPhone models every year, it may also imply that new versions of iOS and Xcode may deoptimized for older iPhones and other iOS devices selectively.  Some processes can be run on Multi-Core instead of Single-Core, if Apple wants to “re-optimise” / “revitalise” older iPhone models.

    Besides, Apple should be responsible for providing security updates for iOS 10, iOS9 & iOS 8, though new features are for iOS 11 and later, if Apple really does not have any intention for “planned obsolescence “.
    OK... Take your 3, 5, or 7 year old PC back to where you bought it and tell them you think it should run the latest software just like their newest PCs do...   And, while you're at it, tell Microsoft they should maintain support for Windows XP.
    magman1979watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 27
    sounds like a lot of people are paranoid about battery replacement. My 6S plus has been slow recently, in fact the GUI judders at times. A check with "Battery Life" and "CPU Dasher" apps shows the hardware is not being throttled. But I was paranoid enough to check anyway. The sooner Apple get an update out that tells people if their phone is being throttled, the better, as I see this as an environmental disaster, people throwing away perfectly good batteries. Unless of course Apple are just happy to take the revenue.....
    edited January 2018
  • Reply 17 of 27
    foggyhill said:
    Who said March, did Apple say that or is this complete speculation. 

    If if they are installing batteries all day long there may be local shortages for sure, there is no source for this, even as a Timor , in the article. More click bait?
    It isn't speculation. We have our own sources, we often get tipped, and we do our own research.

    Other venues have said other things about it, that we can't verify.
    Who was it that said on a recent AppleInsider podcast that there’s no reason to rush to replace your battery, that you’d have all year to do it? Was it Neal Hughes? I remember words to that effect, but now I think as Dec 31 approaches, the shortages willl come back with a vengeance, as the price increase looms.
    muthuk_vanalingam
  • Reply 18 of 27
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    foggyhill said:
    Who said March, did Apple say that or is this complete speculation. 

    If if they are installing batteries all day long there may be local shortages for sure, there is no source for this, even as a Timor , in the article. More click bait?
    It isn't speculation. We have our own sources, we often get tipped, and we do our own research.

    Other venues have said other things about it, that we can't verify.
    Who was it that said on a recent AppleInsider podcast that there’s no reason to rush to replace your battery, that you’d have all year to do it? Was it Neal Hughes? I remember words to that effect, but now I think as Dec 31 approaches, the shortages willl come back with a vengeance, as the price increase looms.
    You're probably right about when 2019 is nearly upon us.
    muthuk_vanalingamGeorgeBMac
  • Reply 19 of 27
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    sflocal said:
    lkrupp said:
    Well, who would have expected that? Duh. Blind hysteria causing the lemmings to flock at the prospect of a near freebee. Already seeing cliams that the battery swap didn’t speed the phone back up. Evil, degenerate Apple!
    I'd normally be in your camp, but yesterday my business partner was complaining about the speed drop on this iP6S after upgrading to IOS11.  

    So check this out.  He has an iP6S, I have the iP6+ (year older).  We installed DasherCPUX in order to check the CPU speed.  His phone is approx 1.5yrs old, mine is 3+ years.  Original battery.

    His phone was running at half the rated speed while the battery showed 89%.  My iP6 with a 3-year-old battery was running at 100% CPU speed with 24% on the battery.  We were speechless.  

    We also installed another app (battery life) that checks the battery health.  My phone was at 89% useful life, and his was at 91%.  My phone battery can barely last 12 hours before it hits 1% life.  So I'm not sure what the heck is going on, but honestly Apple has some more explaining to do, or they need to really assess the algorithms being used to throttle phones.

    I originally gave Apple some slack because I do now that batteries are a finicky thing and understand why Apple is doing it.  On the flip side, with nothing else to explain it, by friend's phone is being throttled down to 1/2 its speed and there is no way to force it back to 100%.  

    So I told him to take it into an Apple store to check it out, and now articles like these about Apple having a battery supply problem is not helping.  So what to do?
    It's not the battery level that's the indicator of bad battery, or battery that cannot give the proper voltage so don't know what the hell you are even claiming.

    If his battery has been charged 1000 times, a 89% (sic) battery (which is only calibrated to the maximum in can carry) doesn't tell you how damage and able to deliver voltage.
    If I rundown my battery 3 times a day and recharge fully, I'm killing my battery in 200-250 days, while if I never run down the battery (charge it before it is under 30% every day and once a day) I'd get about 1000 days out of my battery to get to the same level (just under 3 years). That is under normal operating conditions, if the phone is operated frequently near 0 or 100% while hot, the battery life can go down a lot. So, operating in very hot weather and doing many full cycles a day equals battery dead within half a year; that's it, no miracle, that's the way it is.

    Someone who always charges their phone before it reaches 50-60%, say charging it mid day when it reaches that level, would reach 1200-1300 cycles before starting to degrade substantially (that's 3.5 year-4 years). That's the kind of usage I have and routinely get my phone batteries to last that long without shutdowns even pre 10.2.

    You also have to realize that those tests test peak performance, not actual usage. Most of what a phone does is not functioning at peak usage. Even when throttled under peak usage the SOC speed is still faster than many current Android phones new!
    edited January 2018 GeorgeBMac
  • Reply 20 of 27
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    rossb2 said:
    sounds like a lot of people are paranoid about battery replacement. My 6S plus has been slow recently, in fact the GUI judders at times. A check with "Battery Life" and "CPU Dasher" apps shows the hardware is not being throttled. But I was paranoid enough to check anyway. The sooner Apple get an update out that tells people if their phone is being throttled, the better, as I see this as an environmental disaster, people throwing away perfectly good batteries. Unless of course Apple are just happy to take the revenue.....
    Even if it was throttle, it would be under load. Running the UI should certainly NOT quality as load.
    Much more likely the result of software inefficiencies in early IOS 11 releases (since each new IOS releases initially slows downs old versions until they got control of the whole thing which normally occurs around late X.2 versions (early in the new year)).
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