Apple Launches Repair Program for iPhone 6s Devices Experiencing Unexpected Shutdowns

[DaIfoneboss]

Affects sept to October made 6s's, they are replacing the batteries free of charge if nothing else is wrong with the device, like a cracked screen

 

[HeyRCL]

I signed up for MR JUST to reply to this. This issue has affected me very noticeably for the past 6-8 months, and has started affecting my wife as well about 3 months ago. Today my phone shut down with 23% battery. Charged it. Took it off charger. Died at 21% battery. In the past I've had it shut down with as much as 37%. THIRTY SEVEN PERCENT. I've told Apple in the store before when I was in for other things and they just gave me BS.

So here's why I'm so mad - I'm talking with their chat now, and I gave them my serial etc. They told me I need to take the phones in to a store in person.

Me: (Give serial #'s etc, explain no Apple store near me, etc)
Chat: If you have experienced this issue, please visit an Apple Retail Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider and have your device's serial number checked to confirm eligibility for a battery replacement, free of charge. Lets see if we could find a service facility close by. What is your postal code?
Me: Look - is my serial number affected or not?
Chat: I can definitely provide basic troubleshooting with the battery. A tech will need to inspect the device to confirm it is eligible for the service.

UPDATE: I've been talking to support for literally 80 minutes now, and the ultimate resolution is that 1) they refused repeatedly to tell me if my serials were affected, kept saying only allowed to check in-store (wtf), 2) they ran diagnostics that they said the store will run and it said my phone passed with no unexpected shut downs.

I give this info because: 1) don't even bother talking to them unless you're taking the phone in, and 2) I have had a problem with my phone as described above where it shuts off when claiming FAR higher than 0% battery (up to 37%), and their diagnostics said I'm not affected, so you may be wasting your time going in person

I'm already selling my phone, and this is just yet another data point in figuring out what we do with my wife who has this problem and many more and has become disgusted with Apple

UPDATE: After chatting at great length with them I ended up getting Genius Bar appointments. However they made an exception that "any necessary actions not covered by the recall" would be covered at no cost. The implication here through our chat was that only a very few phones are covered by this program, and anyone else with problems like I described would be subject to standard warranty clause. And if you got your iPhone 6S at launch, your year of warranty is up. So... good luck guys

 

[pika2000]

As Apple has grown from that point, it would seem that quality control would have improved. Based on the many threads for different product concerns, this doesn't seem to prove true.
Over the many years that I have used Apple products, the issue was generally software. Now there are many challenges to the hardware that in many cases,weren't as prevalent as they are now.
TC & Co don't seem to be as concerned with keeping the current users satisfied with keeping Apple as the best it could be. As though there have been some throwbacks, Apple, IMHO, is quickly going downhill.

At the same time, Apple also is making a ton more of those products. Plus more people are using Apple products, and anything bad about Apple means good SEO for page hits. Just based on statistics alone, of course there will be "more" devices with "issues" being reported. Doesn't mean QC is any less.

 

[avanpelt]

Am I the only one who remembers when Apple stood for quality and stuff like this DIDN'T happen on a daily basis?

Yep. We used to pay a premium to get quality. Now, it seems like too often we're just paying a premium.

 

[traumaticpac]

So their instructions are for everyone who believes they're affected by this is to firstly back up and erase their phones, and then bring it in to let the geniuses figure out if they're going to repair the battery based on if they determine if it's defective or not... So there might be a chance that my phone which currently shuts down at 35% more often than not may not be repaired if I go through the work of erasing my phone and bringing it in. This is ridiculous.

 

[Alexrat1996]

my sister 6s rose gold purchased OCT 2015 qualifies how nice she is having battery issues

 

[lazyrighteye]

My iPhone 6 has the same issue

Same here. My 6 battery is a nightmare. I take it off a charge, and 3 hours later - with little to no activity - it dies with the battery indicating about 30% remaining. Sometimes I can power it back on. 90% of the time I can not. So I throw it on a charger and within 10 min, battery says 78%. So I pull it off the charger and within a few minutes, battery says 3% and it dies.

Again, complete nightmare. Been this way about 3 painful months.

 

[Jovian9]

Never happened to my 6s Plus 128GB iPhone until the latest iOS. But in the past 3 weeks it has happened 4 times. It died on me twice around 10%, once at 12%, and once at 21%. It does not happen every time as sometimes I can get it all the way to zero. When it has died on me (early on the battery indicator) as soon as I plug it in it restarts and is up to the percentage it was at before (I believe each time)....but definitely not the slow start up when it's absolutely at zero and is getting going again.


Back in the PowerBook days I had this happen to my 17" (1st gen of the 17" ever) and it was blamed on the logic board. They had to replace the entire computer. I doubt this is the battery so I'll wait this out for a bit.

 

[HeyRCL]

Also as a followup post I feel compelled to say that the last time I was in the Apple store to talk with a "genius" (2 of them at the genius bar in Tyson's Corner had the old genius logo tattooed on their arms - wtf weird) it was one of the worst retail experiences I've had in my entire life. The whole store was a zoo, people screaming at staff, I waited for 45 minutes until they saw me despite having an appointment.. While I waited an additional 2 hours for my phone screen to be replaced I wandered around the mall feeling terrible about the whole Apple experience. I walked by the MS store which used to be a joke, and it was packed with people - playing games, awesome demos, lots of VR stuff, tons of people buying things and having fun. That MS store used to be an absolute ghost town..

This experience was right after the iPhone 7 was announced. I was so disgusted that I walked around to carrier stores looking at android devices and researching them. Long story short is that I ended up getting an S7 Edge as a result of this whole experience, only time I've strayed from Apple since my first iPhone (3G) - and it's been awesome. Say what you will about "exploding phone lol" but practically everything on that phone beats the iPhone, INCLUDING Android. For the past 8 years I would have laughed at someone who said that to me, but it is now true. What's funny is that all the rumors for iPhone 8 "just wait another year" are things already on the S7 Edge - OLED screen, wraparound screen, glass front and back, etc...

Apple kills it with MacBooks, and iOS has great trackpad support, but the clock is ticking there too honestly. Give the surface books a couple of revisions and MS might do it. I had preordered a MBP 15" but ended up feeling sick about it every day, hating all the news coming out, and I ended up buying a (another, used to have one) MBP 15" from 2012 for $850 in brand new condition. Saved $1600 and feeling great. I told my friends and found out that every single one of them canceled their preorders - either a day or so after launch, or when any of the various pieces of news came out

I really do hate to be all "MAC DOOMERS" here but I just had to get this off my chest

 

[marioman38]

My gf took her October 2015 Rose Gold iPhone in to Apple October 15th this year to fix this issue. They said her battery health was 83% and would not replace it unless it was under 80%. Now I guess we have to go BACK to the apple store? Its a bit of a drive each way.

 

[kstotlani]

Is this repair free? Are we talking about an Apple product?

 

[KeanosMagicHat]

My iPhone 6 has the same issue

I too have exactly this issue on an iPhone 6 and know of others experiencing the problem.

My phone will shut off at anywhere up to 35% battery which is very frustrating.

I'd put it down to the iOS cold weather cutoff being far too sensitive, but this issue now seems more likely.

 

[44267547]

My 6s Plus is having this issue...

I also have a 6s Plus, which I received upon its initial launch. I fortunately have not experienced this reported issue. But it's promising to know Apple will address your issue.

 

[Denmac1]

At the same time, Apple also is making a ton more of those products. Plus more people are using Apple products, and anything bad about Apple means good SEO for page hits. Just based on statistics alone, of course there will be "more" devices with "issues" being reported. Doesn't mean QC is any less.

I agree to a point. With the increase in devices, there has also been an increase in the amount of infrastructure and personnel to QC issues that occur. I won't take time to repeat the amount of threads that purport to many issues that Apple is facing.
My main point is that with the increase of people working on Apple product, whether it be software or hardware, it would be that there would be less issues than more, regardless of the amount of product released or produced.

 

[truthertech]

I didn't know this was a widespread problem. I had the problem start about a month ago on a iPhone 6S Plus. The "genius" ran their battery diagnostic and said it was within spec. Their suggestion was to make an appointment if it happens again. I told them it had been happening every day for a week, and asked what would be the difference in my next appointment? They don't have an answer for these type of questions since they are just trying to get you to leave. I also questioned why the battery diagnostic was all they were going to look at. I mentioned it could be numerous things - the battery, the battery cable, the connection on the board for the battery, etc. and that running their diagnostic doesn't test for all the hardware involved. I left frustrated.

That night when my phone cut off, I was able to grab another phone and take a video. The device powered back up with 40% battery and then shutdown again a few times. When I showed the video at the next appointment, they replaced the device.

Actually, the diagnostic test checks for many things. It isn't like your old corner garage where they tested your car battery by attaching a couple of leads. As with all their devices, the computer diagnostic tests a wide array of issues as it is a "diagnostic" check of the systems.

 

[madflava54]

My gf took her October 2015 Rose Gold iPhone in to Apple October 15th this year to fix this issue. They said her battery health was 83% and would not replace it unless it was under 80%. Now I guess we have to go BACK to the apple store? Its a bit of a drive each way.

This happened to me three times. They told me that and that I had too many apps on my iPhone (50-60). No FB or FB messenger or anything crazy. Few google apps and about every premium movie channel for chrome cast. Lots of banking apps. I almost lost it. Decided to drive a little further to another store and got a new phone swap

 

[HeyRCL]

This happened to me three times. They told me that and that I had too many apps on my iPhone (50-60). No FB or FB messenger or anything crazy. Few google apps and about every premium movie channel for chrome cast. Lots of banking apps. I almost lost it. Decided to drive a little further to another store and got a new phone swap

They told you "too many apps"? What the hell - that doesn't even make sense

 

[gnsallman]

I've had this issue for months now. My 6s would shutdown at randomly at 25% and then not turn on until plugged in. I went to the Apple store and they said nothing was wrong with it...

 

[davidec]

Very happy to read this article. Been really an annoying issue for my 6s. Seems like any time I trigger a cpu intensive action the phone powers down. Usually between 40-60% battery life left. Off to see a genius

 

[Rob_2811]

Not even charging for this manufacturing defect, great news for the Apple movement.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Haven't experienced any problems with my 6s since I bought it in November last year. Hope this doesn't start happening to mine. At least it won't explode.

 

[Shirasaki]

I might can guess my "Samsung" chip iPhone 6s Plus is the lucky guy here? No such issue since last immediate replacement due to weird battery issue (phone goes hot even in air conditioning train and no direct sunlight hit). I even use it in direct sunlight hit long enough few weeks ago and no issue.

 

[unclemax]

I had logic board and battery replaced for that reason. Funny enough, the genius told me that they see these issues on 6, 5S too and that battery replacement is known to not always help, that's why the logic board would need to be replaced too.

Now I'm thinking whether I should have waited, since the service was done in China and now I have a new logic board with Chinese serial, meaning no FaceTime audio for me...

 

[Zirel]

$150

lol

I smell class action

I smell you didn't read the article and fast forwarded to a dollar sign to criticize.

 

[/V\acpower]

Yep. We used to pay a premium to get quality. Now, it seems like too often we're just paying a premium.

the Mac Cube had several problems. The white plastic macbook non-unibody cracked at palm rest and yellowed over time. 2007 MacBook Pros with NVidia graphics got a recall because of GPU shutting down. My 2010 iMac got the hard drive replaced in a mass recall. etc.

Those are mass produced products, lots and lots of thing can go wrong. Apple and any other manufacturers can have these sorts of issues. (Somebody remember a premium priced phone that actually exploded?)

You don't pay a premium for "fully tested and 100% reliable hardware", if you did you would pay a way bigger premium than what you think you are paying now. "fully tested and 100% reliable" is a premium that the army and your hospital pay for in their hardware purchase or all sorts, and really you wouldn't want to pay for it.

The "premium" you get with Apple, appart from general hardware/software design is consumer support. Every consumer products at these kind of price produced at these scales are subject to failures. The real difference is if you can get good consumer support when those happen, and that is what Apple offer.

Your job as a consumer buying consumer products is making sure you backup your data. (and it's Apple job to facilitate that). After that, well contact Apple if you have some sort of issue.