Apple Pledges to Be 'Clearer and More Upfront' With iPhone Users About Battery Health and Performance in UK

[I7guy]

How is that supposed to be a counter-argument to what I said?

It isn't "holding onto" it "until time immemorial" to say that it did happen and it was a real issue where Apple did consumers wrong, and a very recent one at that.

Thank you for confirming. I’m happy with the end result though. I got two free battery replacements.

 

[Baymowe335]

Once they plug in the phone and download the diagnostics they know the phone has a battery problem. The diags will tell them all about it. Poorly trained staff, bad interpretation or full stories don't come into it.
Man the level of nonsense here to defend this corporation is epic.

So the battery I got replaced was luck? You don’t know the full story from the other side either....stop acting like you do.

 

[Defthand]

I disagree. Personal experience doesn't make an issue widespread. If Apple screwed up in a big way, it would be impossible to cover it up without a response from the company. There are simply too many devices out there.

Remember the "hardware failure" antennagate people with the XS? Yeah, that was a joke despite a few stories. A iPhone that can't connect reliably to the network would be on the front page every day. iPad bends? Yeah, that went away too....because it's not a big issue.

Apple did respond! For the antenna issue they held a press conference and blamed the issue on how the phone was gripped. They offered rubber bumpers as a solution. For the phone's power management limitations, they tried to conceal its existence with software rather than recommend battery replacements (Apple doesn't want people to maintain their devices. They want them to buy more). Ultimately, the weasels had to come clean and make battery replacements convenient. As for the recent iMacs and MacBooks they had to create extended warranty programs to manage not only the existing wave of reported failures, but also the potential wave that is to come.

Apple's problem is the sheer number of devices it sells. When a design decision creates an issue, it's potentially expensive for Apple to remedy. Therefore, Apple's initial response is to be secret about its existence and cause. As reports increase, Apple denies it is an actual issue, insisting the causes are varied and due to User behaviors. When the lawsuits are filed, Apple suddenly discovers that the issues are due to a precise design or manufacturing defect, and they will accommodate Users who haven't already paid for repairs or parted with their device.

You're myopic to assume that the collective volume of sold products is evidence of their reliability. Apple has an unusual number of service portals. If the demand for repairs wasn't there, I doubt Apple would feel they were necessary.

 

[ani4ani]

THEY. LIED. Period.

Instead of telling people from the outset, that the battery was the problem they allowed their 'genius', ( I use the term loosely), to sell users another device instead of a new battery.
Shameful and disgusting behaviour, normalised by arguments such as yours.

This was in the face of not only genius bar complaints, forum complaints, national press stories, annnnnndddddd having the phones download diagnostics info at every sync. They absolutely, knew about and deceived customers of this issue.

Apple then had the audacity to then blame the cheap battery replacement program for a fall in upgrade sales. By implication admitting that in the past folks had upgraded unnecessarily, when a simple battery replacement would have sufficed

 

[Baymowe335]

Apple did respond! For the antenna issue they held a press conference and blamed the issue on how the phone was gripped. They offered rubber bumpers as a solution. For the phone's power management limitations, they tried to conceal its existence with software rather than recommend battery replacements (Apple doesn't want people to maintain their devices. They want them to buy more). Ultimately, the weasels had to come clean and make battery replacements convenient. As for the recent iMacs and MacBooks they had to create extended warranty programs to manage not only the existing wave of reported failures, but also the potential wave that is to come.

Apple's problem is the sheer number of devices it sells. When a design decision creates an issue, it's potentially expensive for Apple to renefy. Therefore, Apple's initial response is to be secret about its existence and cause. As reports increase, Apple denies it is an actual issue, insisting the causes are varied and due to User behaviors. When the lawsuits are filed, Apple suddenly discovers that the issues are due to a precise design or manufacturing defect, and they will accommodate Users who haven't already paid for repairs or parted with their device.

You're myopic to assume that the collective volume of sold products is evidence of their reliability. Apple has an unusual number of service portals. If the demand for repairs wasn't there, I doubt Apple would feel they were necessary.

Oh, but that was when your favorite leader ran the company! Impossible!

The Antenna "issue" I referred to was the XS (as I stated).

As you see, a true design problem required a response from Apple, albeit a stupid one from a CEO people treat like a God.

Unless you have numbers, stop spreading the nonsense of all these widespread issues. Again, you can't stop a widespread issue by denying it. It doesn't work.

 

[H2SO4]

So the battery I got replaced was luck? You don’t know the full story from the other side either....stop acting like you do.

I do know that Apple will know all about the faulty battery scam.
Stop acting like they, (and you), don’t.

 

[Baymowe335]

I do know that Apple will know all about the faulty battery scam.
Stop acting like they, (and you), don’t.

Dude, get a grip. There is no "scam" and you don't have any evidence Apple ignored anything.

 

[H2SO4]

Dude, get a grip. There is no "scam" and you don't have any evidence Apple ignored anything.

It’s a scam. They treated their loyal users badly and the powers that be have seen it. Shame you can’t.

 

[Defthand]

Unless you have numbers, stop spreading the nonsense of all these widespread issues. Again, you can't stop a widespread issue by denying it. It doesn't work.

You're unbelievably naive if you think big companies publicly acknowledge "insignificant numbers of affected users". And you should heed your own wisdom: "you can't stop a widespread issue by denying it."

Go back to your spreadsheet. It will assure you that your loyality isn't misplaced.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm an Apple fan but I'll say that Apple puts its own business interests first. That's how all companies work. Gone are the days where companies need customers to keep them alive. Having a good product with good services helps a lot, and Apple has those, but this isn't the 1960s? where you get a free toaster with your bank account along with a thank you.

 

[psac]

I’d rather one of these investigations got serious and took Apple to court for anti consumer behaviour, I mean want Apple did is ‘supposed’ to be a crime in France as it’s actually illegal. But then again we are far from finished with the investigations..
the way Cook and Co merrily lied and hid the truth for over a year, whilst mid-selling new iPhones deserves a major court case.
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What do you expect? I just block the share holders on here as no one can be impartial or critical of something that increases their share price.. that’s one big personal financial interest..

Actually, a good share holder can criticize in the long term hope that the company will improve, and thus improve the stock price. And/or treat their investment as a hedge/offset against the cost of the devices they buy (that's what I do.)

If your device was throttling heavily due to 'poor battery', and you go to Apple and they tell you the battery is "Healthy" and thus refuses to replace it, while they would deny any relationship between the two, that's a pretty clear-cut lie on behalf of the company (even if the person telling you is unaware personally).

I had this exact thing happen to me.

 

[Altis]

Thank you for confirming. I’m happy with the end result though. I got two free battery replacements.

Confirming what?

I'm glad you're happy with the outcome that only came about because people who you seem to criticize for making it an issue got Apple to try to make things right.

 

[I7guy]

Confirming what?

I'm glad you're happy with the outcome that only came about because people who you seem to criticize for making it an issue got Apple to try to make things right.

Alternatively, this is not a sticking point for me as it may be for others. With 240m customers, there are 240m opinions.(considering I got two free battery replacements, I’m a happy customer.)

 

[Wanted797]

What design defect? Batteries deteriorate as they age and the found a way to extend the life of old devices by detecting and Preventing spikes caused by those old batteries that would end the device life altogether. You just have to love how the are forced to apologize for allowing customers to keep their devices longer. Instead of letting the die naturally. People are getting weird these days. It’s like the reason Mcdonalds doesn’t allow managers to feed the homeless with food they are throwing away at the end of the night. They would be legally responsible if the choked on a French Fry the gave them.

Apple was dammed if they did and dammed I’d they didn’t with this one. If they had come out and announced what they were doing they would have been slammed.

They didn’t. And they got slammed. No win.

 

[Altis]

Apple was dammed if they did and dammed I’d they didn’t with this one. If they had come out and announced what they were doing they would have been slammed.

They didn’t. And they got slammed. No win.

No, they could have said outright that they are implementing a software feature that will slow the device down but prevent sudden shutdowns. Users of affected devices could be alerted, indicating they should get their battery replaced. Apple would have done the consumer right and been praised for it.

Instead, they silently throttled devices even when the battery was well above the 80% "Healthy" threshold. Users who experienced poor performance were not advised of the reason for it and even if they asked for a new battery, Apple refused to replace it (even at the expense of the consumer). And it all only came to light because one kid figured it out, leading to battery replacement programs and so on.

I'm curious how many people bought a new iPhone because their existing one became slow (one of the most compelling reasons to upgrade). If I had to guess, I'd say that's why they didn't want to bring it to anyone's attention.

 

[joeblough]

too bad so many people think this whole issue is bogus... i definitely experienced multiple battery replacement refusals and a serious slowdown when ios11 came along (meanwhile, my kids' identical and same-aged phones were totally fine since i had left them on ios10... never once a sudden shutdown.)

apple definitely had a scheme going here - refuse battery replacements in the ios10 era (to encourage frustrated owners to buy new phones), then turn the crank a little bit to make old phones perform crappy on ios11, again to encourage upgrades. think about this from a business perspective - the iphone6 was (at least to me) the first "perfect" iphone (after having owned iphone, 3gs, 4 and 5) and i never had much reason to upgrade the 6. i can't be the only one who felt that way, and apple knew it. they had to get people to upgrade somehow, and this battery stuff was the perfect vehicle for that. if they were so concerned about the user experience, they would have said something about the throttling and need for new batteries instead of just secretly slipping it into ios11.

 

[mi7chy]

the iphone6 was (at least to me) the first "perfect" iphone (after having owned iphone, 3gs, 4 and 5) and i never had much reason to upgrade the 6.

Apple's approach to engineering for early obsolescence applies to both OS and hardware. iPhone 6 suffered from 1GB DRAM hardware obsolescence out-of-box that resulted in poor user experience with excessive app, Safari tab, etc. reloads when competitors were shipping 2GB DRAM two years prior in 2012. It doesn't stop there either since Apple is the only company that artificially restricts Safari browser updates through iOS updates so you can't update Safari through App Store. That means when your device stops receiving iOS updates you can't even browse simple sites that require updated browser. No other company does this.

 

[Mendota]

What design defect? Batteries deteriorate as they age and the found a way to extend the life of old devices by detecting and Preventing spikes caused by those old batteries that would end the device life altogether. You just have to love how the are forced to apologize for allowing customers to keep their devices longer. Instead of letting the die naturally. People are getting weird these days. It’s like the reason Mcdonalds doesn’t allow managers to feed the homeless with food they are throwing away at the end of the night. They would be legally responsible if the choked on a French Fry the gave them.

Don't be naive, if Apple's intent was to help their customers, they would have disclosed it up front. Their intent was to force an upgrade by allowing their customers to believe that their phone were broken or too old. If you actually believe that they just "forgot" to mention that they were throttling the phones on purpose, I have a bridge to sell you. And they never came clean on their own, they were found out. And lets not forget, they even admitted: "We didn't sell as many iPhones because of the battery replacement program."

 

[I7guy]

Don't be naive, if Apple's intent was to help their customers, they would have disclosed it up front. Their intent was to force an upgrade by allowing their customers to believe that their phone were broken or too old. If you actually believe that they just "forgot" to mention that they were throttling the phones on purpose, I have a bridge to sell you. And they never came clean on their own, they were found out. And lets not forget, they even admitted: "We didn't sell as many iPhones because of the battery replacement program."

So you think it was a "planned obsolescence" ploy? I don't. If that were ever proven, it would be a permanent black-eye to Apple.

 

[pika2000]

Imo Apple’s intention was good, and as Apple does, they always try to take care of things in the background without the users needing to micro manage their devices. Hopefully from now on, Apple can be more upfront about their features.

I have Android phones since the Nexus One. Many did have battery issues, mainly my Xperia Z1 and HTC One M7, and both companies won’t do a thing to help me. Sony refused support for my phone, HTC was the same but they were more polite about it. And these are flagship phones. Meanwhile, I have had my 6S’ battery replaced by Apple twice without any charge. It’s also part of the reason I won’t bother with you expensive Android flagships anymore. Their high prices don’t justify anything.

 

[dampfnudel]

How about in USA too. And everywhere.

If Apple wants to improve its PR, it would be wise to implement that worldwide.

 

[joeblough]

So you think it was a "planned obsolescence" ploy? I don't. If that were ever proven, it would be a permanent black-eye to Apple.

i don't see how this whole thing could possibly have been anything else than a planned obsolescence ploy. apple's explanations really do not make sense.

the #1 fear of apple investors and analysts for the last 3-4 years has been that iPhone sales would peak and stop growing. that started to happen in the iphone 6 timeframe and apple came up with a plan to, at the very least, spread out the peak a bit by convincing people to buy new phones. they just got caught, that's all.

no big deal... as you can see many, many people think apple is blameless in all this, so the PR campaign worked out great for apple.

 

[I7guy]

i don't see how this whole thing could possibly have been anything else than a planned obsolescence ploy. apple's explanations really do not make sense.

the #1 fear of apple investors and analysts for the last 3-4 years has been that iPhone sales would peak and stop growing. that started to happen in the iphone 6 timeframe and apple came up with a plan to, at the very least, spread out the peak a bit by convincing people to buy new phones. they just got caught, that's all.

no big deal... as you can see many, many people think apple is blameless in all this, so the PR campaign worked out great for apple.

Well they got a lot of happy customer with the $29 replacement batteries, so there is that. But I don't agree with the "many people think apple is blameless" bit, quite a few have said, this could have been handled better, including me. That doesn't sound like "apple is blameless".

 

[bgillander]

I actually have a problem with iOS 12's "Battery Health" feature being misleading.

I have an iPhone SE that I'm now happy with, but the battery life had always been disappointing. Unfortunately, I didn't take the phone in by October while it was still on warranty or before Dec 31 since the battery health was showing 100%. A couple of months ago I got an Apple Watch 4 (though I had concerns about the watch battery life) and found that the watch was still at 92% remaining even though the SE would be down to 40% battery remaining, so I knew something had to be wrong with the SE battery even though the battery health had only dropped to 98% by that date. The Apple store employee thought it was worth trying to replace the battery, and it made a huge difference as I am now very happy with the phone, but I am annoyed that I paid $65 plus tax for the fix because I believed the battery health indicator and didn't get a new battery a few months earlier. Giving an overly positive battery health reading made Apple an extra $65 in my case, so why would they want to give an accurate bad reading? Oh yeah, I added AppleCare for the watch after that since I didn't want to go through the same thing for the watch, so they made even more money because of it. But now I'm not sure about making any future Apple purchases.

 

[ROGmaster]

This continues to be one of the dumbest controversies of all-time in the tech world. Other phone manufacturers simply ignored the fact that an auto-shutdown related to low voltage supply from the battery could inconvenience users...and that turned out to be the legally preferred customer approach! Such a joke.

Which other phone manufacturers?
And Android has had advanced batter management options at the OS level that monitors the battery current and voltage years before iOS.
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Which iPhone models prior to the 6 series had a systemic issue of shutting down during peak loads on aged batteries? And which models after the iPhone 6 series?

Well after the iphone 6 you have the iphone 6s, SE and 7.