Yes exactly what is happening here. I do think from my experience with my iPad Pro that they don’t play these games when you have apple care. I’m guessing this is a common problem for the products where they don’t really replace the battery but instead the whole unit.
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Apple refuses to replace Series 4 Battery
- Thread starter TooMuchPhone
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….one more thing….I find the Anker nano with the usb-c cable works great with my iPad Pro (the one that charges and re-charges at 30w). If you can’t get them to replace the battery it’s a good temporary solution. I hope they do fix it for you.
More than anything, Tim’s Apple wants you to buy buy buy. They will tell you it’s time to buy a new iPhone when you have the latest model - true story. They will avoid changing any battery unless it meets their criteria. When you’re willing to pay the money to get the battery replaced. They can brag about environmental stuff all they want - it’s marketing. As they would make battery replacements simple if they gave two cents about the environment. Or not sell outdated Macs for years with 8GB of RAM that will end up being replaced far too soon as the end user didn’t realize they really did need 16GB minimum.
Just curious, was your battery draining too fast? Did it last the whole day? I had a battery with 1600 cycles on it that still lasted about 75% as long as when new. This was a few years ago. The thing is, they are really made to do over 1,000 charge cycles. But I still think we should be able to replace the battery whenever the F we want!
You're right. The replacement watch would get the same battery performance you had when your current watch was working well. My replacement S6 is on 11.1 and has around 50% charge left after a full days use including a 2 hour workout. I don't stream music or podcasts and no cellular..
Totally agree!
It’s been fairly good (lasts all day) until recently (stuff like heart rate is turned off). Today it went into low power mode after an hour so I made the appointment - and like a humiliation ritual - they’re making me go back next week to beg them to fix the battery for $100, a service promised when I bought the watch.
… do you set a Siri shortcut that makes your Apple Watch automatically turn on low power mode when it drops to a certain level of power?
Was the false readings of the battery calibration based on the diagnostic tool used by the Apple genius ?
No I don’t have that shortcut for low power mode.
Yes, the Apple Store diagnostics showed the same 90% that my watch shows. He said it is obviously not at 90% after well over 800 cycles (maybe 880?) Their tool wouldn’t work at first until he had me unpair and re-pair - he also acknowledged that this diagnostic process failed often with the older models (getting it to work at all without unpairing). So Apple gets to decide when to replace the battery based on a tool that doesn’t work reliably. He also suggested I buy a new watch to get the latest software - I said I use it for notifications. He did try to get me a discount on a new one - which I would have done (probably) but he didn’t have luck with the manager. The manager is making me go back to the store to see if the unpairing and using the watch will give a correct reading - I said that is unlikely to happen and I asked what she will do for me if I go back - she wouldn’t say - totally a humiliation ritual. I wish I could use a Samsung watch….
Can you go to a different store? Maybe having a different tool run the diagnostics would have a better, more accurate result.
I am going back for my follow-up appointment in a few days - I’m always hesitant about going to another store when there is an issue as they keep a record of all service requests. My guess is the tool doesn’t communicate well with the battery so I think unlikely I’ll get a true result. I plan to show the “manager” at the follow-up appointment this thread - she said she would do the re-test herself. My gusss is next week the test is wrong again and she gets approval to either replace the watch for $100 or gives me a discount on a new one (the series 10 in black looks similar to my ss series 4 - I’d just have to be more careful about scratching the glass). I can’t imagine having a customer come in for a follow-up to not do right but we will see - I will definitely provide an update.
Can you imagine this “manager” saying come back in a few days - maybe you’ll get a real result? She knows it’s wrong - I said why can’t you just override the number the test shows. I said if I go back will you be able to guarantee a remedy - she declined to say what she would do - this is a humiliation ritual - I really find this whole experience to be offensive. I hope the eu makes it easier to leave the Apple ecosystem and the U.S. follows…
If I have to get a new one (I absolutely need a watch) there will be letters sent to each environmental company that Apple works with, tech blogs (probably don’t care - they know where their bread is buttered) and the eu regulatory bodies that are on Apple at the moment. I was promised battery service when I bought this thing - I would have bought the aluminum and thrown it away by now if I knew it was disposable.
I have noticed the store manager can be helpful or a piece of trash. Really depends on who is there. I always ask to speak directly with the store manager. Although, some of them really care most worry about profitability more than anything.
She said she was “a manager” not sure what that means. Yes - I’ve had great experiences with some managers but at a different store. To me this was just a common sense issue - what a manager’s authority is for - making a decision where there is obviously a problem with process (I.e a faulty testing method). I really was a huge Apple fan (original iPhone owner from day after launch, etc). If I didn’t have a recent iPhone - 15PM I’d get out of the ecosystem and go with Samsung.
Stop dealing with retail and go straight to AppleCare over the phone. They’ll ask you to send it to a depot and figure it out from there.
I totally agree. I bought the new iPhone 16 Pro Max. Had a bad issue with a “store manager” who wouldn’t give me his name. Found out there are at least nine store managers per store. Ended up returning the iPhone 16 Pro Max due to the jerk manager. Ended up at another store where the manager was amazing. Got new iPhone and then returned it as found it basically no different than my 15 PM. Not worth the hassle or money to upgrade every year. But previously I had every single iPhone model year. I wanted out of the ecosystem. I love my iPad and my MacBook Pro. But I wish I had the Samsung Ultra or Fold. Both are way nicer looking in my opinion. The ecosystem is sticky and that’s the problem. I really wish regulation would require these massive tech companies to incorporate interoperability among all systems. Just like I should be able to install whatever I want from wherever I want. I hate the monopolistic anticompetitive behavior of most of these massive tech companies.
I also am still rocking my S4 Stainless Steel.
In Q1 of 2023 my battery health dipped to 78% and paid the $99 to have the battery replaced and they gave me a new stainless steel S4.
Fast forward to now, Q4 of 2024, and my battery health is 91%.
I bought it primarily for sleep tracking and notifications. I was heavily considering getting the S10, until I saw that stainless steel wasn’t an option. There’s no way I’ll ever get an aluminum AW considering the sapphire glass display has spoiled me and truly is scratch resistant. That and the Jet Black S10 tends to scratch easily, not to mention the poorly manufactured ion X glass screen on the aluminum models.
Titanium never really appealed to me and like you, I only need me AW for notifications really.
If the S11 still doesn’t provide a SS option then I’ll most likely look for a way to get yet another battery replacement on this S4-SS.
Apple obviously wants everyone to stay upgraded in their ecosystem despite making great devices that some of us decide to keep and enjoy for the long haul. As a side note, I saw a post on Reddit of a guy that bought his first MacBook (M4) in over 20 years and for these past two decades had been rocking a G3 PowerBook.
Apple banks on people wanting to upgrade either by new flashy thinner designs or shinier software updates but with every passing year I miss the older iOS’s… including the older WatchOS’s. For these past few years they’ve been releasing updates just to stay competitive considering Samsung and Google, etc.
I love my SS S4, I just wish it had the sleep apnea detection feature.
In Q1 of 2023 my battery health dipped to 78% and paid the $99 to have the battery replaced and they gave me a new stainless steel S4.
Fast forward to now, Q4 of 2024, and my battery health is 91%.
I bought it primarily for sleep tracking and notifications. I was heavily considering getting the S10, until I saw that stainless steel wasn’t an option. There’s no way I’ll ever get an aluminum AW considering the sapphire glass display has spoiled me and truly is scratch resistant. That and the Jet Black S10 tends to scratch easily, not to mention the poorly manufactured ion X glass screen on the aluminum models.
Titanium never really appealed to me and like you, I only need me AW for notifications really.
If the S11 still doesn’t provide a SS option then I’ll most likely look for a way to get yet another battery replacement on this S4-SS.
Apple obviously wants everyone to stay upgraded in their ecosystem despite making great devices that some of us decide to keep and enjoy for the long haul. As a side note, I saw a post on Reddit of a guy that bought his first MacBook (M4) in over 20 years and for these past two decades had been rocking a G3 PowerBook.
Apple banks on people wanting to upgrade either by new flashy thinner designs or shinier software updates but with every passing year I miss the older iOS’s… including the older WatchOS’s. For these past few years they’ve been releasing updates just to stay competitive considering Samsung and Google, etc.
I love my SS S4, I just wish it had the sleep apnea detection feature.
You seem very angry over this but I have to agree with everyone else. If it doesn't read at or below 80% Apple won't do anything and the series 3 which based on age is probably what you have since I've never heard of an SS model unless you mean SE. If it's a series 4 as someone else said it's gonna be marked vintage any day. If it's series 3 you've for a few more years of support.
Regardless, it's such an old watch you'll likely lose support for features or even the ability to connect it to newer versions of iOS before you hit 10 years. Plus, used watches are inexpensive and plenty have better batteries with newer battery technology and far fewer cycles for around the cost of a replacement battery.
An environmental group won't care about an apple watch not being replaced BECAUSE it's being replaced. It's well known that these are effectively disposable devices since they were announced and they already threw their fits and nothing changed. Plus there are far worse companies they are going to focus their resources on.
At the end of the day I'd recommend taking some time to calm down and really think about it. Do you need an Apple Watch? Do you really want to keep a watch that will lose support sometime in the near future? Do you want to have to limit yourself to old and less secure versions of iOS? If you're this worked up now, maybe it's time to see what it's like on the other side. Maybe when it's time to upgrade your iPhone try an android phone. I don't mean to come off rude but you'll find it's far worse on the other side in many aspects and better for what you want in others.
Apple has been consistent in their 80% policy for as long as I can remember and it's well known that the tech that checks the batteries current capacity is not reliable. From the sound of it a "Genius" leveled with you, but they don't have any ability to override company policy.
If you really want to waste $100 call Apple and speak with a technician, if you get no where ask for a case manager. Case managers are the only ones who can make exceptions. When my iPhone battery caught fire they overrode policy to replace my whole iPhone 5 thru my local store. When my 2012 Macbook Pro (non retina) had 4 logic board replacements and became unusable due to a cracked logic board they overrode policy and got me out of the loop of refurbished parts and instead sent me a brand new in the box with charger laptop at no cost. But don't forget, you'll catch more flies with honey. Be polite, express your frustration in a calm tone and explain what's happening but stay respectful. Otherwise you'll get nowhere.
When I worked retail my management always said, if your kind and understanding I'll use any grey area I can to help. If you're rude or disrespectful I'll follow policy to the letter. I find most people tend to follow that tip.
Regardless, it's such an old watch you'll likely lose support for features or even the ability to connect it to newer versions of iOS before you hit 10 years. Plus, used watches are inexpensive and plenty have better batteries with newer battery technology and far fewer cycles for around the cost of a replacement battery.
An environmental group won't care about an apple watch not being replaced BECAUSE it's being replaced. It's well known that these are effectively disposable devices since they were announced and they already threw their fits and nothing changed. Plus there are far worse companies they are going to focus their resources on.
At the end of the day I'd recommend taking some time to calm down and really think about it. Do you need an Apple Watch? Do you really want to keep a watch that will lose support sometime in the near future? Do you want to have to limit yourself to old and less secure versions of iOS? If you're this worked up now, maybe it's time to see what it's like on the other side. Maybe when it's time to upgrade your iPhone try an android phone. I don't mean to come off rude but you'll find it's far worse on the other side in many aspects and better for what you want in others.
Apple has been consistent in their 80% policy for as long as I can remember and it's well known that the tech that checks the batteries current capacity is not reliable. From the sound of it a "Genius" leveled with you, but they don't have any ability to override company policy.
If you really want to waste $100 call Apple and speak with a technician, if you get no where ask for a case manager. Case managers are the only ones who can make exceptions. When my iPhone battery caught fire they overrode policy to replace my whole iPhone 5 thru my local store. When my 2012 Macbook Pro (non retina) had 4 logic board replacements and became unusable due to a cracked logic board they overrode policy and got me out of the loop of refurbished parts and instead sent me a brand new in the box with charger laptop at no cost. But don't forget, you'll catch more flies with honey. Be polite, express your frustration in a calm tone and explain what's happening but stay respectful. Otherwise you'll get nowhere.
When I worked retail my management always said, if your kind and understanding I'll use any grey area I can to help. If you're rude or disrespectful I'll follow policy to the letter. I find most people tend to follow that tip.
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You need to understand that many believe Apple being right all the time. Apple can get away with almost anything compared to other companies.
first and foremost i sympathise to an extent however your approach is not going to get you an outcome you want or expect. be realistic apple products are disposable items especially phones,watches,airpods etc ,the life expectancy is manipulated by apple and the never ending annual desired product upgrade releases(thats how you get a business to be profitable and sustainable just make desirable consumer products) . it is something you will have to accept and if you don't then apple products are not for you.whilst apple makes a premium desired range of products they are ultimately disposable 5-7 year products just like any other product brand . if they offer you an alternative solution then consider it some brands(companies) don't entertain or offer anything.
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SS means Stainless Steel.
I disagree with myhaksown, the OP is right from the very beginning. The S4 still works and works well. If he wishes to have his S4 battery replaced he should do so. Hell, he is even offering Apple $99 to do it. 800+ charge cycles and still reading 90% is an error. The same exact thing happened with my mom’s iPhone a few months ago. She’s had her iPhone for 4 years and still reads 90% battery health and yet Apple gladly replaced the battery when I paid the absurd $90 charge. They admitted it shouldn’t have read 90% considering it being a 4 year old iPhone that was used daily.
The reason Apple is hesitant here in regards to replacing the S4 battery is cause they’re replacing the Apple Watch overall.
The S4 even in 2024 is no slouch and does a great job. Sure, it’s not as snappy as the newer models and doesn’t have the latest OS features but that’s purposeful on Apples part in getting you to upgrade.
Last time I checked Apple only gave you like $15-$40 when trading in an S4 AW.
You could probably fetch $80 on eBay considering it’s stainless steel.
But this is a watch and the only reason this whole thing is an issue is cause it’s so difficult to replace the battery.
I’ve replaced the battery on my iPhone before and replaced the battery on my MacBook as well.
But there’s a reason why so many 3rd party places refuse to change batteries on Apple Watches and that’s cause it’s so difficult to do so without accidentally breaking the small glass screen. If you try to do it yourself and a 3rd party battery phone place does break the screen then you’re forced to use a third party glass screen and I guarantee you it won’t be a sapphire screen. All of this is purposeful on Apples part in convincing you that it’s all just much easier to fork over a few extra hundred bucks for a newer Apple Watch.
But some of us love our S4 SS Apple Watch. I don’t need all the lame new features that Apple makes seem are vital. I just need to receive notifications on my wrist so I don’t have to reach for iPhone every time and I enjoy tracking my sleep. And the S4 still does this very well.
This I think is incorrect and something that only the young generation believes. All of Apples products are meant to last a long time. They sell batteries for all of Apples products on eBay and Amazon, it’s just that during Tim Cook’s Apple, he himself has made repairing devices a point of focus so people will up upgrade sooner. But I also do agree with weather34, in that their devices are made to be thought of a disposable once entering the 5-7 year mark, which sucks.
My friend is still rocking his S3 AW and says he doesn’t need to upgrade cause all he needs it for is to see incoming calls and text messages.
im not young(wish i was and i'd be less wiser) and neither am i ignorant of some smart business sustainable model strategy , using their computers for years(decades) they are or have a longer life cycle .however i find myself not the better of a word "trapped" in their ecosystem when it comes to the smaller consumable items of phones,watches,airpods , i love the design,software ui etc always feels good but i find these products disposable and if I get 5 years out of something then im ok with that i dont expect longer, yes we can buy replacement iphone batteries be it original or third party alternatives (fakes i live here in istanbul everything is available in walking distance) but finding a reputable third party service is the challenge .
as above sympathise with the OP but the reality is it's upgrade time if you want something reliable/functional and as for your friends S3 if that is all he/she needs then thats all that matters as their NOT complaining or feel pressured into a upgrade . as for "recyclable" statements by apple or any other that is totally questionable , i fail to see what parts are reuse-able other than the box and that is also questionable.most recycled electronics end up in a land fill in africa or south east asia somewhere .
fwiw an S4 going forward if you decide or are forced into a newer iPhone upgrade for similar scenario or desire "Following the announcement at WWDC 2024, The Apple Watch Series 4 alongside the Apple Watch Series 5 and the first-generation Apple Watch SE won't support the software update to the watchOS 11." now forward think the S4 theoretically is not gonna work for you so seriously cut your losses and treat yourself to a newer model unfortunately at a cost but sometimes refurbished deals can be rewarding .. have a good day and hope you get an outcome that makes you feel somewhat less peeved .
i give you my scenario(not forced or angry) last week. I own a apple watch ultra 2 (treated myself december 2023 ) and i owned a iphone 11 pro uptill last week the scenario that haunted me was the ultra2 in terms of software support and functionality would outlast the iphone 11 so it bugged me so i went out and traded the iphone 11 whilst it still had some value and software support to a refurbished iPhone 15 pro max 100% battery etc (why not 16 ? simply the cost was almost 50% less !!) so i now have two products that i use daily which theoretically has the same lifespan in terms of battery and software updates (i hope) . this is how it can "trap you if you don't think forward" because sooner or later it becomes a scenario sadly.
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I understand where you’re coming from. It’s a forced upgrade. On my end I have an Apple Watch Series 3 with 100% battery capacity. unfortunately the lack of software support causes issues with my Apple fitness plus subscription.
OP, if push comes to shove, find a 3rd party battery place that’ll change the battery for you, or try to replace the battery yourself.
Edit: but only after exhausting all options from all of the nearby Apple Stores in the area.
I’m hanging onto this S4 SS unless I can find an S9 SS that supports the O2 sensor.
Edit: but only after exhausting all options from all of the nearby Apple Stores in the area.
I’m hanging onto this S4 SS unless I can find an S9 SS that supports the O2 sensor.