They promised battery replacement when I purchased it - I don’t care what kind of company they are - this was in my purchase decision making
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Apple refuses to replace Series 4 Battery
- Thread starter TooMuchPhone
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Express replacement is only available if you have AppleCare+.
Apple Watch Express Replacement Service - Apple Support
We know how much you rely on your Apple Watch. With Express Replacement Service, you receive a replacement right away, so you don’t have to go without.
Makes sense -Apple support called the amazing store manager who repeated to them that this express replacement was in fact promised.Express replacement is only available if you have AppleCare+.
Apple Watch Express Replacement Service - Apple Support
We know how much you rely on your Apple Watch. With Express Replacement Service, you receive a replacement right away, so you don’t have to go without.support.apple.com
Due to the holiday - I have a call scheduled with Apple next week but everyone now is on the same page that without some kind of exception made a a high level , the watch will come back without a repair/swap due to the false 90% reading (which everyone now admits is false). This procedure again is anti-consumer and needs to be fixed - not just for me - I’m guessing they do right next week after all these hours - but for their customers.
Because I have this in writing (text) from Apple Support I can not imagine they can pass next week on making this right when they call back:
“Yes as I have gone through your diagnostic report. It seems like the battery health of the device is 90% over 895 cycle counts which is actually an unexpected report Basically this battery health degradation depends on your charging cycle counts.
Charging cycle counts basically means how many times you have charged your device in total. As per our researches, after every 20- 30 charging cycle counts, battery health is bound to be degraded by 1%. Soon as the battery cycle count is 895 that means the battery health should be around 60%-65%.”
I’ll continue to update when I hear back.
“Yes as I have gone through your diagnostic report. It seems like the battery health of the device is 90% over 895 cycle counts which is actually an unexpected report Basically this battery health degradation depends on your charging cycle counts.
Charging cycle counts basically means how many times you have charged your device in total. As per our researches, after every 20- 30 charging cycle counts, battery health is bound to be degraded by 1%. Soon as the battery cycle count is 895 that means the battery health should be around 60%-65%.”
I’ll continue to update when I hear back.
Yes, with all tech. To have a fully functional watch with os updates. Must stay current and not repair. The lack of OS updates will cripple the device anyway. My Apple Watch Series 3 is proof of that.
The 4 is a much better watch - I had the 3 - it was VERY slow. I am confident I’ll get a few more years out of the 4 with a new battery - worth the $100 to me - it’s a really nice watch.
The new SE will be a lot better than your 4. It’s least it will be supported with current watch os updates.
No - I like the ss/sapphire - the watch is great for what I use it for and I really like the style
Complaining on the forum is to relay information I’ve spent hours gathering so that others may choose to use it when they are considering a purchase. I for example need to have a watch but I’ll never get ss/titanium again because there is a significant enough chance (based on my research on forums) that my situation is far from unique. So you’re welcome. The fact that Apple seemingly does not have an automated process in place to handle situations when the battery health is not accurate seems like valuable info as a consumer I’d like to know before buying a higher priced model.
I didn’t need to research the forums to know the stainless steel version didn’t make sense for me. I got the aluminum version to contain costs. Tech ages fast, the 4 was still early in the development cycle. Common sense told me I was going to replace it long long before 10 years. But hey, if I preferred the way SS looked or felt, great. But to think the tech was going to last 10 years … is beyond logic. Sure, I get it the 4 does what you want it to do…but even if you want to ignore all the new features, modern watches are faster with notifications and is better integrated with modern phones. I think Apple is responding well to your soon to be obsolete tech.
No they have not yet honored their promise and caused lots of wasted time. How can you say they are responding well when hours of time have been expended on a battery lol
I’m happy with it - I’ll get 8 years total- aluminum scratches (I’m concerned about the glass, not the frame) - yes I’ll go aluminum next time.
Interestingly noticed my battery capacity has recently jumped up on my Series 8, it was 84% for a while, finally dropped to 82% but checked today and it's up to 87%!
Was trying to burn down the capacity to get a replacement on AppleCare as got some scratches on the screen but this is going to delay that
Was trying to burn down the capacity to get a replacement on AppleCare as got some scratches on the screen but this is going to delay that
I don’t believe the accuracy - could be stuck like mine at a high level…Interestingly noticed my battery capacity has recently jumped up on my Series 8, it was 84% for a while, finally dropped to 82% but checked today and it's up to 87%!
Was trying to burn down the capacity to get a replacement on AppleCare as got some scratches on the screen but this is going to delay that
Do you use a focus mode and automate it to turn on low power mode, or do you have it turn on during workouts?
I have heard that the manager/lead genius said to do an express replacement, which you do not have the AppleCare+ plan. Does the store you went has a Lead Genius? These senior members of the Genius Bar at an Apple Store are responsible for making decisions of complex cases and train the geniuses and technical specialists in troubleshooting and handling hardware issues.
None of my focus modes trigger low power mode.
It was Apple Support over the phone that offered an express replacement without apple care. I originally declined this offer but the Apple Store Manager suggested I call back and take them up on their offer because I could end up with a much newer model. (The store manager heard the conversation with Apple Phone support as I had it on speakerphone so everyone could come up with a plan). When I called back Apple Support they said they could not do an Express Replacment. I said call the store and the manager will back me up that it was offered - the phone support rep did call the store and the store manager backed up my claim. I am now waiting until next week for Apple phone support to figure out how to help. Everyone agrees that if the store sends the watch back for me it will come back un-repaired as the repair depot will do the same diagnostic and see the false 90% battery health and simply return the watch as “nothing to fix.”
There apparently is no automated Apple process in place to replace a battery in a watch when the diagnostic test for battery health is agreed to be inaccurate.
Why should there be an automated Apple process in place for an incident? There is already a process: the one you followed 😉
apple watches currently declared obsolete: up to and including Series 2.
so, apple does have a responsibility to offer you repair service.
but the cost of the repair that they charge you is up to them.
if i were apple, i would charge you USD 300 to 400.
this would encourage you to buy a more recent model.
im surprised that you and they haven't hit on a compromise solution yet.
they are playing a long game on this one.
compromise when they offer you a Watch SE at USD 100. /s
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Apple doesn’t have any responsibility to replace the battery for a reasonable price. This is like trying to get a 7 year old car battery prorated when it expired more than 4 years ago.
Went to the store because on of the speakers in my 15 Pro is quieter than the other, among other things.
Dude did a test that basically had each speaker play some dozen different frequencies and have the build in mic record the test and then have it measure/calculate if the played tone is within the specified range it should be in.
The higher notes played by one of the speakers triggered me to shedding a few tears in store it was so piercing…
But the test says there is no problem, soooo…
Told the guy I don’t care about the test if I can show him the speakers have different volumes by blocking and them with a finger and switching back and forth. He couldn’t do anything as long as the test says everything is ok and service is not available.
mmmm you misunderstood... yes time has been wasted but who wasted it? I wouldn't say the store. And likewise I think they have spent the appropriate time on soon to be obsolete tech. Devil is in the details.
The detail is it’s not obsolete (vintage) - they should have agreed to replace the battery immediately.
Please enlighten me on where it says Apple should replace the battery immediately on a very discontinued product.
Agree 👍 their policy on battery replacement is confusing. They do not need to run a full diagnostic test if they see your Apple Watch or iPhone shuts down out of nowhere without being plugged in. I never had batteries replaced for my Apple Watch before but with an iPhone if they see it shut down easily or a drop in battery life, they would still run the diagnostic if they want but it should not be needed if they can obviously see the battery’s aging out. Even after you show the battery health when they test out your Watch or iPhone with their charging cables.
The difference is that they don't give you a replacement device when they do a battery service on an iPhone. If you want warranty to cover the repair, they will refuse to replace the battery unless it reads 79% or lower using their equipment. If you want to pay out of pocket, they'll replace it regardless what it says. On the watch and older iPads (anything without an M4) you get a replacement device, they don't replace the battery. For this very reason, if the watch or iPad doesn't read under 79% using their equipment they will not allow a battery service whether you pay for it or it's warranty.. There are many threads on this forum, recently and in the past that confirm this precedent..