Apple Says iPhones Will Better Support Third-Party Displays and Batteries Later This Year

[mjs916]

This is good for consumers. Now, to get repair centers to be honest about what they are putting in your device…

I suspect I received a non-genuine or used battery when I had one replaced years ago by an AASP. Battery health dropped like a rock within a month and battery life was so poor I assume there was no way it was the same as the original. Could have been supplied by Apple though… maybe they had cheaper stock as the replacements.

No manner of troubleshooting ever resolved it.

 

[deevey]

so the answer is $99.99 battery swap and you lose all of your data?

1. Why would you lose your data?
2. No one should leave data on their phone when you are handing it over for a repair if it can be avoided.

Backup your phone before sending it for repair and restore when you receive it back in working order. This takes about 10 minutes.

 

[deevey]

My MBP 2016 with the original Apple battery had a swollen battery that burst the case.

My MBP 2010 had it's first battery replaced within the first year (less than 60% charge after 290 cycles)

After a couple of years it caused the trackpad click to cease working due to bulging and expanded the underside of the case - it was 5 years out of warranty, but due to it being less than 300 cycles and officially installed by Apple they replaced it due to their official Apple part causing physical damage making the machine unusable.

 

[dandyryan]

I want to connect my iPhone Pro Max to a Thunderbolt display and run Stage Manager. I don't care if it's iOS. Make it happen, Apple!

 

[DownUnderDan]

Thank you European Union.

 

[AssassuN]

Will this extend over to Macs? You are basically SOL if you don't have AppleCare+ on Macs now, better value to just buy a new computer (I'm sure that's what they want anyway).

 

[sirdir]

Precisely why I’d only go to Apple for parts. Other places may be cheaper… but so many places perform dodgy repairs using unknown components from no one knows where.

At least if you get a battery from Apple, for example. If there is an issue they can reach out and recall it if there is found to be defect in a batch. You know you’re getting a new battery and it is designed for your iPhone, made by Apple approved supplier. With third parties, who knows… they are unlikely to track or care.

Which is great, unless you don’t have an apple store nearby, which is true for most of the world.

 

[DownUnderDan]

Well Apple was taking heat from regulators. Now the burden will be on the users and regulators chasing Apple. Grass is always greener on the other end. Wait till scammers show up to take advantage of this move.

Your argument is the same as saying you should only be able to service your car with your automotive manufacturers recommended and approved parts in their workshop, because there are some dodgy mechanics out there. That argument hasn't flown for many, many years.

 

[sirdir]

Are you from the US? Because it seems there, too many people seem to be afraid of everything.
Tens of thousands of batteries are changed all over the world and I haven’t seen a study yet that would say they burn more frequently than Apple’s.

 

[klasma]

I've never heard anyone say they didn't like it before 😮 I remember sideloading an app to do much the same thing before they finally got around to implementing it. It's better for your eyes and for your sleep to activate it.

Night Shift is for sleep. I never had True Tone work convincingly (i.e. not appearing tinted to my eyes relative to the environment), so the statement in the article about True Tone requiring precise calibration is a bit comical to me.

 

[TechnoMonk]

Your argument is the same as saying you should only be able to service your car with your automotive manufacturers recommended and approved parts in their workshop, because there are some dodgy mechanics out there. That argument hasn't flown for many, many years.

Apple and car manufacturers are held to a different standard. Wait till you see this forum flooded with why can’t Apple do enough. Rinse and repeat, I have been here long enough to have seen damned if you do or damned if you don’t when it comes to Apple.

 

[mjs916]

Well Apple was taking heat from regulators. Now the burden will be on the users and regulators chasing Apple. Grass is always greener on the other end. Wait till scammers show up to take advantage of this move.

Regulators will bear no responsibility

 

[TechnoMonk]

Regulators will bear no responsibility

Typical government bureaucrats.

 

[vantelimus]

That is absolutely true

But the sad thing is… you’re a family, your teenager or other gets a repair at a dodgy repair shop… iPhone catches fire later (that day, weeks, months)… other people suffer because you chose a 40 dollar repair over a 80 plus dollar repair at Apple and a unscrupulous shop put a battery from who knows where in your 600 plus dollar iPhone.

That’s why repairs need to be regulated. Especially when it comes to electricals and especially batteries.

At the moment anyone can buy a cheap dodgy ass battery off from anyplace.

Repairs need to be regulated? Who would regulate them? Do you trust a government bureaucracy to assure quality better than Apple can with authorized repair shops?

I get that people want cheaper options, but you aren’t going to get it if the government starts regulating repairs. You’ll only make Apple and Apple-authorized repairs more expensive (because they will pay regulatory fees, upping their cost to do business). The inexpensive repairs will then cost as much Apple and Apple-authorized cost today. Oh, and you won’t stop unscrupulous repair shops from misrepresenting the quality of the parts they use.

My point is that there is no easy answer. Pick a system and live with the consequences. Know that there is no free lunch. Regardless of the system, you’ll pay one way or another.

 

[redheeler]

I want to address the OS support part of the whitepaper, because this is something Apple has refused to clarify any official stance on for many years.

A key pillar of product longevity is software support, especially security updates
and bug fixes. Apple has a demonstrated track record of providing widely
adopted, long-lasting operating systems (OS) that extend well beyond the
historical industry norm with OS feature updates as far back as 6 years from the
device’s original release. Our most recent release, iOS 17, is compatible with 24
iPhone models introduced since 2018. iPadOS 17 is compatible with iPad models
introduced since 2018, and macOS Sonoma is compatible starting with Mac
computers introduced in 2017. But even after an Apple product can no longer be
updated with Apple’s newest OS, we strive to provide our customers with critical
security updates. For example, as recently as March 2024, we released an update
to iOS 15 that covered products as far back as iPhone 6s, which was introduced in
2015. Every OS released is optimized for the product it supports through
extensive functional, power, and stability testing and our goal is to maintain or
improve its performance.

The most annoying part to me is Apple's treatment of older MacOS versions. "Critical security updates" sounds good but having those updates makes no difference if you're a developer and completely locked out from running the latest Xcode on your Mac because Apple refuses to support an OS that's only one year out of date. Same goes for Pages, iMovie, etc. What's the reason I can't update to the latest version of Pages on at least as far back as macOS Monterey?

Apple's support of iPhones and iPads is industry-leading but Macs deserve better. No other operating system ties apps like a developer suite or word processor to the OS version this closely when it isn't necessary at all, and only incentives many third-party developers to do the same (and they do!)

 

[davide_eu]

That’s why repairs need to be regulated. Especially when it comes to electricals and especially batteries.

Please let me understand: here many people are saying Government should stay out of the business, avoid any regulation. Then at the same time you would Government should regulate repairs...

Sorry, I don't understand...

 

[steve62388]

Currently, battery health metrics such as maximum capacity and cycle count are not presented to consumers whose devices have third-party batteries. This is because the accuracy of these metrics cannot be verified by Apple. In fact, an Apple internal analysis has found that some third-party batteries sold as new are actually secondhand, with battery health metrics manipulated to appear as new.

This is true. It's trivial to reset the cycle count and health statistics on a battery.

Probably a good idea to only purchase third party batteries from a reputable source.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Please let me understand: here many people are saying Government should stay out of the business, avoid any regulation. Then at the same time you would Government should regulate repairs...

Sorry, I don't understand...

If you had read many of my posts you’d see the issue I have mostly is with dodgy batteries. That’s what has to be regulated, the supply and installation of legitimate battery parts in electronics.

One of the major causes of house fires in recent times has been dodgy chargers and batteries. The supply of batteries should be regulated so that dodgy crap from china that puts people at risk is clamped down on.

I don’t care so much if a dodgy display is installed in an iPhone, but a dodgy batter is something else. It’s a hazardous good and has to be made to strict specification and safety feature for safe operation. Huge companies recall millions of batteries when they find and issue in laptops and phones for example. But dodgy manufactures? They don’t care… no regulation, tracking or responsibility.

 

[frownface]

Currently, battery health metrics such as maximum capacity and cycle count are not presented to consumers whose devices have third-party batteries. This is because the accuracy of these metrics cannot be verified by Apple. In fact, an Apple internal analysis has found that some third-party batteries sold as new are actually secondhand, with battery health metrics manipulated to appear as new.

This is true. It's trivial to reset the cycle count and health statistics on a battery.

Probably a good idea to only purchase third party batteries from a reputable source.

Exactly this.

Back in the 90s/00s era of nokias with replacable batteries. You could purchase genuine nokia batteries for a high price. Third party reputable batteries (often with higher than OEM capacity) for about half the price of the nokia option. Or cheap batteries of questionable quality and origin off ebay for only a few bucks.

While it's likely a *bad* idea to use a cheap low quality battery; I wouldn't have a problem using a third party battery from a reputable brand like anker, energizer or panasonic; especially if it's coming in at 1/2 to 2/3 the price.


edit: I almost forgot that we're living in the 2020's and not a 1990s fairyland.
What'll actually happen is that Apple will extend the MFi (made for iphone) program to third party batteries and the cost to the manufacturers to license MFi will be about 50% the price of the genuine battery in the first place. So it'd be impossible for a reputable legitimate company to make and sell batteries at a competitive price.

Thanks in advance apple 🙄

Not long afterwards; EU will come after apple's MFi program for being anti competitve.

Thanks in advance EU

 

[coolfactor]

I would never trust the waterproofing after my phone was opened up during a repair.

 

[Wanted797]

This is awesome!

But please please please don’t just lock it to the iPhone 16.

I bought my wife a quality replacement battery for her iPhone 7 years ago and it was great.

She now has a 12 with a dying battery. I’d happily replace it if it wasn’t for these stupid locks and alerts.

 

[Aoligei]

Apple and car manufacturers are held to a different standard. Wait till you see this forum flooded with why can’t Apple do enough. Rinse and repeat, I have been here long enough to have seen damned if you do or damned if you don’t when it comes to Apple.

If Apple is in business to produce iPhone, it will need to bares the blame one way or other.

People will have different opinions. If you dislike third party batteries, then don’t use it. Pay Apple good dollars for it.

If people want third party batteries, then let them use. What is so hard to understand?

I don’t care about Apple being criticized one way or other. If Apple doesn’t want criticism, get out of consumer electronics business.

 

[Aoligei]

If you had read many of my posts you’d see the issue I have mostly is with dodgy batteries. That’s what has to be regulated, the supply and installation of legitimate battery parts in electronics.

One of the major causes of house fires in recent times has been dodgy chargers and batteries. The supply of batteries should be regulated so that dodgy crap from china that puts people at risk is clamped down on.

I don’t care so much if a dodgy display is installed in an iPhone, but a dodgy batter is something else. It’s a hazardous good and has to be made to strict specification and safety feature for safe operation. Huge companies recall millions of batteries when they find and issue in laptops and phones for example. But dodgy manufactures? They don’t care… no regulation, tracking or responsibility.

Your iPhone battery is made in China as well. Not all batteries made in China are poor quality.

I won’t pay $5 dollar for a battery, but I also refuse to pay $120 for a battery. $30-$40 batteries are decent enough, and if it runs down in a year or two, so be it. I will just get other one.

 

[Chungry]

Article correction:
Said it through clenched teeth, fist tightly balled. Nostrils slightly flared.

 

[svish]

Good to know about this.