Apple to Offer $29 iPhone Battery Replacements, More Battery Health Info in iOS

[IJ Reilly]

Apple promised 500 cycles up to 80%. That’s two years. There should be no throttling period until the battery goes below that. Reality is, throttling occurs way before that and Apple refuses to replaced a “healthy” battery.

Documented, or?
[doublepost=1514504986][/doublepost]

But Samsung never purposely slow down its phone because old battery.

Apple is in fault in first place

Documented, or?

 

[Altis]

Why even bother with the ability to disable the feature? So you would rather your phone be shutting down at crucial moments? And what else is there to control? At what heat threshold should the throttling kick in? That kind of control and settings? We all know Apple wants their products as intuitive and painless as possible. So such controls for consumers are definitely out of the question. Just look at their camera app...

Apple's take on "intuitive and painless" went downhill ages ago

I often use the phone while plugged in. Should I be forced to be throttled to the point where the phone acts like its 2 generations older?

iOS already has a "low power mode" so work it in with that. It's easy as pie.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I totally agree. I am not a big fan of class action lawsuits, but it is totally warranted in this case.

Ahem... No. The lawsuits are just another one of the thousands of examples of extraordinarily disgustingly greedy, selfish, and shallow people -- and by that I'm referring to the majority of attorneys / lawyers.

This situation has a legitimate case for pressuring a response, not financial compensation.

 

[Rogifan]

You have zero clue...This is NOT a battery issue...You have fell right into the BS trap...This is Not a battery issue...this is Apple purposely downgrading PERFORMANCE of phones...this is easily mitigate with proper coding...so get a grip on reality of the issue before weighing in with nonsense...

You are the one spewing garbage without facts to back it up.

 

[Kmart9419]

"it would never "intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."

Maybe not, but why didn't Apple make it clear that iPhone shutdowns may be the result of an old battery? Why didn't Apple make it clear that they were slowing the speed of iPhones with old batteries? Why didn't Apple describe this feature in their description of the OS upgrade containing this feature? Why didn't Apple provide a visual battery warning as part of this feature?

Why didn't Apple tell their Geniuses about this feature?

Dont forget to asks why battery cycle count was removed from all apps.

 

[falainber]

I’m both a customer and shareholder.

I didn’t lose anything...they will manage this well and the market doesn’t care about a few hundred million dollars one way or the other.

I commend Apple for offering a quick and fair solution to a problem their customers believe is important. They want you to be happy even if for no other reason than to buy a new iPhone.

You can bet they’ll turn a few of these battery replacements into new phone sales.

And I commend you for admitting being a shareholder. And your opinion is as valuable as any. The problem is that posters here are coming with very different perspectives and interests and this is not obvious at all.

 

[alleggerita]

You really don’t have much of a clue what the issue is do you? I guess it is good that they limit old phone performance if the battery can’t. Keep up anymore. Problem is the customer had no idea what was going on with the sluggish performance of their phone, and thought that they had to upgrade their phone when they a battery replacement would have done just far......It is beyond me how can some people defend Apple for doing this.

I’ve met countless people who see degraded battery life as a reason to upgrade their phone. And today’s argument is that the phone starts throttling when the battery starts degrading to a point where consumers are likely to realise that their batteries aren’t as lasting as day one.

Assuming Apple didn’t throttle, and the phone didn’t shut down unexpectedly, these people would still have upgraded their phone sooner or later anyway.

Then there’s another group that simply don’t care and keep on using. Even when their phone only holds half a day of charge. These people probably don’t even notice the throttling, but yet it’s helping them out by preventing their phones from shutting down unexpectedly and at the wrong moments.

 

[sevvere]

BS, people have been complaining about poor iPhone performance after iOS update for months. They just did not know what was causing it. Apple actually made everything possible to keep the public unaware by removing battery status ups and making battery API private. That's a proverbial smoking gun for you.

BINGO
BINGO BINGO

You articulated the reality of the scenario perfectly. Bravo.

 

[boardmanneil]

No Reason to have to Pay for a New Battery! Purposely written code to drive upgrade sales of new Phones and now we are held hostage to pay for a new battery no matter the reduced fee. Continue the Lawsuits...Apple has lost their way and Tim Cook's comp announced today is an insult to injury! "I need to fly private jets"

 

[Nor10]

The people here are like expecting the batteries in their phone to last for YEARS and still be the same as the day the bought it. Any batteries in any modern mobile phones WILL degrade.

And I strongly believe the less tech savvy public using a throttled iPhone due to aging battery didn’t even know they are being throttled if these articles didn’t even come out. It goes to show how throttling doesn’t affect them much, and how Apple actually helped them by preventing their phones from intermittently shutting down.

YOU are so wrong. Basic Functions Don't work!! God please help all these Apple Drones that just buy all the BS and spend a ton of money for products and services that have been only on the decline since Tim C. took over...it is all about the Money and Quality is out the door! Software use to be the Hallmark of Apple...Siri? Siri? Oh...yep you have never Worked!!! and still don't!

 

[NYphony]

Not if people have recycled/sold on/thrown away their old phone because they thought it was failing.. Don't get me wrong, I think apple are dealing with one side of this issue exactly as they should, there's just his other side, less tangible, yet still real, where the historic consequences of not informing their customers, has potentially cost their customers more than it should.

I'm really pissed off about this. I bought iphone 8 ONLY because my iphone 6 was dying and I could not wait for iphone X release because of work. Hell, if I knew that $79 battery replacement would have fixed everything I would not have upgraded for at least another year for sure! The clerk in the store clearly knew this too. ****ing *******s!

 

[boardmanneil]

Couldn’t of said it better myself!!!!

 

[falainber]

And how do you prove you got a lemon battery in your phone?

The batteries are fine (they are the same batteries that everyone else is using, just smaller). The phones are the lemons. Apple miscalculated something between processor peak power consumption (APU architecture), battery capacity and power management design.

 

[ghanwani]

MR left out the iPhone SE.

Main article says:

These power management features are implemented in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus, and will be added to future iPhones as required. They kick in when the battery begins to degrade and can be fixed with a new battery.

Apple's article says:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208387

This includes a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE to dynamically manage the instantaneous performance peaks, only when needed, to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down. This capability was also extended to iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus with iOS 11.2

 

[Nor10]

You are the one spewing garbage without facts to back it up.

Ok Purple Rain...Please School Us...LOL

Your are the one with Zero Facts and Ego Driven Propaganda!

 

[LovingTeddy]

The people here are like expecting the batteries in their phone to last for YEARS and still be the same as the day the bought it. Any batteries in any modern mobile phones WILL degrade.

And I strongly believe the less tech savvy public using a throttled iPhone due to aging battery didn’t even know they are being throttled if these articles didn’t even come out. It goes to show how throttling doesn’t affect them much, and how Apple actually helped them by preventing their phones from intermittently shutting down.

Well... I have iPhone 6 which I brought about year ago when still selling iPhone 6 (around when iPhone 7 came out, I wanted a 64GB iPhone that is cheaper than iPhone 6S). This iPhone 6 has piss poor performance after iOS 11 update. The difference is noticeable.

I don't really use iPhone that much, I am using Android phone now. But I occasionally use iPhone just for fun and the experience is not good

 

[Independent392]

Apple this afternoon addressed customer concerns about an ongoing controversy over power management features in older iPhones, pledging to introduce more detailed information about battery health and reducing the price of battery replacements for all of 2018.

In a letter explaining its policies, Apple apologizes for the misinformation that's been spread and says that it would never "intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."

At issue is a power management feature that was initially introduced in iOS 10.2.1 in the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s, which was implemented to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to high power draw peaks. Apple's lack of clarity about the feature has led to a number of lawsuits being filed in recent days claiming that Apple is purposefully slowing down older iPhones.

Apple explains the situation and the aging of batteries both in the letter and in a new support document.These power management features are implemented in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus, and will be added to future iPhones as required. They kick in when the battery begins to degrade and can be fixed with a new battery.

Apple says it began to receive feedback this fall from customers who were seeing slower speeds, which it initially thought might be due to software updates and minor bugs in iOS 11, but it now believes the continued chemical aging of the batteries in older devices is at fault.

To allay customer concerns and address recent customer feedback, Apple says it will implement several changes.

- The price for out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements is being dropped from $79 to $29, starting in late January and lasting through December 2018. Apple plans to provide more information on the price drop in the near future, but it will apply to anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced.

- In early 2018, an iOS update will introduce new features to give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery, so they can clearly see whether the state of the battery is affecting performance.

Apple says its team is also always working on ways to make the user experience better, including how performance is managed to avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.

Article Link: Apple to Offer $29 iPhone Battery Replacements, More Battery Health Info in iOS

I just upgraded my old iPhone 5 after six years. Thank you Apple I never change the battery.

 

[sevvere]

By the way .... why are we accepting Apples premise that battery deterioration causes phones to shut down which is what they are trying to avoid.

Considering this nerfing has happened only relatively recently, I’m sure there is plenty of evidence of these supposed shutdowns in iOS 9 and later devices .......


Oh wait

 

[cmaier]

If it were a deliberate choice they would put the throttling into iOS when they released the phones. They did not. They clearly did not realize that they would start getting the infamous shutdowns on the phones with 40% charge (note: previous iPhones did not have this issue). They only added the throttling after consumer started complaining about shut downs on the phones with relatively healthy batteries. This clearly indicates that this is a design flaw rather than a deliberate trade-off.

They decided to do it. So it’s deliberate. Look up the word.

 

[apolloa]

What about my iPad Pro 9.7, Apple Watch, iPad Air, iPad Air, Retina MacBook Pro, Apple TV Remote? Can I trust they have not been slowed down? What is reasonable. I had the expectation that as they aged my devices would operate at full throttle, but not for as long as when they were new.

Is it reasonable, that... I expect this still? Or, did something change and I didn't know? (that happens as you get older)

I think we can, Apples statement claimed this ‘feature’ was coming to other devices soon...
I’ll look forward to the day my iPad Pro is slowed down...

I find it laughable that so many Apple Defense squad apologists are in here defending Apple, totally ignorant to the fact the ONLY reason Apple has made any statement is due to being caught red handed with evidence, and the internet spreading the story like wildfire.
I had my motherboard in my MacBook Pro replaced for free after three years, that was due to the Nvidia GPU fault, I was told by the Genius Bar the only reason they are doing it is EU consumer protection laws make them do it. Nothing to do with ‘great customer service’ what so ever.

So I cannot wait for the EU to get their claws into this one...

 

[deany]

You really don’t have much of a clue what the issue is do you? I guess it is good that they limit old phone performance if the battery can’t. Keep up anymore. Problem is the customer had no idea what was going on with the sluggish performance of their phone, and thought that they had to upgrade their phone when they a battery replacement would have done just far......It is beyond me how can some people defend Apple for doing this.

Hear hear.

December 28, 2017
A Message to Our Customers about iPhone Batteries and Performance


https://www.apple.com/iphone-battery-and-performance/

"Unexpected shutdown"

Want do they take us for, idiots?

 

[Kmart9419]

Let me tell all you Apple fans who are falling over each other to defend Apple in every possible way by coming up with ridiculous statements: nobody asked Apple to replace battery for 29$. All we wanted is Apple to be upfront about it. If they had put a warning sign saying the battery is performing at lowest level, people would have gladly gone to Apple store and got the battery change. What hurt us was that we trusted Apple and Apple screwed our trust. I bet lots of people went and bought new iPhones because of the slow down which improved Apple's bottom line. Did Tim Cook took this into account when he set the quarterly revenue guidance?

Agree, could care less about the money. I just want an unthrottled phone like the day it came. Give me that choice and I'll happily leave apple alone.

 

[alleggerita]

YOU are so wrong. Basic Functions Don't work!! God please help all these Apple Drones that just buy all the BS and spend a ton of money for products and services that have been only on the decline since Tim C. took over...it is all about the Money and Quality is out the door! Software use to be the Hallmark of Apple...Siri? Siri? Oh...yep you have never Worked!!! and still don't!

I’m surrounded by people who are still using 6 and 6s with various levels of degraded battery and throttling. None of them noticed it. Why? Because their usage isn’t performance intensive. My dad is one of them. He wouldn’t have known his phone was being throttled if he didn’t see all these articles.

I’m not condoning Apple for being dishonest and not disclosing these informations. But I’m saying the general public who are less tech savvy simply didn’t know and couldn’t give a flying f

 

[adamski23]

You don't have "freedom of speech" on a privately owned forum, and worse yet Canadians are subjects of a corrupt monarchy, not Citizens with inalienable Rights (no matter how they labeled themselves after the 1940's).

It's simply odd for someone with no skin in the game to troll about this sort of thing. Unless you DO have skin in the game. Astroturf, perhaps.

So what if they’re Canadian?

Are they not entitled to share their thoughts about this Apple gaffe on this particular forum? So what if they don’t own an iPhone? Its plausible the poster knows someone personally who is affected by the situation - a possible reason for their stance on the situation. Not everyone who criticizes Apple is a troll.

Why even bring up where an individual hails from? This has nothing to do with the ability to post on a private forum accessible to the public. There’s no need to attack individuals if you don’t share their viewpoints.

 

[dampfnudel]

11.3 will probably introduce the new battery health/performance monitoring feature. I used a third-party app over the summer that checks the health of the battery and got a 87% result for my two-year-old 6s.