Apple won't replace battery under warranty

[andrewtm]

I've noticed significant battery drainage recently on my iPhone 7 Plus. I took it into Apple cause my receiver sounded muffled and low, it turns out it was just dirty, so they just used a brush to clean it and it sounds significantly louder.

Anyway, they ran a battery diagnostic on it as well and it showed that my battery health is at 91% and decreasing faster than it should be. The employee said basically this meant that when my phone says it's at 100%, it's really at 91%. They would not replace it however because it hasn't reached that critical point yet. The woman said it could be from using an iPad charger to charge it but Apple's website says you can do that.

My warranty is up in November. Do you think I should just go back and see if another person would do something different?

 

[44267547]

I would continue to Monitor your battery and see how it continues. Apple measured your battery and the results might be be same if you return. If the issues persist, then I would contact Apple again. Also, check your battery statistics under settings to see if there if is anything contributing to the battery drain. (I.e Third party applications, other media, etc).

You could also do a hard reset by holding down the sleep/wake button and volume down button, which might clear any glitches in the iPhone causing the battery drain.

 

[AFEPPL]

I had it on a 6S and it was replaced without issues.
I have notice my 7 seems to drain really quickly, to the extent for the first time i have had to get the apple case with a battery in.

Damn thing feels like a brick now and weighs the same but its the only way to get through the day.

 

[JPack]

They would not replace it however because it hasn't reached that critical point yet.

I believe the threshold for replacement is 80%.

The woman said it could be from using an iPad charger to charge it but Apple's website says you can do that.

You could, but it's like eating spaghetti with a spoon. You can also operate the iPhone at 35C ambient temp. It's simply not ideal. Use the 5W charger when possible. The charging temperature should be as low as possible to prolong battery health.

 

[bodonnell202]

Apple won't replace your battery under warranty unless it is less than 80% of it's original capacity so if it is at 91% taking it back won't change much. You can monitor your battery health using Coconut Battery if you have a Mac.

As far as battery drainage it's usually caused by rogue apps/background update. Turn background update off for apps that don't need it (most don't) and reset your phone.

 

[HallStevenson]

The woman said it could be from using an iPad charger to charge it but Apple's website says you can do that.

Never give more detail than necessary. If they ask how/what you charge it with, simply saying, "I use my Apple charger" will suffice.

 

[BigMcGuire]

My iPhone 6+, for the 1.8 months I had it, had 250+ cycles. I charged it EVERY SINGLE TIME with a 2.4a iPad 12w charger or an Anker 4.8a charger. Never once did it charge from the included 1amp brick that it came with.

It had 99% health on the battery the day I gave it back to Apple. (It started out with around 103%).

My iPhone 6s+ is in a similar boat. I've had it for over a year now and the battery life started out at 96% and now is at 93-95% (fluctuates). Apple won't do a thing until it goes below 80%. I'm considering dropping some $80? to replace it myself at the Apple store, but I've made the decision to live with it for now.

I have AppleCare+ so I'm monitoring it monthly with coconutBattery. The moment it drops to 80%, if it does, I'll be at an Apple Store expecting a replacement. But after 193 cycles (as of 6/24) - I'm still sitting at 96%. So I don't think it will drop.

Most of my Apple devices have had over 100% - my 6s+ is the first one that hasn't. But it's holding steady, 200 cycles later. Not bad!


Only thing I can recommend:

1. Run your phone down to 0% (don't do this often, just to calibrate the battery %). I find I have to do this every other update or so.

2. Factory reset and see if you have the same problems. If it doesn't have the same problems, spend time time to set up phone as new and start over - better than having a backup that drains your battery. Again this is 100% up to you. I haven't had to do this.

3. Remember that when your phone says it hits 100%, it isn't 100% and it will trickle charge to 100% over the next hour or so. You can stay at 100% longer when you do this. Use apps like coconutBattery on your Mac to find this out.

 

[SparklyPickle]

My iPhone 6+, for the 1.8 months I had it, had 250+ cycles. I charged it EVERY SINGLE TIME with a 2.4a iPad 12w charger or an Anker 4.8a charger. Never once did it charge from the included 1amp brick that it came with.

It had 99% health on the battery the day I gave it back to Apple. (It started out with around 103%).

My iPhone 6s+ is in a similar boat. I've had it for over a year now and the battery life started out at 96% and now is at 93-95% (fluctuates). Apple won't do a thing until it goes below 80%. I'm considering dropping some $80? to replace it myself at the Apple store, but I've made the decision to live with it for now.

I have AppleCare+ so I'm monitoring it monthly with coconutBattery. The moment it drops to 80%, if it does, I'll be at an Apple Store expecting a replacement. But after 193 cycles (as of 6/24) - I'm still sitting at 96%. So I don't think it will drop.

Most of my Apple devices have had over 100% - my 6s+ is the first one that hasn't. But it's holding steady, 200 cycles later. Not bad!


Only thing I can recommend:

1. Run your phone down to 0% (don't do this often, just to calibrate the battery %). I find I have to do this every other update or so.

2. Factory reset and see if you have the same problems. If it doesn't have the same problems, spend time time to set up phone as new and start over - better than having a backup that drains your battery. Again this is 100% up to you. I haven't had to do this.

3. Remember that when your phone says it hits 100%, it isn't 100% and it will trickle charge to 100% over the next hour or so. You can stay at 100% longer when you do this. Use apps like coconutBattery on your Mac to find this out.

Does this app exists on iOS?

 

[BigMcGuire]

Does this app exists on iOS?

It used to before iOS 10 Now, only way to use it is via a Mac .

 

[SparklyPickle]

It used to before iOS 10 Now, only way to use it is via a Mac .

I'm out of luck then. But thanks!

 

[alpi123]

I'm out of luck then. But thanks!

I use "Mr.Battery". At least works for me, says mine is 99.13% but rarely it decreases and goes back to normal. Usually is lower when I don't have much juice left, I think.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I use "Mr.Battery". At least works for me, says mine is 99.13% but rarely it decreases and goes back to normal. Usually is lower when I don't have much juice left, I think.

I just got this app - how interesting. Says my battery health is 98.18% . I like it already. lol. Thanks for the suggestion. Nice not having to plug into Mac all the time!

 

[alpi123]

I just got this app - how interesting. Says my battery health is 98.18% . I like it already. lol. Thanks for the suggestion. Nice not having to plug into Mac all the time!

Glad I helped I use the free version tho, which is not in the App Store anymore and the paid one is $1.99 but the only difference is that the one has ads. If you don't want to pay, I think there are other battery apps that display battery health but I'm not sure whether they're a gimmick or not. (Not sure even about this one lol)

 

[BearBert]

Yeah apple won't replace unless your capacity is at 80%. And that's gibberish with using an iPad charger, that's all I use and my 7plus still has 100 percent capacity with 201 charge cycles currently.

 

[JulesJam]

Only thing I can recommend:

1. Run your phone down to 0% (don't do this often, just to calibrate the battery %).

Definitely don't do this. That is one of the worst thing you can do to a Lithium ion battery. It does nothing but harm your battery.

 

[JPack]

It's pretty amazing people will believe a $1.99 app instead decades of academic and industrial research on lithium batteries.

Key factors for battery aging: (1) operation at low state of charge, (2) high charging currents, (3) high temperatures.

Instead, people want to believe their battery with over 200 cycles hasn't aged a bit. LOL.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Definitely don't do this. That is one of the worst thing you can do to a Lithium ion battery. It does nothing but harm your battery.

Up until somewhat recently, Apple recommended people do this monthly... Doesn't harm it as much as you'd think. Yes, draining a lithium ion to 0% with no voltage will destroy it, but the phone turns off way before this happens. A lot of people use their phones till it hits 0% and turns off - yes, this is more stress on the battery, but the WORST thing you can do is leave your phone in the hot sun (direct sunlight) for hours and hours, not run it down to 0%. ....

My wife runs her phone down to single digits all the time and her battery capacity (mAh) vs design capacity (mAh) is within 5% of mine and I use my phone mostly from 80-100%.

https://web.archive.org/web/20120321140231/https://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

From Apple's own website:

Use iPhone Regularly
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Be sure to go through at least one charge cycle per month (charging the battery to 100% and then completely running it down).


Looks like they got rid of this in 2014? The archive website is horribly slow.

Not that I'd recommend it often, but it does help with battery % calibration.

I've had more than a few times where, after an iOS update, my battery drops 50% in less than an hour. This continues to happen even after reboots. I find running it down to 0%, the phone will last 5-6 hours at 6% and then finally die - recalibrating the battery % reader. As I stated in my original post, this usually only happens after a major iOS update for me.

It's pretty amazing people will believe a $1.99 app instead decades of academic and industrial research on lithium batteries.

Instead, people want to believe their battery with over 200 cycles hasn't aged a bit. LOL.

The app is reading data put out by the phone. Are you calling the own phone's stats incorrect? As posted on other threads in this forum, coconutBattery is far more accurate since iOS hides a lot of the data that it used to show pre-iOS 10.

Having actually worked with lithium ion batteries for awhile (they're a hobby of mine) - it's not uncommon for mAh capacity to be near or close to design mAh capacity after 1-2 years of usage with care... Most cheap batteries drop very fast, but if you get high end Panasonic or similar cells - they can be close to 100% even after years of usage. Otherwise Tesla cars wouldn't last more than a few years...

My boss had an old iPhone 4s with thousands of cycles on it - still using it for his daily phone up until a few months ago. These batteries are pretty resilient if you take care of them.


http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

The guy who did this website (Isidor Buchmann) writes a great book about batteries - https://www.amazon.com/Batteries-Po...id=1499300150&sr=8-1&keywords=isidor+buchmann

As you can see, for the 1-2C discharges, the capacity stays about the same. http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/bu_808b_what_causes_li_ion_to_die

So has a battery after 200 cycles aged? Yes. Has it lost capacity? For some, maybe not a lot depending on how it was abused/used.

-----------------------------

But you guys both have good advice for battery longevity: Charge slow, don't run down past 40% if you can help it, and avoid heat.

 

[JulesJam]

Doesn't harm it as much as you'd think.

IT definitely harms the battery and provides NO BENEFIT AT ALL. Dude, you are giving out bad advice. Stop.

 

[BigMcGuire]

IT definitely harms the battery and provides NO BENEFIT AT ALL. Dude, you are giving out bad advice. Stop.

You didn't address my post when Apple was recommending every iPhone and iPad owner do the same thing. I hardly think they were offering bad advice then and I hardly think I'm offering bad advice now. You have not supported your opinion therefore you give me no ability to take your side or consider your argument.

Calibrating the battery % reader is hardly bad advice. If you've ever used Android phones you know this is something that they can suffer from as well (especially when using custom roms).

 

[JulesJam]

You didn't address my post when Apple was recommending every iPhone and iPad owner do the same thing.

There is nothing to address. I have no idea if it is true or not but if they were recommending doing it to a lithium ion battery like the ones in the iPhone 7, it was bad advice like I said.

 

[BigMcGuire]

There is nothing to address. I have no idea if it is true or not but if they were recommending doing it to a lithium ion battery like the ones in the iPhone 7, it was bad advice like I said.

OK, I don't want to argue or fight you at all -- but I hope you understand what I'm saying. Yes, depth of discharge is detrimental to the battery. If you're doing 100% to 0% all the time, such an individual is not doing good things for their battery, but in fact hurting it. This I agree with totally in respect to lithium ion batteries. However, users can do this for 2 years and still be above 80% design capacity (and many do).

Doing an occasional discharge to 0% isn't going to dramatically affect the battery's overall life significantly. My wife does it to her phone practically all the time (I encourage her not to because she does it so often). Makes me cringe. I rarely go below 80% myself. But after 1.5-2 years her battery health (mAh capacity vs design mAh capacity) is rarely more than 5% lower than mine.

I only suggested they do it if they suffer a huge drop in battery % after an iOS update (which doesn't happen that often). I've only had to do it myself twice in the last few years. A family member of mine had to do it when iOS 10 came out and it worked for them.

And for many many years, Apple recommended iPhone users do this on their lithium ion (or li-poly if you wanna get exact) batteries on a monthly basis (as shown by the web archive link I provided).


Edit #198234012: Seems your posting history is full of opinionated criticisms with no fact backing them up. Guess that's just who you are. Have a nice day.

 

[JulesJam]

Yes, depth of discharge is detrimental to the battery.

Correct and it provides no benefit, so there is no reason to tell people to do it.

 

[BigMcGuire]

Correct and it provides no benefit, so there is no reason to tell people to do it.

I disagree and have stated my reasons above. I'll respect your right to disagree without providing reason. <sigh> Have a good evening Mr. JulesJam

 

[Floris]

I had it on a 6S and it was replaced without issues.
I have notice my 7 seems to drain really quickly, to the extent for the first time i have had to get the apple case with a battery in.

Damn thing feels like a brick now and weighs the same but its the only way to get through the day.

if only there was a thinner version of that case, for the plus phones .. i'd buy it.
Now I am taking long video clips and timelapses with mophy battery packs hanging around