Apple's $29 Battery Replacement Program Could Lead to 16M Fewer iPhones Sold in 2018

[Bawstun]

That pretty much sums up my experience too. Haha
[doublepost=1515033147][/doublepost]

The shutdown absolutely was a very real issue. People were talking about it on here occasionally. I experienced it with my own eyes. Apple just screwed up how they communicated the fix. Complete PR debacle.

*raises hand* I went in the first time telling them of random shutdowns and they didn’t do anything. The genius knew though, you could see it on her face. Then literally a few weeks later they announced it “just” for the 6S, which I didn’t believe. I think they knew it would happen on any phones at or above the processing speed of the 6 line. Which has been the case...

They tried to sweep it all under the rug initially, and now their CEO is out and they’re losing billions in dollars, sales & customer loyalty. DISASTER on a social media level and upgrade/sales loyalty. Tim is GONE!

 

[engbren]

I recently purchased an iPhone X for my wife who was having terrible battery troubles with her iPhone 6 (constant random shut downs and just slow and laggy) . Being out of warranty, I considered paying for a replacement battery but at AUD$119, the cost felt too high to repair such an old phone and the money better spent towards a new phone. The allure of a better camera, faster specs, larger screen etc pushed me over the edge for the purchase. The new program at AUD$39 feels much more like a no-brainer to try it and see.
I've got it in at the Apple store for repairs now and will give it to my father in law if it all works out. This might be the scenario the analysts have forgotten - the battery replacement program enables people to recycle older iPhones and introduce additional people to the iOS ecosystem that otherwise might have ended up with a cheap Android.

 

[mi7chy]

I was ready to upgrade my 5s but now I don't want to if Apple is putting cr@p batteries in. Sigh, maybe better batteries in 2018 phones?

Hopefully, that's the reason for originally delaying the battery replacement program to January so that they can get some decent batteries manufactured. Problem will just return if they use the same crap battery in stock.

 

[woodynorman]

I'd wager these days, slow devices is the single biggest reason that compels people to upgrade.

It's not like the form factor or features are changing that much. Battery life isn't getting longer. The camera is a tad crisper and the hardware is a bit faster (well, at least at first ).

Exactly. The 6 looks/feels like the 7 which looks/feels like the 8. If they are all running the same IOS, at the same speed, most consumers would just stick with what they have and save $1000.

Then there's the rest of us, who just like new phones and will buy new iPhones regularly.

 

[Swampthing]

B.S! People will continue to buy new phones. Realistically, how many people actually buy new phones because of their slower performance?

Realistically? YES I DID. I was very tired of the horrendous slowdown on my 6S plus and decided to upgrade.

 

[falainber]

Her three year old phone is slow?

Wow.

As an iPhone owner you might be conditioned to think this way but you are wrong. My 3.5 year old Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is as fast as new.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

The reality is many people can't justify spending hundreds (or, ~$1000) to buy a new phone every two years. And many people simply don't care about the latest and the greatest.

My dad's iPhone 6 Plus was so slow that he (a very much non-tech person) felt very frustrated (even wiped his phone clean because he thought it has got some kind of virus). I bought him an iPhone 8 plus as a present for his birthday, he couldn't really tell the differences (other than the obvious ones like the camera looks different) but he's just happy that using the new phone just feels like using his 6p when he first bought it.

Agreed. I had met people on 6s’s whose phone got unbearably slow with terrible battery life since iOS 11. Fortunately in most of the cases the problems were fixed when I wiped the phone and did a fresh install.

 

[filterdecay]

B.S! People will continue to buy new phones. Realistically, how many people actually buy new phones because of their slower performance?

I only buy a new phone when it slows down. And they slow down every 2 years. weird.

 

[liberte1776]

So does Apple do anything similar on iPhone 5s w/speed reductions? What about a 5s battery replacement deal, Apple?

 

[woodynorman]

As an iPhone owner you might be conditioned to think this way but you are wrong. My 3.5 year old Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is as fast as new.

Said no one but you, ever. lol

 

[Bawstun]

Agreed. I had met people on 6s’s whose phone got unbearably slow with terrible battery life since iOS 11. Fortunately in most of the cases the problems were fixed when I wiped the phone and did a fresh install.

I have a few different SE’s. I consistently get 2 days of usage in the 10.3.3 devices. On iOS 11, I just a normal day of use and it’s almost at zero. The difference is crazy noticeable...night and day.

 

[stepandy]

Good. Now, let's calculate how much they would have earned had they remained silent on intentional iPhone slowdowns.

I'll betcha it's BILLIONS more.

Given average selling price of $750 per iphone, lost revenue on 16M units is $12 Billion. From memory, Apple's averge margin is circa 35%, so its a loss of $4.2 Billion in profit.
It's a number

 

[FasterQuieter]

Doubtful.

 

[ABHolt]

16 million batteries replaced in one year. That’s over 43k everyday. If everyone brings it to a store that’s 88 batteries per store per day. Yep, this is gonna be an issue.

 

[ronno]

Hopefully, that's the reason for originally delaying the battery replacement program to January so that they can get some decent batteries manufactured. Problem will just return if they use the same crap battery in stock.

As far as I know there is nothing wrong with these batteries per se. The problem is these phones needed a higher capacity battery, but Apple stupidly opted for thinness instead.
Form over function.

You are not going to get a “better” battery by waiting.

 

[dazz87]

It’s nice to see Apple doing the right thing. If it’s true that these software changes were put in place to mitigate issues with random restarts due to battery issues then Apple could and should have instituted warning messages to let users know what the underlying problem actually was and that they should replace the battery to fix it.

If they’d have done that out of the gate they wouldn’t need to charge less for their battery replacement program to make amends for their very public mistake but they screwed up and will bear the costs of that mistake as a result. As well they should. There will be increased public scrutiny of iOS performance on “older” devices in the future. As well they should.

only when they got caught.........You really think apple would roll this out if it wasnt for a 13 year old on reddit? Everyone should be thanking that kid on reddit..

 

[ronno]

@ Macaholic868
They shouldn’t have been charging an absurd $80 for a two dollar battery replacement in the first place.
That high price was implemented to get people to get a new phone instead of replacing the battery on their old one...

 

[Baymowe335]

Why should I as a customer accept Apple's claim that they didn't do this intentionally? From my perspective Apple is one of the most cleverly managed companies in the world so I find it beyond belief that they would not have been aware that early upgrades/sales would result from slowing older devices.
It's blindingly obvious to consumers that upgrading is a natural response to a phone getting slow, but Apple has the temerity to say this didn't occur to them. I don't believe them, they're not to be trusted anymore.

Have fun with Android. You know you can trust Google and Samsung, particularly Google to protect your data..

LOL

You’ll have a pretty miserable and lacking existence if you boycott every company with a little problem.

 

[kentsydney]

Sorry Apple but don’t believe that there isn’t hidden code to slow down older iPhones with updates. It’s like the VW and other companies diesel emmisions doctoring.

I reckon every manufacture does it as it will be impossible to find but with everybody sharing their experiences vis social media companies can’t get away with it now.

I love Apple and have been a fan of their design innovation and generally applaud that they do the right thing.

But I sense things are changing as they have to keep the shareholders happy by delivering increased profits every quarter.

 

[dampfnudel]

B.S! People will continue to buy new phones. Realistically, how many people actually buy new phones because of their slower performance?

Yes, but with the excessive prices Apple is now charging, extending the life of your iPhone with a new battery will be seen as a viable option by a significant number of people who previously upgraded every two years. Lowering the prices may become necessary this year.
[doublepost=1515043288][/doublepost]

The reality is many people can't justify spending hundreds (or, ~$1000) to buy a new phone every two years. And many people simply don't care about the latest and the greatest.

My dad's iPhone 6 Plus was so slow that he (a very much non-tech person) felt very frustrated (even wiped his phone clean because he thought it has got some kind of virus). I bought him an iPhone 8 plus as a present for his birthday, he couldn't really tell the differences (other than the obvious ones like the camera looks different) but he's just happy that using the new phone just feels like using his 6p when he first bought it.

A new battery would’ve saved you a lot of dinero.

 

[obezcinnet]

***BATTERY REPLACEMENT WARNING--NO STOCK!!!***
I signed up for an on line appointment, showed up 20 minutes early. The on-line process identified the need as a battery replacement for my iphone 6, which was registered and required me to log in to my itunes account.

When I arrived they would not check me in until 15 minutes before my appointment, so I waited. I got checked in, then waited for a technician. The technician showed up in about 5 minutes and informed me that they are ***OUT** of batteries! I asked how that could be since I had an appointment, and he told me that all the batteries were sold to walk-ins.

At that point i asked for a manager, and was told same things, and also that it was like going to a doctor, first the diagnosis, and then another appointment to fix the problem.

I couldnt disagree more with this approach, and felt that it should have gone like this:

1. Best case--battery reserved when appointment was made for battery replacement
2. Second Best--Email or text notification that batteries were out so please reschedule
3. Third Best--Offer free replacement when batteries are in stock

Instead, i just got a half-assed apology, a lecture about the doctors visit, and no battery replacement, despite the investment of two hours of my time and several train tickets.

For shame Apple!

I think everyone needs to calm down a bit. This new battery pricing was announced to start in late January and obviously apple didn't have enough in stock at each of its stores for the early start. It's also right after holidays and shipments can be also a bit late. I don't get the rush. this will run until 2019.

You don't have to be a genius to realize almost all stores will be out of iphone 6 batteries for a couple weeks. IF you really need someone to tell you that, I will be the one telling: There won't be any batteries available at apple stores for a couple more weeks. since you already went through your appointment, they will order a battery JUST for you and they won't give it to walkins.

If businesses reserved replacement parts for people who booked "online" appointments that would be a huge waste of resources and time. who can guarantee that you will show up to your appointment? how do they make sure you will sign the paperwork and actually pay for the battery until you pay for it? how do they know your credit card won't be declined when you are trying to pay for that battery? If you would have paid for that replacement part BEFORE you arrived to the store I would understand the outrage but that's not the case here.

 

[B4U]

And one of the shadiest part is that the Geniuses told me that updating to iOS 10 would fix my launch day 6s shut down issue!
Yeah, sure, at the cost of the performance.
Should have just replace the damn battery and DO NOT FORCE an OS update (more like downgrade) to us.

 

[nerdAFK]

16M iPhones, give or take, multiplied by the 700 dollar average selling price, is more than 11 billion dollars.
That is a big slap in the face to all those nay-sayers of "Apple would never deliberately drive customers to upgrade", especially the notorious Apple apologist John Gruber.
They all fail to take into account, intentionally or not, that iPhone business has grown soooo huge that any seemingly tiny move will lead to significant fluctuation in actual money, which also explains why Apple has been gradually increasing iPhone's price.

 

[Defthand]

Realistically, how many people actually buy new phones because of their slower performance?

If not for that reason, what is the most common motivation?

 

[jeremiah256]

The analysts numbers seem reasonable. Apple sells around 40M iPhones per quarter. 16M or 4M per quarter is a 10% drop.

Many people who buy phones for others that are not even moderately heavy users (their parents, significant other, children) are going to be tempted to forgo buying a new phone and try out just upgrading the battery for $29. That's what I'm planning to do with my wife's phone.

Plus, I may keep my 6S Plus a little longer if it's true LG is making the X2's screen. I want to make sure LG can deliver the quantity Apple wants with the quality.