iPhone 7/Plus Battery Replacement at Best Buy

[Channan]

Getting my iPhone's battery replaced at Best Buy and the worker asked me to turn off Find My Phone and remove my passcode lock. I asked why and he just said they can't do repairs without doing that.

Anybody know why? I'm curious why my personal information needs to be exposed like that just to swap batteries.

 

[mtneer]

Getting my iPhone's battery replaced at Best Buy and the worker asked me to turn off Find My Phone and remove my passcode lock. I asked why and he just said they can't do repairs without doing that.

Anybody know why? I'm curious why my personal information needs to be exposed like that just to swap batteries.

The Apple store had me do the same thing when I went in for the $29 battery swap last year. I believe they need to run some diagnostic tools and checks in the back before and after they work on your battery. Hence the access to your device. I expressed the same privacy concern to the Genius and he allowed me to wipe the device completely before taking it in (I always have a full backup before going in for any kind of check-up or service).

 

[Channan]

Thanks. I use the cloud for everything (messaging/texting, music, email, photos, etc.) so I just deleted all of the apps I didn't want anyone having access to and I'll just reinstall them after. But it's annoying to do.

Makes sense, though.

 

[JPack]

It's a policy to discourage replacement scams.

The battery is mounted to the iPhone with adhesive. In the past, some thieves would steal iPhones, replace the adhesive with glue, making it impossible for battery replacement. The Apple Store Genius would damage the iPhone in the process of trying to remove the battery. This would result in replacing the iPhone with a white box unit, which is obviously iCloud unlocked.

 

[JPack]

The Apple store had me do the same thing when I went in for the $29 battery swap last year. I believe they need to run some diagnostic tools and checks in the back before and after they work on your battery. Hence the access to your device. I expressed the same privacy concern to the Genius and he allowed me to wipe the device completely before taking it in (I always have a full backup before going in for any kind of check-up or service).

Apple can run full battery diagnostics remotely (over the web) and in person without touching Find My iPhone. They don't need you to remove Find My iPhone until they actually go ahead with replacement service.

 

[ftaok]

It's a policy to discourage replacement scams.

The battery is mounted to the iPhone with adhesive. In the past, some thieves would steal iPhones, replace the adhesive with glue, making it impossible for battery replacement. The Apple Store Genius would damage the iPhone in the process of trying to remove the battery. This would result in replacing the iPhone with a white box unit, which is obviously iCloud unlocked.

Never heard of this, but it makes perfect sense.

 

[now i see it]

It's all BS. I've had a mobile iPhone repair service come to my place and swap in a new battery in a couple minutes. Nothing had to be wiped or turned off or nothing. I handed him my OFfF phone & he replaced the battery. Done.

 

[Taizong15th]

The Apple store had me do the same thing when I went in for the $29 battery swap last year. I believe they need to run some diagnostic tools and checks in the back before and after they work on your battery. Hence the access to your device. I expressed the same privacy concern to the Genius and he allowed me to wipe the device completely before taking it in (I always have a full backup before going in for any kind of check-up or service).

The full backup is smart move!

 

[Newtons Apple]

I would reset my phone to factory before handing it over. Make sure you have a good iTunes encrypted backup and cloud backup.

 

[icloudUser]

They should run battery checks and diagnostics on the new battery separately before putting it in.

After that it should be a simple matter of turning the phone OFF , swapping the battery and turning it ON again before handing the phone back to the customer. I dont get the privacy concerns with this!!

i dont understand why Apple makes a big deal about this with so much hassle of turning find my phone OFF , wiping/resetting the phone etc. Imagine the data usage (wifi/mobile) and time cost of downloading everything (even if this is automatic sync etc) All of this is simply unneeded for a simple battery swap!

About thieves doing their tactics, apple staff should check if the phone is stolen before doing anything with it.

 

[akash.nu]

It's all BS. I've had a mobile iPhone repair service come to my place and swap in a new battery in a couple minutes. Nothing had to be wiped or turned off or nothing. I handed him my OFfF phone & he replaced the battery. Done.

That’s a difference between an off the street service man and apple. If he damaged your phone, what would you have done?! If apple damaged your phone they’ll replace it without questions and they need to be prepared for a potential failure always because that’s how legal stances work.