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Does Apple honor issues appearing before AppleCare expiring?

F

fratey

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 6, 2010
133
19
I have an iPhone 5 that has had battery issues since this summer. Sometimes, the phone dies in a "low battery-esque" way anywhere in the interval: [0,60]%. Charging it for a minute or so allows the phone to boot with the same battery level again.

I updated to iOS 7 a couple weeks before the AppleCare on the phone expired, and this seemed to have mitigated the issues for a while. However, now they have appeared again a month or so after the warranty expiring.

How well does Apple honor these type of cases? Do I have a $900 brick on my hands or do I have chance on actually getting a working phone?
 
They have no obligation to honor it outside of the warranty, but it cannot hurt to stop by an apple store.
 
mattopotamus said:
They have no obligation to honor it outside of the warranty, but it cannot hurt to stop by an apple store.
Click to expand...

Agreed, you should have taken care of it earlier OP. I would take it to an Apple store and explain the situation. They may help you out or not. Good luck.
 
ucfgrad93 said:
Agreed, you should have taken care of it earlier OP. I would take it to an Apple store and explain the situation. They may help you out or not. Good luck.
Click to expand...
The issues were solved by an OS update which made me assume it was a software issue. Wouldn't you assume that, if it was fixed by a software update?
Shanghaichica said:
Do you have any proof that the issues were occurring within the warranty period?
Click to expand...
Sadly no, unless you count angry text messages. I guess this means I have a $900 brick.
 
fratey said:
The issues were solved by an OS update which made me assume it was a software issue. Wouldn't you assume that, if it was fixed by a software update?

Sadly no, unless you count angry text messages. I guess this means I have a $900 brick.
Click to expand...

apple will replace your battery out of warranty for $79.00
 
fratey said:
The issues were solved by an OS update which made me assume it was a software issue. Wouldn't you assume that, if it was fixed by a software update?
Click to expand...

No, because your battery dying at 60% indicates a hardware problem. I would have taken it in after it died more than once.
 
fratey said:
How well does Apple honor these type of cases? Do I have a $900 brick on my hands or do I have chance on actually getting a working phone?
Click to expand...

You definitely don't have a $900 brick on your hands. At the VERY worst, you're looking at a $79 repair.

That said, Apple has a way of being very good about repairing items just out of warranty. I myself had a $700+ logic board replacement done for free on a MacBook Pro, six months after AppleCare expired on it. Granted though, it was because this was a recognized issue with that model of MacBook Pro. but even though I was both past AppleCare coverage and past the coverage dates for the repair program, they still did it, no charge.

Anyway: it doesn't hurt to take the phone into an Apple store on a Genius appointment and explain the situation. If you took the phone in prior, it helps to have a record of that visit to prove your case. Don't be pushy, but express your concern that these were issues you were having before the coverage expired, but they were intermittent.

The worst thing they can tell you is no. But, they might say yes and swap it out for you for free.

If they DO say no, you still have options. As stated in this thread, Apple will replace the battery out of warranty for $79, which is a far cry from having to buy a whole new phone. And there are cheaper third party options, too.
 
T5BRICK said:
No, because your battery dying at 60% indicates a hardware problem. I would have taken it in after it died more than once.
Click to expand...
Fair enough - I'm a software guy and assumed so was the case. Might have to do with that I actually emptied the battery at the same time I updated to iOS 7, which tricked me. Googling says this usually is a temporary remedy.
scaredpoet said:
You definitely don't have a $900 brick on your hands. At the VERY worst, you're looking at a $79 repair.

That said, Apple has a way of being very good about repairing items just out of warranty. I myself had a $700+ logic board replacement done for free on a MacBook Pro, six months after AppleCare expired on it. Granted though, it was because this was a recognized issue with that model of MacBook Pro. but even though I was both past AppleCare coverage and past the coverage dates for the repair program, they still did it, no charge.

Anyway: it doesn't hurt to take the phone into an Apple store on a Genius appointment and explain the situation. If you took the phone in prior, it helps to have a record of that visit to prove your case. Don't be pushy, but express your concern that these were issues you were having before the coverage expired, but they were intermittent.

The worst thing they can tell you is no. But, they might say yes and swap it out for you for free.

If they DO say no, you still have options. As stated in this thread, Apple will replace the battery out of warranty for $79, which is a far cry from having to buy a whole new phone. And there are cheaper third party options, too.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your very thorough reply! Much appreciated.
 
First, you don't have a $900 brick in almost any sense of the word. Since you are talking about an iPhone 5, at current prices, that's maybe a $500 brick. But my smart arse aside...

They may honor it, but since they have been pushing Apple care, they have been doing much less "free" work, from my understanding anyway. Either way, they will replace the phone out of warranty for around $250. Much better than the $500 brick I mentioned. And mountains better than the $900 you mentioned. :)

You can also try and go with a third party battery replacement service. Plenty of people have been happy with this, but I have read some horror stories as well. This service costs in the ballpark of $80, depending on where you go.

EDIT: someone beat me to it. Apple will do the repairs for $80 no less! Sweet deal.
 
lordofthereef said:
First, you don't have a $900 brick in almost any sense of the word. Since you are talking about an iPhone 5, at current prices, that's maybe a $500 brick. But my smart arse aside...
Click to expand...
Not to be that guy, but there are people on Macrumors outside the US. The iPhone 5 new is roughly $750 currently over here.
lordofthereef said:
They may honor it, but since they have been pushing Apple care, they have been doing much less "free" work, from my understanding anyway. Either way, they will replace the phone out of warranty for around $250. Much better than the $500 brick I mentioned. And mountains better than the $900 you mentioned. :)
Click to expand...
Fair enough - but I expect that to be $400 for replacing it in Swedish prices. :)

lordofthereef said:
EDIT: someone beat me to it. Apple will do the repairs for $80 no less! Sweet deal.
Click to expand...
Let's hope the same applies in Sweden! I'd love for it to be so.
 
fratey said:
Not to be that guy, but there are people on Macrumors outside the US. The iPhone 5 new is roughly $750 currently over here.

Fair enough - but I expect that to be $400 for replacing it in Swedish prices. :)


Let's hope the same applies in Sweden! I'd love for it to be so.
Click to expand...
Battery replacement is apparently 695 Krona in Sweden. Remember that the $79 US price is before sales tax. And if it is more than just the battery that is bad, the out of warranty replacement service price for the iPhone 5/5c/5s is 2409 Krona.
 
fratey said:
Not to be that guy, but there are people on Macrumors outside the US. The iPhone 5 new is roughly $750 currently over here.
Click to expand...


Fair enough. I don't want to be that guy either. But you did quote a price in US dollars...

If I may also say, Apple is going to have different policies in different countries. So if you are asking questions about how well Apple will honor something, it may be helpful to mention you are not in the states, or UK, where the majority of phones are sold, and where the majority of macrumors users likely reside. Just a suggestion :)
 
Last edited:
Bear said:
Battery replacement is apparently 695 Krona in Sweden. Remember that the $79 US price is before sales tax. And if it is more than just the battery that is bad, the out of warranty replacement service price for the iPhone 5/5c/5s is 2409 Krona.
Click to expand...

So at current conversion, that's about $105 in Sweden versus maybe $90 (give or take a few $ depending on your area).

That's pretty good news I would say. :)
 
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