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iFixit: Apple 'Locking' iPhone Batteries to Discourage Third-Party Replacements [Updated]

Wow, here's what this says to me:

"We're not giving people a good enough reason to upgrade their $1000 phones - so let's make it harder/more expensive for them to keep the phones they have. And if they choose to replace the battery, let's make sure we get a piece of the action."

I'm sure Apple will respond by reducing battery replacement costs on the latest model phones.

iFixIt said it best - "This is a user-hostile choice".
 
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Khedron said:
It's not 3rd party, it's the exact same battery (do you think Apple manufactures batteries?). Even take a battery from one iPhone and put it in another but without Apple's special code and the battery health warnings will appear.
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I don't know where you got that information from, but I've had 3 iFixit batteries on my 6s and none of them could make the battery health status work. It always recognizes that the battery is a third-party one and won't show me the health.
 
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They’re just not going to diagnose third party batteries. Fine by us anyway since most of the batteries are due for a replacement by the time Apple Care+ lapses and you won’t have any warranty left to void by going third party. Doesn’t affect us but the excuse they’re giving us is a load of bull.
 
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alpi123 said:
I don't know where you got that information from, but I've had 3 iFixit batteries on my 6s and none of them could make the battery health status work. It always recognizes that the battery is a third-party one and won't show me the health.
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See the video posted above which explains how it works. All batteries are 3rd party. And replacing an identical battery will produce health warnings just because Apple wants to software lock that feature to discredit unofficial repairers.
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alpi123 said:
I don't know where you got that information from, but I've had 3 iFixit batteries on my 6s and none of them could make the battery health status work. It always recognizes that the battery is a third-party one and won't show me the health.
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Yes that's Apple disabling the feature because you didn't give the official code. Nothing to do with the battery itself.
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blackcrayon said:
Yeah, so a 3rd party battery doesn't contain a hardware feature that Apple's original batteries have, and that's Apple's fault? :D I agree on the tone of the article, you'd think a 3rd party battery was limited to 15 minutes runtime then the phone automatically shuts off or something.

Also as usual, the tone of the comments will be as if people read the headline but didn't read the actual description.
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And your reply shows you didn't watch the OP video which disproves your post within the first 25 seconds
 
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ediks said:
and how can we change the battery when there is not an apple store in our country? is premium reseller considered original?
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Yes they are. They use the same repair processes, training and parts as the Apple Stores employees would. Even the pricing is the same.
Singapore previously, Croatia, Norway and tons of other to these days have a reseller network instead of Apple Stores and I've never heard of a problem with servicing.
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MacRumors said:



Apple has activated a "dormant software lock" on its latest iPhones to discourage battery replacements that aren't undertaken by Apple, reports iFixit.

iphone-battery-service-thirs-party-repair-message-e1565262219785.jpg

The teardown group has discovered that an iPhone XS, iPhone XR, or iPhone XS Max that has had its battery swapped by anyone other than Apple or an Apple authorized service provider will now display a message saying their battery needs servicing.

The message appears in both iOS 12 and iOS 13 beta, even if the replacement is a genuine Apple battery, and prevents the user from accessing the Battery Health features in Settings. The "Service" message reads as follows:
iFixit says the message doesn't appear to affect the functionality of the battery, but makes it harder to know when a replacement battery installed by a third-party needs to be replaced.

YouTube channel The Art of Repair has discovered the source of the message to be a Texas Instruments microcontroller installed on the battery itself, which authenticates the battery as an Apple one and provides the iPhone with information about battery capacity and temperature. Presumably Apple uses special diagnostics software to reset the "Service" status when it undertakes an in-house iPhone battery replacement.

The message appears designed to deter battery replacements using third-party repair kits like the one sold by iFixit, and to discourage customers from getting a third-party repair shop to swap out their iPhone battery.

Apple would probably argue it is doing it out of safety concerns surrounding the replacement of swollen or damaged batteries. Nonetheless, it places further restrictions on the options available to iPhone users looking to get their battery replaced by anyone except Apple.


The practice also harks back to a similar third-party iPhone repair controversy: Error 53, widely publicized in 2016, caused some iPhone 6 users who had the Home buttons on their iPhones fixed by a non-Apple technician using non-original parts to see their iPhones bricked following a software update.

When the error code first surfaced, Apple said that error 53 was a protective security feature meant to prevent "malicious" third-party components from potentially compromising a user's iPhone.

However, after public outcry, Apple released a software update restoring functionality to bricked iPhones. Following the software update to unbrick iPhones, Apple claimed that the error 53 issue was meant to be a factory test and never should have impacted consumer devices.

Article Link: Apple 'Locking' iPhone Batteries to Discourage Third-Party Replacements
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This is a good thing. Apple battery replacement prices used to be stupid, they're now about 25% above "others", so when I hear/see stories of exploding batteries with third party replacements, I'd rather pay my 25%.
 
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Silver Pegasus said:
Thing is.. if it is a 3rd party Battery, why do people expect this feature to work. Apple won't fix that battery under warranty and the function likely won't be accurate anyways with said 3rd party battery in place, as who knows what the specs on that battery are.
Misleading for Apple or any other phone manufacturer to allow it in the past...
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Read again, we're talking about genuine Apple iPhone battery here.
 
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  1. iPhone with third party unauthorized battery explodes on an airplane. People sue Apple. Apple gets bad press. Apple says they didn't install the battery, not their fault. Bloomberg writes a 20,000 word article about "all of these affected people who are living in squalor" with their blowing up batteries. Apple's stock tanks. Investors get nervous.
  2. Apple limits iOS capabilities with third party unauthorized battery, gets sued anyways.
 
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chucker23n1 said:
This article has a weird vibe.



Where does this "lock the software"?



It doesn't say that.



Well, yes. How is Apple supposed to say when a third-party-produced battery needs servicing?



It doesn't really do that, though. It merely says that it can't really present diagnostic information about the battery. That's all.
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It's an 'article' in the same way that the open letter from Spotify to Apple was an 'article'.

Both companies sensed a potential threat to their business models and wanted to plant a seed to ensure 'justice' is brought to Apple.

I really don't understand most of the comments in this thread, most 'MacRumors' users seem to be delighted/dog pile any negative Apple news that comes along.

Only secret Samsung employees would see this as a black and white situation where Apple is looking for more money, there are more factors at play here.
 
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robbietop said:
  1. iPhone with third party unauthorized battery explodes on an airplane. People sue Apple. Apple gets bad press. Apple says they didn't install the battery, not their fault. Bloomberg writes a 20,000 word article about "all of these affected people who are living in squalor" with their blowing up batteries. Apple's stock tanks. Investors get nervous.
  2. Apple limits iOS capabilities with third party unauthorized battery, gets sued anyways.
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This is prob what Apple is thinking... they should prob change the message to say something else for example NOTE: this is a 3rd party battery and Apple is not responsible for anything that happens etc...., that way your iphone is still working and they gave you an warning that you have to accept that its 3rd party

it might be a money situation or a reputation issue . lets not forget here that Apple only tests they batteries with new code etc so they should at least have an opt out for support if your not using their batteries and you have issues related to the battery.
 
I fail to see the big deal about this. This is meant for outrage clicks.

Obviously, there's software/hardware involved that analyzes the factory installed iPhone batteries. Apple (and Texas Instruments) designed it that way. Do people seriously expect the battery health analysis to work with 3rd party batteries? At least it tells you that the battery may not be genuine, which is a red flag in and of itself. That is good enough in my opinion.
 
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metalsiren said:
This is prob what Apple is thinking... they should prob change the message to say something else for example NOTE: this is a 3rd party battery and Apple is not responsible for anything that happens etc...., that way your iphone is still working and they gave you an warning that you have to accept that its 3rd party
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Doesn’t the phone still work, you just don’t get battery health info?

I’d be curious to know what percentage of iPhone battery replacements are coming from non-certified 3rd parties. My guess is the number is small but iFixit needs it’s Apple outrage clicks.
 
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Does Apple want even more Anti-trust investigations to startup? This will be just too tempting for some people in DC. You know those who want to take Apple down a few pegs. Perhaps they are the very same people who don't get campain contributions? Money Talks in DC.

Seriously, some of the decisions by Apple recently seem to be playing right into the hands of the Anti-trust people.
 
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What a horrible article! There could be many reasons for this.
chucker23n1 said:
This article has a weird vibe.



Where does this "lock the software"?



It doesn't say that.



Well, yes. How is Apple supposed to say when a third-party-produced battery needs servicing?



It doesn't really do that, though. It merely says that it can't really present diagnostic information about the battery. That's all.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I'm not sure what MacRumors is trying to do with this article, but it definitely hurts their credibility.
 
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chucker23n1 said:
This article has a weird vibe.



Where does this "lock the software"?



It doesn't say that.



Well, yes. How is Apple supposed to say when a third-party-produced battery needs servicing?



It doesn't really do that, though. It merely says that it can't really present diagnostic information about the battery. That's all.
Click to expand...

Because, the device uses historical data from the output of the battery to determine its health. Don’t overthink batteries; as they’re rather dumb. Keep in mind, this functionality works on all previous iPhones with 3rd party batteries.
 
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This isn’t really new. A year or two ago, I replaced my 6S battery myself, and the battery health stats in iOS weren’t detected. If I want to know how my battery was doing, I just plugged my phone into a Mac and looked at the stats through Coconut Battery.
 
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It isn't 'just' third party batteries from what I can tell. You could take a battery out of an XS and put it another XS....and still get the same issue.

Rapidly going off Apple :-/ All my compute kit is Apple based (2019 MBP, 2017 Macbook, iMac Pro(2!), and an iPad)..and I like their ecosystem. I just don't feel comfortable with how they're treating their consumers. Ho hum.
 
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