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

[mwd25]

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.

Which would be fine, I would have zero problem with Apple doing this if it was only with third party batteries. Obviously Apple cant and shouldn't be expected to control those. But..........the article clearly states,
"The message appears in both iOS 12 and iOS 13 beta, even if the replacement is a genuine Apple battery,"
Well, that is a problem. I cant see any reason that benefits the consumer, to give that notification when you replace with a genuine Apple battery.

 

[tigerintank]

My MacBook has this to say about my iFixit replacement battery

Battery Information:

Model Information:

Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Manufacturer: SMP

Device Name: XXXXXXXX

Pack Lot Code: 0

PCB Lot Code: 0

Firmware Version: 702

Hardware Revision: 000a

Cell Revision: 379

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 4598

Fully Charged: No

Charging: No

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6426

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 10

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 0

Voltage (mV): 11985
------------------------------
Coconut Battery App provides even more info including the temperature - so a reasonable question would be if Battery info can be provided for a 3rd party battery on a Mac, why not on iPhone?

 

[Macusercom]

I agree that Apple doesn't want to be responsible if a 3rd party battery explodes. Yet, stopping a user from repairing it elsewhere would be more than wrong and this already happened with an iPhone display that didn't have a genuine proximity sensor in there and didn't work afaik. But luckily Apple doesn't pull the trigger on 3rd party batteries.

As far as I understand Apple that you don't want to buy a used or refurbished iPhone that uses 3rd party parts especially if you don't know anything about it, they could prevent it if they were selling genuine replacement parts to the average user. That would reduce the number of 3rd party parts used for a repair.

But Apple starts to only ship parts to the Apple Store or Certified Service Provider when they request it for a specific repair. They try to make it illegal to repair your device as it infringes on their intellectual property. This is what I find ridiculous.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Yes that's Apple disabling the feature because you didn't give the official code. Nothing to do with the battery itself.

I'll be surprised if Apple can get away with this for long, in Europe.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

A few points. One: Apple battery replacements are now a reasonable price, and not the typical Apple-extortionate territory we usually see. Two: Batteries can cause fires, and there's no guarantee when you get a third party battery replacement in one of those Chinese shops or any other that the battery has been tested and manufactured to a high standard to protect from this. Three: I have gotten battery replacements in the past for my niece (few years back) from third parties and the battery life wasn't as good as an Apple battery.

Given that they will replace a battery now for $49-69 and that you know the battery has been tested to a high standard, I think this is one area where Apple is right to not support battery health for third party battery repairs—and personally, I like the way now it is easy to tell if you for example buy a used iPhone or "new" iPhone from eBay or one of those shops, that the battery inside is guaranteed to be of high quality. As as another user posted, the article here has several inaccuracies.

 

[Macusercom]

My MacBook has this to say about my iFixit replacement battery

Battery Information:

Model Information:

Serial Number: XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Manufacturer: SMP

Device Name: XXXXXXXX

Pack Lot Code: 0

PCB Lot Code: 0

Firmware Version: 702

Hardware Revision: 000a

Cell Revision: 379

Charge Information:

Charge Remaining (mAh): 4598

Fully Charged: No

Charging: No

Full Charge Capacity (mAh): 6426

Health Information:

Cycle Count: 10

Condition: Normal

Battery Installed: Yes

Amperage (mA): 0

Voltage (mV): 11985
------------------------------
Coconut Battery App provides even more info including the temperature - so a reasonable question would be if Battery info can be provided for a 3rd party battery on a Mac, why not on iPhone?

It's probably easier to get battery stats via USB than via an API on an iOS app. But CoconutBattery is working flawlessly for years now.

 

[Mac Fly (film)]

and how can we change the battery when there is not an apple store in our country? is premium reseller considered original?

Yes it is.

 

[HacKage]

Yeah, so a 3rd party battery doesn't contain a hardware feature that Apple's original batteries have, and that's Apple's fault? 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.

That's nonsense, and if you had any knowledge on the batteries available on the market, and how apps like Apple Battery Health work, you'd keep quiet. Do you know that if you take a 100% genuine battery from an iPhone XS, and put it into another iPhone XS, it will show that it is not genuine? It is a genuine battery, but it does not have the serial number of that phone written to it, something that can only be done once. That is BS!

All Apple Battery Health does is check the full charge capacity against the design capacity, and then looks at the cycles. Free apps like CoconutBattery can do this in any Mac, and there are tools available on Windows.

If the design capacity of an iPhone battery is say 3000mAh, and it has <24000mAh (80%) left while being under 500 cycles (the designed cycle count for iPhone), then it is deemed to be needing serviced. There is absolutely nothing proprietary about the hardware in non-Apple batteries that limits these absolute basics from being read by software. What Apple are refusing to do, is read this basic data that loads of free apps already do, in the name of making it out that the replacement battery is faulty and scaring you into paying for their replacement. It won't be long before they lock it down so that a non original to that handset battery will not even power the handset, much like the Error 53 debacle where if you had a non original iPhone 6 home button, your phone was bricked by any update or restore attempt!

 

[IIGS User]

I don't think the REAL story is the battery and how/if it functions. I think the real story is the credibility gap Apple now has with it's ingrained customer base.

Let's face it, we're not posting on a message board called "mac rumors" every day because we're all Nokia fanboys here. For the most part, we all like Apple products, enjoy using them, and are interested in what direction the technology is taking.

There was a time when some of us expected Apple, as a company, to do the "right thing" for their customers. Admit mistakes, stand behind their products, make every effort to give the customer the best experience possible.

Now, even though we like Apple products, and will most likely will continue to purchase them, we all kinda feel a little dirty doing so.

Are the corners cut small? Yeah, probably. Things like screen and keyboard issues on certain MBP models, battery issues on certain phones, crappy old chargers packed into the box with "flagship" handsets.

Sometimes, it seems like the goal is to run things slowly into the ground and milk the cash cow as long as possible on the way down. Not to provide the customer a superior experience.

Sooner or later, someone will come along and eat Apple's lunch.

 

[Vjosullivan]

...one of those Chinese shops...

Three pages before anyone blamed China for Apple's decision. I'm impressed.

 

[iReality85]

As far as I understand Apple that you don't want to buy a used or refurbished iPhone that uses 3rd party parts especially if you don't know anything about it, they could prevent it if they were selling genuine replacement parts to the average user. That would reduce the number of 3rd party parts used for a repair.

The average user is dumb. That's just the reality, and this exists for that reason.

The message is meant primarily for people who buy their iPhones used, which may also come with a non-Apple aftermarket battery. There is simply no way to know or guarantee the quality of 3rd party batteries out there. If a user's 3rd party battery explodes, what is the user going to do? Blame and sue Apple, and Apple knows that.

This isn't a nefarious scheme by Apple. It's designed to protect them from liability, and protect you and your device from malfunctioning batteries.

 

[Shirasaki]

Louis Rossman Already pointed this out. Apple is a Disgusting company when it comes to the right to repair. we dont own our products. as far as apple are concerned we lease them from them. and we have ZERO rights

The sad truth is there are really very few people realising this, let alone trying to take any actions.

Maybe it’s greed, maybe it’s security, maybe it’s greed in the name of security

Definitely greed in the name of security. There is no security to brag about in this scenario, as even Apple battery has a chance to explode.

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.

I think this is more about a trend of locking down system further to protect their intellectual property, which sounds reasonable, but also means nobody else can tamper their software and hardware, making independent audit impossible, indirectly increasing their incentive to plant malicious code by themselves. Because of the lockdown, Apple May have already built multiple backdoors to allow data being routed back to China but we cannot confirm that because of such lockdown.

 

[Nacho98]

Buy $1000 phone, whine about $69 Apple battery, when in reality a 3rd party junk battery done by the mall kiosk greaseball is probably $30-$40 anyway, so you're really playing with fire to install junk for a mere $30-$40 savings.

 

[Falhófnir]

Maybe it has more to do with the software needing calibration? If it can't identify the battery pack and 'talk to' it, it might not be able to get the information it needs to work? As long as they're not actually preventing the phone from powering on with a 3rd party battery, I don't think they're obliged to make sure very little thing works with parts that are out of their control?

 

[davidgaw]

"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."

No it doesn't. The message appears designed to absolve Apple of responsibility for iOS providing battery health information for an unknown battery or battery service they have no control over, information which they therefore can't be sure is accurate.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Good. The last thing we need is an Explode Gate caused by cheap batteries or cheap labor.

I'd never take my iDevices to some shmuck in a mall kiosk.

 

[FamVR]

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.

You are ignoring the word “dormant”. As in this can eventually, at some time in the future, be used to prevent iPhone’s with a (original even) replaced battery, by anyone but Apple (service partners) from booting.

Apple now locks a vital software feature (battery health). And yes. It literally reads: “Service”. The texts it displays is absolute nonsense for Apple OEM batteries. And no. There is absolutely zero need for this lock down.

More importantly. Since replacing a battery is a non issue for Apple service partners, the fix for this is a simple software write to nvram and the ‘service’ message is gone. That is. For genuine OEM batteries with the protective circuit board attached to the battery.

Not being able to display battery health for batteries without, or a broken TI chip, is fair, but this step is not. Let’s not forget; it’s our phone...not that of Apple.

 

[burgman]

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.

As if you know that to be fact. It sucks but I understand a company doing all it can not to be sued for battery issues. Batteries are capable of doing serious damage, and people run right to social media and then a lawyer. I wonder how many lawsuits Apple is dealing with worldwide over batteries malfunctioning and how many of those were aftermarket.

 

[Vjosullivan]

I don't think they're obliged to make sure very little thing works with parts that are out of their control?

In this case they are actively preventing things working that worked before, even when the replacements are genuine Apple parts.

 

[chucker23n1]

Well it originates from ifixit so that explains that.

Sure, iFixit has an axe to grind or an angle to play, but it's a bit sad that MacRumors is participating with a clickbait-y headline and a slanted article.

Like, I get why one might draw such conclusions, but it's a lot of interpreting things into stuff Apple didn't actually say.
[doublepost=1565266843][/doublepost]

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.

Modern battery controllers in smartphones aren't dumb at all.

 

[JosephAW]

The last thing Apple wants is 3rd party batteries that have higher mAh than OEM.

 

[tigerintank]

It's probably easier to get battery stats via USB than via an API on an iOS app. But CoconutBattery is working flawlessly for years now.

No USB involved.
Battery is installed in MacBook and both Coconut and System Report get the battery info from the same source - I assume.

 

[ksgant]

Interesting when I went to iFxit, they have a section with 1-10 (1 being the worst, 10 being the best) scores it deems as good for repairs or not. Most of the iPhones get a 6. The iPhone 6 and 6s gets up to a score of 7. Nothing under 6 other than the original iPhone that gets a 2.

Most of the recent Samsung phones are in the 4 score, btw.

The only one that gets a 10? Fairphone 2 from 2015

https://www.ifixit.com/smartphone-repairability?sort=score

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

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

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, and prevents the user from accessing the Battery Health features. Instead they see an "Important Battery Message" which reads: "Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery. Health information not available for this battery."

iFixit notes that 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.

Apple and other authorized service providers likely use Apple's own RepairCal diagnostics software to reset the "Service" status when it undertakes an iPhone battery replacement - an in-house procedure that's obviously not available to a third-party.

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 harks back to a more damaging 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.

Update: According to an Apple service document obtained by MacRumors, Battery Health info is unavailable for any iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR that has a non-genuine battery and is running iOS 12.1 or later.

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

There is no “lock” and it does not say the battery needs to be serviced. This article is clickbaity trash where you literally made stuff up, and you should be ashamed.

 

[jmonte2016]

Apple is charging $49-69 to replace any iPhone battery, that seems to be about the same price as 3rd partys, don't see why you would want to put a $20-30 3rd party battery in a $800+ iPhone. I feel as if most of the public don't know about Apple iPhone repair prices as the price now is just about the same if not cheaper to go with Apple, inb4 I'm called a Fanboy.