Interesting experience when taking iPhone 13 Mini to Apple Store for battery replacement

[Capeto]

I bought a refurbished iPhone 13 mini off Amazon a couple of months ago, but ever since I got it the battery has been horrible, to the point where the battery drops by over a percentage point per minute while using the phone. I assumed that part of the refurbishing process involved it getting a new third-party battery that just sucks, because battery health is reportedly at 100% and battery cycle count is at double digits.

It came with iOS 18 so I've kept it at that version since I assume iOS 26 is going to be even more resource intensive, so it's currently on iOS 18.7.7. I made an appointment at my local Apple Store for a battery replacement, hoping that they wouldn't require an update since it is at least on the latest version of iOS 18. I sit down with the Genius Bar specialist, show her how my phone's battery drops like a rock by keeping the screen on and showing how it lowers percentage after percentage point, and she agrees that battery behavior is unusual. I explain my suspicion that the battery is likely third party and show her a scuff on the bottom part of the phone, which was there when I bought it - clearly, this phone has been through the paces. She also points out a hairline crack on the glass back that I hadn't noticed. Definitely not an unused phone that just sat in a drawer before I bought it.

She then runs battery diagnostics on my iPhone, and to both of our surprises everything indicates that the battery is an authentic Apple battery - probably not the battery that originally came in with the iPhone - since the phone was very clearly used - and not done at an Apple Store since there was no repair history based on the iPhone's serial number, so likely done by an authorized Apple Service location. But an authentic Apple battery nonetheless.

With all this said, the only suggestion she could give me was to update to iOS 26 - perhaps it's a software bug causing quick battery drain, she suggested, but I'm not convinced of that since it's on a pretty mature version of iOS 18 and I'm sure iOS 26 is going to be even more resource intensive, which won't help battery life. She also said an update would be necessary if I wanted a battery replacement anyways. So I'm at a bit of an impasse - do I update? Should I try a reset? Is there any hope for my iPhone mini? It's a backup phone that I kind of want to use as a weekday phone, so any suggestion is appreciated.

 

[AJACs3]

My husband’s 13 mini runs fine with iOS 26.

 

[eyoungren]

Third party replacement?

uBreakiFix is reputable and they use genuine Apple parts (they say). I've had my battery on my 6+ replaced by them. Apple refused to touch it after I challenged the genius on their assessment of the device (he claimed bad logicboard).

I've also had the battery and charging port on my son's SE2 replaced by them.

To date, I have had zero issues with either phone. It's about 2.5 years later too and my 6+ is still doing great.

 

[Bigwaff]

Should I try a reset? Is there any hope for my iPhone mini? It's a backup phone that I kind of want to use as a weekday phone, so any suggestion is appreciated.

Try calibrating the battery by charging it to 100% and keep it charging for several hours. Then use until battery drains and phone shuts down. Then charge uninterrupted to 100%. See if your trickle drain still happens.

 

[Capeto]

Try calibrating the battery by charging it to 100% and keep it charging for several hours. Then use until battery drains and phone shuts down. Then charge uninterrupted to 100%. See if your trickle drain still happens.

I’ll try this. To give a good illustration, I just turned it on less than 5 minutes ago and the battery was at 52%. It is now at 21%. The battery is seriously uncalibrated and out of whack, hence my guess that it was some awful third party battery one.

Edit: it has been hovering at 21% for a while now so I think - and hope! - that it is a calibration issue.

 

[Mr_Brightside_@]

How about a backup, reset, then test for a week without restoring backup?

 

[jido]

She then runs battery diagnostics on my iPhone, and to both of our surprises everything indicates that the battery is an authentic Apple battery - probably not the battery that originally came in with the iPhone - since the phone was very clearly used - and not done at an Apple Store since there was no repair history based on the iPhone's serial number, so likely done by an authorized Apple Service location. But an authentic Apple battery nonetheless.

I mean, the 13 Mini is not that old. I bought mine new, use it every day, and the original battery is still holding fine. It was over 80% health in 2025.

 

[Mrbobb]

Try calibrating the battery by charging it to 100% and keep it charging for several hours. Then use until battery drains and phone shuts down. Then charge uninterrupted to 100%. See if your trickle drain still happens.

Ditto.


If that doesn't work, funky-thirdparty-batt is high possibility.

 

[goldmac2006]

I bought a refurbished iPhone 13 mini off Amazon a couple of months ago, but ever since I got it the battery has been horrible, to the point where the battery drops by over a percentage point per minute while using the phone. I assumed that part of the refurbishing process involved it getting a new third-party battery that just sucks, because battery health is reportedly at 100% and battery cycle count is at double digits.

It came with iOS 18 so I've kept it at that version since I assume iOS 26 is going to be even more resource intensive, so it's currently on iOS 18.7.7. I made an appointment at my local Apple Store for a battery replacement, hoping that they wouldn't require an update since it is at least on the latest version of iOS 18. I sit down with the Genius Bar specialist, show her how my phone's battery drops like a rock by keeping the screen on and showing how it lowers percentage after percentage point, and she agrees that battery behavior is unusual. I explain my suspicion that the battery is likely third party and show her a scuff on the bottom part of the phone, which was there when I bought it - clearly, this phone has been through the paces. She also points out a hairline crack on the glass back that I hadn't noticed. Definitely not an unused phone that just sat in a drawer before I bought it.

She then runs battery diagnostics on my iPhone, and to both of our surprises everything indicates that the battery is an authentic Apple battery - probably not the battery that originally came in with the iPhone - since the phone was very clearly used - and not done at an Apple Store since there was no repair history based on the iPhone's serial number, so likely done by an authorized Apple Service location. But an authentic Apple battery nonetheless.

With all this said, the only suggestion she could give me was to update to iOS 26 - perhaps it's a software bug causing quick battery drain, she suggested, but I'm not convinced of that since it's on a pretty mature version of iOS 18 and I'm sure iOS 26 is going to be even more resource intensive, which won't help battery life. She also said an update would be necessary if I wanted a battery replacement anyways. So I'm at a bit of an impasse - do I update? Should I try a reset? Is there any hope for my iPhone mini? It's a backup phone that I kind of want to use as a weekday phone, so any suggestion is appreciated.

It seems some companies that refurbish iPhones to sell them as used have kept some original Apple parts that didn’t need replacing.

Now, when it comes to Amazon Renewed, it’s definitely worth being cautious like with other third party refurbished products. They have their share of issues. Check out this video below from Phone Repair Guru, a well-known Apple technician who makes repairs and disassemblies entertaining while explaining what refurbished iPhones are like. This reel is on a gold iPhone 13 Pro.

 

[Capeto]

I'm not sure my 13 mini is an Amazon Refurbished - I bought it through Woot, which is an Amazon-owned website but they use different vendors to sell their stuff there. I'll have to check out that Apple Diagnostics website, though.

As far as calibration, fully draining it then fully charging it a couple of times seems to have helped. There was some funky behavior when trying to fully drain it - it got to the point where the phone shut off, then I turned it back on to make sure it was drained, and the phone would boot up again instead of giving me the low battery warning, but it would only boot up for less than a minute before shutting down again. After 5 times or so of doing this, the phone booted up again, but this time it read the battery as having 95%. It shut down again after a longer bit (maybe because the software was incorrectly reading a full battery?), and next time I tried to turn it back on I got nothing, not even the low battery warning. I put it back on its charger and by the time it turned on it was reading 5% again.

Battery life is still less than ideal (especially with the screen on/actively using it) but at least it's not dropping super quickly. For a minimalist phone it's ideal 🙂