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Is it worth to pay $79 for iPhone 5 battery replacement?

D

dragonjinse

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 13, 2013
318
12
My iPhone 5 is a year old.
I talked with Apple online, and they ran the test. They told me I need to get a battery replacement.

My usage time is around 5-8 hours (check emails, facebook, texting, calling)
And my standby time is no more than 14 hours.
I'm using ios 7 right now.

I don't have AppleCare, which means I need to pay $79 exclude tax to get the battery replacement.

Is it worth money? I tried every single ways that list online to improve my battery life. All FAILED!
Or should I just buy a external battery/battery case instead?

Thanks guys
 
dragonjinse said:
My iPhone 5 is a year old.
I talked with Apple online, and they ran the test. They told me I need to get a battery replacement.

My usage time is around 5-8 hours (check emails, facebook, texting, calling)
And my standby time is no more than 14 hours.
I'm using ios 7 right now.

I don't have AppleCare, which means I need to pay $79 exclude tax to get the battery replacement.

Is it worth money? I tried every single ways that list online to improve my battery life. All FAILED!
Or should I just buy a external battery/battery case instead?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

5-8 hours usage seems to be what most on the 5 get. depending on a number of variables of course. worth is subjective. 79 to some is a lot. 79 to others is nothing.
 
Your usage and standby times seem good to me. I get similar results with my year old 5. What was it like before you upgraded to iOS 7?

I would also take it to an Apple Store and have them look at it before doing anything.
 
I just checked it today.
The most usage time I got is 5 hours.
An the standby time is only 10 hours.

Is it still normal?
I can't go to Apple Store because it's 2 hours drive. And the Apple online customer service ran the test for me. It shows that I need to get a battery replacement though.

$79 is ALOT especially it's exclude the tax just for the phone battery :(

----------

for ios 6, I got around 7-9 hours use
and 17 hours standby.


wicker21 said:
Your usage and standby times seem good to me. I get similar results with my year old 5. What was it like before you upgraded to iOS 7?

I would also take it to an Apple Store and have them look at it before doing anything.
Click to expand...
 
Another consideration is if you're with AT&T, there is a new version of the 5 ( as of April or so) that is compatible with T-Mobile which increases it's value. My launch day phone was replaced in July due to a broken screen and I received one of the newer ones. The question is: Will it increase by $79? :)
 
It every single way to improve the battery life.
EVERYTHING = don't work for me.

I just want to know if $79 is worth for battery replacement
OR I should just buy an external battery/battery case?
 
dragonjinse said:
It every single way to improve the battery life.
EVERYTHING = don't work for me.

I just want to know if $79 is worth for battery replacement
OR I should just buy an external battery/battery case?
Click to expand...

How long do you plan on keeping it, and are you running out of juice regularly? Only you can decide what is worth it. It won't increase (or currently decrease) your resale value, so if it was me I would just live with it. Mind you as I live in Europe I could just get the battery replaced by arguing it's not fit for purpose when it was sold.
 
Have you considered replacing the battery yourself? It's not terribly difficult on the 5.
 
Can you put up with the current battery life for a bit longer? You're not the only person complaining about iOS 7 making battery life worse, although other people say it's great so who knows what the truth is, but it is possible that there are iOS 7 issues affecting only certain people that Apple might fix in the next release.

I think there's a rumour article posted here in the last week that some sites are already seeing evidence of 7.0.3 in the wild and I expect that when the iPad 5 starts shipping, which might be early November or possibly even by the end of this month, that rollout could well be accompanied by another update to iOS 7.

If I were you I'd wait for at least one more update of iOS 7 to see if that helps. If it doesn't then only you can really judge whether getting another few hours of usage is worth $79 to you.

- Julian
 
Apple fanboy said:
How long do you plan on keeping it, and are you running out of juice regularly? Only you can decide what is worth it. It won't increase (or currently decrease) your resale value, so if it was me I would just live with it. Mind you as I live in Europe I could just get the battery replaced by arguing it's not fit for purpose when it was sold.
Click to expand...

Yes, the UK has better warranty: you should definitely use the toll-free number again and then the "not fit for purpose" line. If you stay polite and insistent throughout, I bet you'll get a replacement free!
 
Are you planning on getting the iPhone 5S any time soon? If not, and the battery is getting worse, I'd personally replace it.

Alternatively, you could invest in a Mophie Juice Pack case which effectively doubles your battery life.
 
I just bought a battery off eBay (which comes with the necessary tools) and replaced it myself. Took about 10 mins. It is very easy.
 
my GF has a new 5 about (3 months old) and she gets 5-6h some times 7 hours of use on hers with ios7. the numbers you are getting actually look decent, on ios6 it would be 6-8 hours. people getting 8-9h+ use in 7.... I find it hard to believe unless your screen brightness is 20%.

(both ios7) i keep her 5 and my 5s, ~50% bright, auto bright off, background off, paralax off, LTE on, wifi on at home, off when leaving the house, shut down not used location service.

5 - 5-6hours
5s - 5-6hours

i could probably do a little better with LTE off. If you got everything off and can't see the screen whats the point. lol.
 
are you keeping the phone? if so, i would get it replaced in a heartbeat. how much is it bothering you?

you can't put a pricetag on peace of mind.

now if you're selling it in the near future, suck it up until u sell it. IMO.
 
If you are not comfortable doing the work of replacing it yourself, as a local repair shop and you will see a similar price for a 3rd party.
The best option will be to buy the battery here and tools and adventure into doing the battery replacement on your own following their instructions:
http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-5-Replacement-Battery/IF118-001

An external battery case runs about more than $79, I think most are around $99.
 
dragonjinse said:
And the Apple online customer service ran the test for me. It shows that I need to get a battery replacement though.
Click to expand...

U mean he made you run something, and the result of that diagnostic sent over to him, then he went aha, the data says... or he just asked you a few questions and that's the basis of his conclusion (fake). Am skeptical of remote troubleshooting.

Anywhoo according to what several people have said, yours sound like within a normal range. Getting a new battery doesn't sound like is gonna bump you up that much. In which case go ahead and get an external battery.
 
I'll chime in and say that your battery stats seem comparable to my experiences with my 5 (and my previous 5 that I had to trade in due to a broken sleep/wake button).

My battery times are very similar to my wifes on her brand spakin new 5s.
 
dragonjinse said:
My iPhone 5 is a year old.
I talked with Apple online, and they ran the test. They told me I need to get a battery replacement.

My usage time is around 5-8 hours (check emails, facebook, texting, calling)
And my standby time is no more than 14 hours.
I'm using ios 7 right now.

I don't have AppleCare, which means I need to pay $79 exclude tax to get the battery replacement.

Is it worth money? I tried every single ways that list online to improve my battery life. All FAILED!
Or should I just buy a external battery/battery case instead?

Thanks guys
Click to expand...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-1440mAh..._Cell_Phone_PDA_Batteries&hash=item51afb29dd0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqPm3LmwV4

No. Takes 5 min to swap out.
 
If you use your credit card, Visa/Master Card/Amex has extended warranty that automatically extend manufacturer's warranty by one year. Defective battery would be covered.
 
He made me run the diagnosis test and the info send to him.


Mrbobb said:
U mean he made you run something, and the result of that diagnostic sent over to him, then he went aha, the data says... or he just asked you a few questions and that's the basis of his conclusion (fake). Am skeptical of remote troubleshooting.

Anywhoo according to what several people have said, yours sound like within a normal range. Getting a new battery doesn't sound like is gonna bump you up that much. In which case go ahead and get an external battery.
Click to expand...


----------

Thank you very much guys!
I think I might just do nothing and use it because of lots of people told me it's normal battery life. I plan to keep this iPhone until it breaks down.

I think $79 to get a battery replacement for the phone is WAT TOO MUCH!
I paid $99 to get my macbook pro a battery replacement :(
 
I had bad battery life myself with my 1 yr old 5. Tried everything even a fresh install and new setup. Did the online test and spoke to a rep who said my battery had failed. Luckily I had like 4 days left on my warranty and they replaced the battery in store free. Had it not been under warranty I would have paid. I have 0 interest in yearly upgrades and this phone with a new battery should last another 2 iOS upgrades.
 
dragonjinse said:
I just checked it today.
The most usage time I got is 5 hours.
An the standby time is only 10 hours.

Is it still normal?
I can't go to Apple Store because it's 2 hours drive. And the Apple online customer service ran the test for me. It shows that I need to get a battery replacement though.

$79 is ALOT especially it's exclude the tax just for the phone battery :(

Then it's obviously not worth it.
----------

for ios 6, I got around 7-9 hours use
and 17 hours standby.
Click to expand...

Jalopybox said:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/OEM-1440mAh..._Cell_Phone_PDA_Batteries&hash=item51afb29dd0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQqPm3LmwV4

No. Takes 5 min to swap out.
Click to expand...

$10-$15 and 5 minutes of your time beats $79 plus however long it takes for Apple to get to it.
 
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