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Wait Times for iPhone Battery Replacements Increasing
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I replaced my 6S's battery myself for $26 and 20 minutes of my time just before Apple announced the discounted replacement offer. I might still do it myself since it was more about the personal time savings than anything. Still, I think the only real issue is that Apple didn't disclose the severe throttling for the sake of stability (I estimated about a 30% drop in performance from my crude testing).
My old battery was tired, it had hundreds of cycles on it, but I was surprised to see Coconut Battery claiming it was still at 89% capacity. Even throttled, the old battery struggled to make it through a day. I don't blame Apple for the fact that the battery was shot--I just wish they had told us why our phones felt like they were running so slow. They let iOS11 take the heat, when it was the throttling, not the OS. Interestingly enough, I have noticed a few app crashes, though that just started happening now, almost 2 months after I replaced the battery.
One thing to consider is how much abuse our phones get. They ride around in a 98F pocket, are exposed to the elements and temperature extremes, get beat around, and probably see a least 4-5 hours of use every single day. After a couple years, that's easily 3,000+ hours--probably way more than that for many people. We probably don't ask that much out of any other battery-powered device we own.
My old battery was tired, it had hundreds of cycles on it, but I was surprised to see Coconut Battery claiming it was still at 89% capacity. Even throttled, the old battery struggled to make it through a day. I don't blame Apple for the fact that the battery was shot--I just wish they had told us why our phones felt like they were running so slow. They let iOS11 take the heat, when it was the throttling, not the OS. Interestingly enough, I have noticed a few app crashes, though that just started happening now, almost 2 months after I replaced the battery.
One thing to consider is how much abuse our phones get. They ride around in a 98F pocket, are exposed to the elements and temperature extremes, get beat around, and probably see a least 4-5 hours of use every single day. After a couple years, that's easily 3,000+ hours--probably way more than that for many people. We probably don't ask that much out of any other battery-powered device we own.
I was told I could get a free battery replacement. When I got there, the Genuis was extremely rude, and told me I was making things up. She kept telling me my phone was out of warranty. Which I knew. I had a live chat where they said I could get a free battery under a program, so I called the Apple store to confirm. They told me they wanted to charge me. I called Apple Where another genuis told me it would be free and there would be case notes for the store to look at. I go there, there’s no case notes, and the store wants to charge me. Then I call Apple again, they tell me it’s going to be free and to update my software and they would call me back. I updated the software, never got a call back. I’ve spent hours dealing with this issue. Not happy with Apple. Very rude service where they were calling me a liar in the store at the Rockaway location in NJ after waiting weeks for my battery to come in. I denied the service as Apple wont see a dime from me until this issue is fixed.
Not surprised that the wait time is increasing, as more and more people are made aware of what is going on. Once iOS 11.3 is released, look for wait times to be twice what they are now.
Oh please. Apple doesn’t even pay their taxes. Some people on these boards are so blind they would follow Apple off a cliff. The company messed up and got caught. Timmy has been to concerned about SJW issues rather then innovating and keeping products competitive, all while refusing to pay taxes and practice what he preaches. Talks about income inequality while he flies around on his private jet and hoards his cash in sketchy tax laws not even practicing what he preaches. Outdated hardware, a speaker with Siri, watch bands, no headphone jacks, soldered computers together, using google cloud services, a mess of Apple Music, an OSX that is buggy as hell. Amazon will blow past Apple in less than 5 years.
I'm in no hurry, and I'll probably wait until late this year to get in line for a battery for my 6s.
iPhone 6s is still in production. iPhone 6 was discontinued in Sept. 2016.
Sept. 2016 - Feb. 2018 is not even close to 5 years.
Wow, some good off-topic hyperbole here (taxes, jet, SJW, not practicing what is preached, private jet and cash hoarding). You got all the memes into one sentence.
On to the point. The 6s battery replacement was announced a while back (I'm guessing in late 2016). When I heard about the program through MacRumors I checked my serial number. My 6s serial number was eligible, but I never took it in because it was operating fine, however, lately it didn't really seem to hold a charge.
So I went on chat, got an immediate appointment. Happened to be in NJ that day and went to the mall, dropped the phone, went back to the office. Called me half hour later to pick it up. Total end to end time was about 3 hours. This was in late December, early January. Maybe I was lucky, but I had great customer service.
I guess with so many customers, it's difficult to please everybody.
Just in case you didn't realize, you're on a Apple fan web site and you're clearly not a fan of anything Apple.
Totally agree. There are many other things you missed out mentioning that Tim has neglected or stopped.
it's almost hilarious to see people here defending Apple in this case, like they own the company
UH YEAH, couldn't even get an appointment for another issue cuz of this. really annoying everyones a bandwagoner.
I just finished the process. I'm in Los Angeles. Took a week or so to get the initial apt. They inspected the phone and said I am eligible (I thought everyone was eligible?) and it'd be 3-4 weeks for the battery to come in. No big deal, I waited between 4 and 5 weeks. They called me I went in and now my 3 year old 6s+ feels brand new. Super glad. Might take a while but definitely worth it!
I got a X last month, but kept my 6s as a secondary iOS device. I’ve noticed for the past couple of months that my battery often drops rapidly, like from 40% down to 32% in 2 or 3 minutes, then decreases slowly again (just internet browsing, not anything intense like gaming). I bought it in Dec. 2015. I used an app about a year ago that indicated 86% life remaining. This was prior to Apple preventing third-party apps from accessing battery info. If a battery replacement gives new life to my 6s, why not? A week ago, I went to an Apple Store and was told it would be about a two week wait after calling Apple Care to order the replacement battery.
Even with a new battery, modern apps are optimized for the lastest and fastest processors and will run slower on older equipment. I suspect many will be disappointed that a new battery doesn’t suddenly make an older device perform like the newest devices. Now Apple could go the Android route and simply not allow older devices to upgrade software for as long, but then people would complain that they were forcing obsolescence there too. It really is a no-win situation for Apple. But unlike Android, which has dozens of hardware vendors, it is easy to target Apple specifically even though battery degradation is not unique to the iPhone.
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As long as owners of older devices temper their expectations. A new battery does not change an older device’s ability to handle newer software and software updates.
I went in on Sunday to get the battery on my wife's 6S replaced. Ours is on the recall list, so no cost. However, I was told it would take 1.5-2 weeks to get the battery in stock and they would email/call me when it was in. Knew I should have done it last year when I found out!
No, but extending the “shelf life” another year or two is something worthwhile for owners given Apple’s new love for astronomical prices.
It was reported that they were replacing 6 Plus models with 6S Plus models entirely since batteries were not available. What happened to that? Waiting over 3 weeks for a 6 Plus battery for my mom.
Apple got caught throttling customers phone without their consent. Sometimes even with perfect fine battery, iOS still throttling the phone. If Apple hasn’t done that, they didn’t even need to offer 29 dollar battery replacement.
Apple has been using some cheap, less quality battery lately and it showing with all these iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S shutdowns, sometimes even with good battery.
Apple got sued for the throttling and Apple is offering this as last minutes PR. Apple should pay for their mistake and customer shouldn’t pay for what Apple did.
I don’t even care about change my battery anymore. I cannot even count the days for my iPhone 6S sitting in my drawer. I have quit iPhone for good.
Absolutely agree with you. It is clear you have a device that can benefit from a battery replacement. My point is that many people are opting to replace their batteries and do not have an issue that warrants it, other than that they want to or the media told them to.
Maybe those people own AAPL stock. Owning AAPL stock = owning (a piece of) the company.
They inspected your 6s Plus for eligibility? I hope it’s not a quiet change to the battery replacement program. My 6s was looking forward to some rejuvenation later this year.
Maybe they do, I am sure there is a lot of share holders on this site...