Apple will replace old iPhone batteries for $29 through 2018

by Mark Tyson on 29 December 2017, 10:01

Tags: Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), Samsung (005935.KS)

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Apple iPhone battery issues

Apple recently admitted to slowing older iPhones as they aged. It explained that it did this to 'smooth out' user battery life. Despite its claimed good intentions, it is getting sued as some people upgraded their expensive older iPhones to expensive newer iPhones, as their old smartphones started to feel lethargic. Now Apple has issued a statement aimed at "addressing customer concerns".

Apple's damage limitation exercise begins with a reminder that "Apple products are known for their durability, and for holding their value longer than our competitors' devices," and a statement that the firm wants users to be able to use their iPhones as long as is possible.

The key announcements from Apple, and what it considers is enough to "regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple's intentions," are as follows:

  • Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, starting in late January and available worldwide through December 2018. Details will be provided soon on apple.com.
  • Early in 2018, we will issue an iOS software update with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.
  • As always, our team is working on ways to make the user experience even better, including improving how we manage performance and avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.

Here in the UK, as the out of warranty iPhone battery replacement cost is currently at a 1:1 exchange rate (£79), we expect that figure to be reduced to £29 during 2018.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 zero charge brick

As noted by SamMobile, a number of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 users have suffered from unfortunate additional flat battery issues. Running out of power on your mobile is inconvenient enough but if you push this mobile to zero and it shuts down it is, in some cases, impossible to re-animate it - even with extended charging.

The source report says that Samsung is replacing bricked devices under warranty, though it seems that replacements are refurbished units. However, the company has yet to release any statement about the issue. I've read around a bit and some forum users suggest the smart charging circuitry requires at least a modicum of charge to operate - and in a completely depleted device that circuit doesn't awaken.

On a related note I had the same 'zero charge brick' problem with an Asus ZenFone 3. By happy accident I discovered it within days of receipt so I easily got a full refund. It too was a sealed battery device which would require a stressful operation to physically disconnect and reconnect the battery pack (which was one possible solution to get it charging again).



HEXUS Forums :: 37 Comments

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It's quite common that a quick recharge function can fail if the cell is totally exhausted. Rare it happens in practice but it can
I'm not an iPhone user (or any smartohone user, for that matter) but if the news story I saw about Apple deliberately slowing down perfornance on older phones is true, the mere fact that they CAN do that is bad enough, let alone that they did.

It is typical of the mindset of these tech giants that they think they're entitled, just because they made it. No Apple, you arrogant <expletives>, after you've sold it the phone belongs to the customer, not you.

This is exactly the mindset so prevalent in Win10 that lsd MS to think it's okay to auto-upgrade regardless of the consequences to users. No, MS, it's my flaming computer. Flaming well ASK FIRST.

It's also exactly the mindset which results in me so carefully guarding every zspect of my privacy that I conceivably can, because that mindset tells these <expletives> that once they've acquired data about us all, they're entitled (and I use that word carefully) to do pretty much what they want with it because it belongs to them.,

At heart, these companies are all the same. They give (or rather, sell) us fancy gadgets and think that makes them gods that own the rext of us. We have now been seeing example after example of this mindset for some years. It needs to stop, and my suspicion is that if legislation doesn't do it, sooner or later violence will.
Awaits front page of “The Stun” which has Saracen on it for fruity violence against tech giant
3dcandy
Awaits front page of “The Stun” which has Saracen on it for fruity violence against tech giant

LOL.

But nah, I'm not likely to be violent, or even advocating it. I'm just predicting it. I expect, sooner or more likely later, the kind of reaction from the people to the Czarist excesses in Russia the aristocrats in France, the Iranians to the Shah, and so on. These arrogant tech-Gods are, IMHO, showing exactly the same sort of selfish contempt for the masses that led previous generations of self-selected overlords to end up getting “shortened”.

And while I don't advocate extra-judicial violence, I sure as hell wouldn't lift a finger to stop it, even if I could.
Lol I agree with your first post Saracen if not your second. The level of tech that we see in day to day life is nothing compared to that of the US black projects etc. It's like a joke. Sure these tech companies are arrogant misguided and plainly stupid but things like big aweful pharma and the prison industrial complex are much bigger problems.

As for apple's response, I wasn't going to post this but I begrudgingly congratulate apple on this. I think this is the first thing I've been positive about with apple, ever, with the possible exception of pushing good display tech to market early. They do that too.

I'm still not buying anything from them though.