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Apple to Offer $29 iPhone Battery Replacements, More Battery Health Info in iOS
Apple this afternoon addressed customer concerns about an ongoing controversy over power management features in older iPhones, pledging to introduce more detailed information about battery health and reducing the price of battery replacements for all of 2018.
In a letter explaining its policies, Apple apologizes for the misinformation that's been spread and says that it would never "intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."
At issue is a power management feature that was initially introduced in iOS 10.2.1 in the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s, which was implemented to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to high power draw peaks. Apple's lack of clarity about the feature has led to a number of lawsuits being filed in recent days claiming that Apple is purposefully slowing down older iPhones.
Apple explains the situation and the aging of batteries both in the letter and in a new support document.
Apple says it began to receive feedback this fall from customers who were seeing slower speeds, which it initially thought might be due to software updates and minor bugs in iOS 11, but it now believes the continued chemical aging of the batteries in older devices is at fault.
To allay customer concerns and address recent customer feedback, Apple says it will implement several changes.
- The price for out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements is being dropped from $79 to $29, starting in late January and lasting through December 2018. Apple plans to provide more information on the price drop in the near future, but it will apply to anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced.
- In early 2018, an iOS update will introduce new features to give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery, so they can clearly see whether the state of the battery is affecting performance.
Apple says its team is also always working on ways to make the user experience better, including how performance is managed to avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.
In a letter explaining its policies, Apple apologizes for the misinformation that's been spread and says that it would never "intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."
At issue is a power management feature that was initially introduced in iOS 10.2.1 in the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s, which was implemented to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to high power draw peaks. Apple's lack of clarity about the feature has led to a number of lawsuits being filed in recent days claiming that Apple is purposefully slowing down older iPhones.
Apple explains the situation and the aging of batteries both in the letter and in a new support document.
A chemically aged battery also becomes less capable of delivering peak energy loads, especially in a low state of charge, which may result in a device unexpectedly shutting itself down in some situations.These power management features are implemented in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus, and will be added to future iPhones as required. They kick in when the battery begins to degrade and can be fixed with a new battery.
To help customers learn more about iPhone's rechargeable battery and the factors affecting its performance, we've posted a new support article, iPhone Battery and Performance.
It should go without saying that we think sudden, unexpected shutdowns are unacceptable. We don't want any of our users to lose a call, miss taking a picture or have any other part of their iPhone experience interrupted if we can avoid it.
Apple says it began to receive feedback this fall from customers who were seeing slower speeds, which it initially thought might be due to software updates and minor bugs in iOS 11, but it now believes the continued chemical aging of the batteries in older devices is at fault.
To allay customer concerns and address recent customer feedback, Apple says it will implement several changes.
- The price for out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements is being dropped from $79 to $29, starting in late January and lasting through December 2018. Apple plans to provide more information on the price drop in the near future, but it will apply to anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced.
- In early 2018, an iOS update will introduce new features to give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery, so they can clearly see whether the state of the battery is affecting performance.
Apple says its team is also always working on ways to make the user experience better, including how performance is managed to avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.
Tag: iPhone Slowdown
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11 months ago
Only solves part of the problem. For years Apple have sold phones to people who thought their old phone was dying and that they needed to get a new one, when really all they needed was a battery. I think they should address that issue.
11 months ago
Amazing news and uncalled for. I imagine all the trolls will have to find something else to whine about. Apple has stepped up and addressed something that was not a big deal.
[doublepost=1514498245][/doublepost]
Android "Oh crap. Hope they don't find out how we make incompatible OS, Apps and everything else crappy"
[doublepost=1514498245][/doublepost]
Apple: "we're sorry we got caught"
Android "Oh crap. Hope they don't find out how we make incompatible OS, Apps and everything else crappy"
11 months ago
Amazing news and uncalled for. I imagine all the trolls will have to find something else to whine about. Apple has stepped up and addressed something that was not a big deal.
[doublepost=1514498245][/doublepost]
Android "Oh crap. Hope they don't find out how we make incompatible OS, Apps and everything else crappy"
What??? What does android have to do with this?
11 months ago
What annoys me about this and other things like it is that it sets the precedent that an uninformed public can develop an "outcry" over anything get a result out of Apple. Real shame. The public didn't deserve this level of compromise from Apple. Intelligent CPU management of a device powered by lithium-ion battery is expected and appropriate, and really no one's business besides the engineers.
11 months ago
What annoys me about this and other things like it is that it sets the precedent that an uninformed public can develop an "outcry" over anything get a result out of Apple. Real shame. The public didn't deserve this level of compromise from Apple. Intelligent CPU management of a device powered by lithium-ion battery is expected and appropriate, and really no one's business besides the engineers.
What? Slowing down my phone is no one’s business but Apple engineers? That has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. They updated my phone to it down and you are saying it none of my business? Take your car into the shop and when they cap top speed at 55MPH so you can maintain proper gas mileage, let me know how that works out.
11 months ago
So the throttling continues. Now we know they crippled the screen brightness, speakerphone, slowed scrolling frame rates aka stutter and disabled camera flash. Reduce frame rates in other apps, most likely your once silky smooth minecraft that now stutters whenever you turned. Not suprised if the gpu is throttled as well. Who knows what else? All the past crimes are forgiven for $29. I say fu Apple. This fixes nothing until you give me a choice to throttle or not throttle or affect any other piece of hardware on my device.
*update*. Sorry, I meant Apple is allowing us the privilege of paying $29 to forgive them. Sweet deal indeed.
*update*. Sorry, I meant Apple is allowing us the privilege of paying $29 to forgive them. Sweet deal indeed.
11 months ago
Respect, Apple!
They don’t deserve any respect regarding this. They clearly understood that this issue and lawsuits would end with a lot worse result, and are trying to buy themselves out of this.
Cold logic and selfishness...
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