Office Depot and OfficeMax Offering $28 Aftermarket iPhone Battery Replacements Until February

Friday January 12, 2018 12:28 PM PST by Joe Rossignol
Office Depot and OfficeMax today informed us they have lowered their iPhone battery replacement fee to $27.99 at select stores across the United States through February 4, 2018, undercutting Apple's $29 price by one dollar.


The lower price, down from $49.99 regularly, is applicable to the iPhone 5c, iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone SE, subject to battery availability and while supplies last.

Office Depot and OfficeMax promise same-day battery replacements. If the order is not completed by the end of regular store hours, the customer receives a repair discount of $25, according to fine print on its website.

One very important caveat is that Office Depot and OfficeMax are not Apple Authorized Service Providers, meaning their replacement batteries are not supplied by Apple, and having an aftermarket battery installed can void your iPhone's warranty, although iFixit argues that Apple cannot do so under U.S. law.

A spokesperson for Office Depot and OfficeMax informed us that their iPhone batteries are built to Apple's specifications for each iPhone model and added that all of their batteries carry a one-year warranty against defects.

We still highly recommend only having an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider replace your iPhone's battery, but Apple is currently running low on some batteries, and Office Depot and OfficeMax may be an option worth considering for customers with an iPhone that is already past its warranty.

Office Depot and OfficeMax offer iPhone battery replacements at hundreds of locations across the United States. Those interested can enter their ZIP code on Office Depot's website to find a participating location near them.

iFixit has also discounted its iPhone battery replacement kits to $29 or less as a do-it-yourself option, but again, we recommend letting a professional at Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider complete the process.

For customers who want to keep things official, read our guide on how to get your iPhone's battery replaced with an appointment at an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. Apple also offers a mail-in option.

Related Roundups: iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, iPhone SE
Tag: iPhone Slowdown
Buyer's Guide: iPhone 8 (Don't Buy), iPhone 8 (Don't Buy), iPhone SE (Don't Buy)
55 comments


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AdamJG90
8 months ago

I dont understand why the iphone 4 and earlier models are being left out of the party. Can someone please splain. :(

It’s 2018
Rating: 12 Votes
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buglord
8 months ago
Ex Office Depot tech employee here. Run quickly (and far) if they do in-store battery repairs. Employees become techs if they are good at selling, not due to any degree of technical competency. You might get someone who knows what they’re doing, or if they’re even motivated to do a decent job. (It was hard being motivated with 0 training an min wage)
Rating: 8 Votes
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justperry
8 months ago


One very important caveat is that Office Depot and OfficeMax are not Apple Authorized Service Providers, meaning their replacement batteries are not supplied by Apple, and having an aftermarket battery installed can void your iPhone's warranty, although iFixit argues that Apple cannot do so under U.S. law ('https://ifixit.org/blog/9524/replacing-your-iphone-battery-heres-what-you-need-to-know/').


You should have added this information into all these battery articles you had here earlier this week and last week so people are aware of the fact they can go to Apple with a 3rd party battery inside and not being rejected.


Poor specified by Apple batteries were the problem in the first place. I would be willing to pay more to get a higher quality battery than Apple provides.


Do you know the quality of Apple's batteries, are there any better....you don't know unless you're an insider.
I am not saying they are inferior or the best, just say you don't know.
Rating: 6 Votes
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BurgDog
8 months ago


Do you know the quality of Apple's batteries, are there any better....you don't know unless you're an insider.
I am not saying they are inferior or the best, just say you don't know.

Sure I do, that is the cause of the whole issue here. The Apple battery provided provably can't properly power the phone over the specified lifetime of the battery. The slowdown iOS hack is just a way to hide that fact. I expect a decrease in battery life, not a decrease in performance of what it is powering while the battery is in its specified lifetime. I expect to replace batteries as they age, that is normal. I would pay more for a better battery than the poorly specified Apple one.
Rating: 5 Votes
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ghostface147
8 months ago
It's one dollar less than Apple and a third party battery. Pass. But who knows, it may be better for some reason.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Michael Scrip
8 months ago

I would be willing to pay more to get a higher quality battery than Apple provides.


Sure I do, that is the cause of the whole issue here. The Apple battery provided provably can't properly power the phone over the specified lifetime of the battery. The slowdown iOS hack is just a way to hide that fact. I expect a decrease in battery life, not a decrease in performance of what it is powering while the battery is in its specified lifetime. I expect to replace batteries as they age, that is normal. I would pay more for a better battery than the poorly specified Apple one.


Are you saying you know the OfficeMax batteries are better quality than the batteries that Apple gets? Neither Apple nor OfficeMax manufactures the batteries anyway... they both get them from someone else.

And the fact that OfficeMax is not an Apple Authorized Service Provider is a good reasons to be wary of using them.

What happens if OfficeMax screws up your phone? They can't give you a replacement from the backroom like an Apple Store can.
Rating: 3 Votes
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Relentless Power
8 months ago
I personally would wait it out for those who can. It Would alleviate possible disputes if something went wrong with their batteries and Office Max/Depot repair procedures versus Apples.
Rating: 3 Votes
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alex2792
8 months ago
So, why wouldn’t you just spend an extra $1 to have Apple replace it instead?
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I dont understand why the iphone 4 and earlier models are being left out of the party. Can someone please splain. :(


Probably because they’re ancient (by smartphone standards).
Rating: 2 Votes
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IJ Reilly
8 months ago

Worst way to save a dollar.


Same day vs. five days, maybe more? Best way to save four days, maybe more. And yeah you also save a whole dollar.

So let's say you are replacing the battery on an iPhone 6. It's already three years old. Realistically, how much longer are you likely to own it, maybe another year? Two? So who really cares if the battery is OEM?
Rating: 2 Votes
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coolfactor
8 months ago
So were these companies charging 200% markup on the batteries? Or are they providing the repair service for free now? I don't understand how they can just cut the prices in half without losing money on every transaction.
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Poor specified by Apple batteries were the problem in the first place. I would be willing to pay more to get a higher quality battery than Apple provides.


Yah, that's a reach.

If anything, they are just too small (not poor quality) for the needs of the today's iPhones. Apple's aim to go thin-thin-thin and they've met their match with today's battery tech. That's more reasonable than just claiming they cheaped out on batteries to save a buck.
Rating: 2 Votes
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