Apple Considering Offering Rebates to Customers Who Purchased Full-Price iPhone Batteries
Apple is considering providing rebates to customers who purchased full-price iPhones before its reduced-cost $29 battery replacements were made available, reports Recode.
Apple confirmed that it is exploring the option following an inquiry from U.S. Senator John Thune, who asked whether Apple would offer rebates to customers who had already purchased new batteries at higher prices.
Has Apple explored whether consumers who paid the full, non-discounted price for a replacement batter in an effort to restore performance should be allowed to seek a rebate for some of the purchase price?"
Apple vice president for public policy Cynthia Hogan answered Thune's inquiry today and said that Apple is indeed looking into whether a rebate program can be provided to customers. "Yes, we are exploring this and will update you accordingly," she told Thune.
Apple began offering customers with an iPhone 6 and newer low-cost $29 battery replacements starting in December following outrage over the company's decision to introduce an iPhone-slowing power management feature in older devices.
Though the power management feature was first introduced in iOS 10.2.1 early in 2017, the details behind how it works were not fully discovered or explained by Apple until December. As it turns out, in older devices with degraded batteries, the power management feature can result in processor throttling at times of peak usage. Replacing the battery in affected devices solves the problem.
When Apple made $29 battery replacements available to customers in late December it also provided some customers who had already made a purchase with refunds, but the company limited refunds to batteries purchased on or after December 14. Customers who purchased a replacement battery before December 14 at the full $79 price have not been able to get their money back.
Should Apple make a rebate program available to customers who previously made a battery purchase, it would presumably cover customers who purchased replacement batteries earlier in the year.
Popular Stories
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store.
The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump.
...
Apple is promoting the new Liquid Glass design in iOS 26, showing off the ways that third-party developers are embracing the aesthetic in their apps. On its developer website, Apple is featuring a visual gallery that demonstrates how "teams of all sizes" are creating Liquid Glass experiences.
The gallery features examples of Liquid Glass in apps for iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Apple...
Apple's online store in the U.S. is suddenly offering a pack of four AirTags for just $29, which is the same price as a single AirTag.
This is likely a pricing error, and it is unclear if orders will be fulfilled. Apple has not discounted the AirTag four-pack in any other countries that we checked.
Delivery estimates are already pushing into late November to early December, suggesting...
Following more than a month of beta testing, Apple released iOS 26.1 on Monday, November 3. The update includes a handful of new features and changes, including the ability to adjust the look of Liquid Glass and more.
Below, we outline iOS 26.1's key new features.
Liquid Glass Toggle
iOS 26.1 lets you choose your preferred look for Liquid Glass.
In the Settings app, under Display...
IKEA today announced the upcoming launch of 21 new Matter-compatible smart home products that will be able to interface with HomeKit and the Apple Home app. There are sensors, lights, and control options, all of which will be reasonably priced. Some of the products are new, while some are updates to existing lines that IKEA previously offered.
There are a series of new smart bulbs that are...
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue.
Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
HTX Studio this week shared the results from a six-month battery test that compared how fast charging and slow charging can affect battery life over time.
Using six iPhone 12 models, the channel set up a system to drain the batteries from five percent and charge them to 100 percent over and over again. Three were fast charged, and three were slow charged.
Another set of iPhones underwent...
Apple in iOS 26.2 will disable automatic Wi-Fi network syncing between iPhone and Apple Watch in the European Union to comply with the bloc's regulations, suggests a new report.
Normally, when an iPhone connects to a new Wi-Fi network, it automatically shares the network credentials with the paired Apple Watch. This allows the watch to connect to the same network independently – for...
