Apple Slowing iPhone-$29 Battery / Google Tracking

[marurun]

My view is that the warranty period is what tells you how long the company expects the item to last. The nice blender we just bought has a 7 year warranty. That lets me know that the manufacturer is confident they have manufactured a product that will not die in that time, which also means it will probably also run a lot longer without issue. My phone has only a year warranty, which tells me it was not manufactured to last and the manufacturer has no confidence it will survive for very long in regular use.

[MrPopo]

Phone isn't the best example because so many people are in the habit of a yearly or biyearly upgrade cycle. So having longer than a year warranty adds cost without being a selling point for most of your customers.

[marurun]

Most folks I know are biennial upgraders, which means a 2 year warranty would still be widely applicable. But I can't think of a single electronic device with a longer standard warranty than 1 year. Electronics, no matter how advanced, seem to be designed to be delicate and time-limited flowers.

[MrPopo]

I wonder if it's a holdover from the early days, when they were delicate and people found all kinds of novel ways to blow them up. Unless people are really clamoring for an extended warranty without paying for it what's the incentive to offer it?

[emwearz]

My girlfriend took her phone into an Apple store, they told her her battery was operating at 83% efficiency (original battery from her iPhone 6) and does not qualify fort the discounted battery exchange.

[CRTGAMER]

My girlfriend took her phone into an Apple store, they told her her battery was operating at 83% efficiency (original battery from her iPhone 6) and does not qualify fort the discounted battery exchange.

If I read that Apple Site correctly, Apple will one time replace no matter the condition of the battery. This due to the eventual slow down that will occur when the battery does weaken. After the first replacement, then the battery will be checked for efficiency to prevent abuse of the policy. Stand your ground and request a new battery due to the eventual slow down; perhaps speak to the Manager?

https://www.macrumors.com/2018/01/02/apple-replaces-iphone-batteries-that-pass-tests/

This morning, French tech blog iGeneration reported that an internal Apple Store memo has been circulated which states that if a customer asks for a battery replacement on an iPhone 6 or later, then the Genius Bar should allow it, even if their phone passes Apple's own diagnostic test.

Apple has since independently confirmed to MacRumors that it will agree to replace an eligible battery for a $29 fee, regardless of whether an official diagnostic test shows that it is still able to retain less than 80 percent of its original capacity. The concession appears to have been made to mollify the anger of customers stoked by headlines suggesting that Apple artificially slows down older iPhones to drive customers to upgrade to newer models.

[samsonlonghair]

I just used the link that CRT posted above to schedule a phone call with Apple support to replace my iPhone battery. Let's see how well this works out.

Good for you, take advantage of the $29.00 battery. From what I read, your existing battery does not have to be worn down on the first service and any followup visit would require a test of worn battery. Pleas post the outcome, recommend visiting your local service center (not contracted 3rd party) directly instead of shipping out.

Follow up:

I followed the link CRT posted and filed my complaint on January 17th. I used Apple's website to scheduled a call time. To Apple's credit, they really did call me on time. What's more, the person on the telephone actually spoke English! I chatted the dude up for a minute; his name is Andy he works in a call center in Miami. I told Andy that my iPhone has been slowing down since my recent update, and that my battery wouldn't hold a charge any longer. Andy told me that based upon what I had told him I qualified for a battery replacement for $29. Andy confirmed my email address and told me that I should expect to get an email from apple within 24 hours to confirm my new battery.
I waited...
and waited...
and waited...

After two days, I got an email from Apple, but not the one I was expecting. I got an email asking me for feedback on my customer service interaction with Andy. On January 21st, I finally got the email I was expecting...



Looks like a positive sign overall, except that I have to wait two weeks. I got this email eleven days ago, so I'm still waiting.

Wish me luck!

[marurun]

Ars has a detailed look at this entire issue. It's quite informative.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/02 ... to-change/

[samsonlonghair]

This email got delivered to my spam folder five days ago. I just noticed this yesterday evening.



This is kind of inconvenient because my previous email said I only had one week. I explicitly white-listed that email, but this one still went into my spam folder. This email has a different sender address. I'm not quite paranoid enough to believe that the Apple illuminati intentionally dumped this into my spam folder to make me miss my window of opportunity. I still find it aggravating.

Short pump is a little out of my way; it's not really in the city of Richmond, but I can get there on the highway. It's about a forty-five minute drive. I'm absolutely swamped today; I will try to get there tomorrow.

This morning I backed up my iPhone to my Mac Pro. I'm updating to iOS 11 now. I suspect that apple won't sell me the $30 battery upgrade if they find out that my iPhone was still on iOS 10. Here's hoping this all works out. Wish me luck; I may need it.

[CRTGAMER]

This morning I backed up my iPhone to my Mac Pro. I'm updating to iOS 11 now. I suspect that apple won't sell me the $30 battery upgrade if they find out that my iPhone was still on iOS 10. Here's hoping this all works out. Wish me luck; I may need it.

Considering the commute, good idea to install the upgrade and backing up your data. Depending on the tech, they might wipe it clean to factory, though could be left alone per customer request. Should be a one day job, maybe drop off as soon as they open?