Apple has posted the following statement on their Chinese website:
We care deeply about our customers and take seriously concerns they have about their Apple products. After hearing reports from iPhone customers whose devices unexpectedly shut down, we thoroughly looked into these reports, and collected and analyzed devices.
We found that a small number of iPhone 6s devices made in September and October 2015 contained a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs. As a result, these batteries degrade faster than a normal battery and cause unexpected shutdowns to occur. It’s important to note, this is not a safety issue.
To help our customers who are experiencing this issue, we are replacing batteries in affected devices, free of charge. iPhone 6s owners can easily find out if their device is eligible by typing in their device’s serial number on the iPhone 6s Program for Unexpected Shutdown Issues web page. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused customers.
We also want our customers to know that an iPhone is actually designed to shut down automatically under certain conditions, such as extremely cold temperature. To an iPhone user, some of those shutdowns might seem unexpected, but they are designed to protect the device’s electronics from low voltage.
We looked for any other factors that could cause an iPhone to shut down unexpectedly. After intensive investigations, no new factors have been identified. We will continue to monitor and analyze customer reports.
We encourage any customer who experiences an issue with an Apple product to visit an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, or to contact Apple Support.
MacDailyNews Take: Problem identified and free replacement program initiated and communicated. Good job, Apple!
👍👍Tim and Team
Nicely, fairly handled. Shite happens.
I’m sure it is only a fraction of the phones that have this problem. Mine is eligible (6S bought in Sept. 2015), but my battery continues to last a full day on a charge, usually with 40-50% left. I’m sure I’ll do this nonetheless (why not get a fresh new battery?), but I haven’t yet seen the symptoms of this.
As for the cold weather, this does happen indeed. If I walk while reading in close-to-freezing temperatures, the phone will get too cold to work well and it will shut down. A few minutes inside the shirt pocket under my winter jacket gets it back to normal operating temperature.
I checked with Apple as my s/n qualified but I do not have any issues with shutdown at 30-40% and they said it would not be replaced unless they see the issue actually happening.
My wife’s 6S is experiencing the battery problem and her serial number qualifies, so glad Apple is addressing with a free battery replacement program.
My iPhone is eligible too. I have not been seeing unexpected shutdowns, but my battery drain is abnormally quick. Very glad to have this chance to get a new free battery.
Heh, I responded on the original story about this issue that I had experienced the problem about a half dozen times – premature shutdown at 40%. But the rest of the time my battery lasts a full day or two. Pretty sure the last time it happened it was a colder day, so maybe the behavior is more likely to show up during cold weather use for borderline cases.
Thanks and kudos to MDN for making me aware of this program. I assume Apple would have ultimately contacted me, but nice to get a jump on it and tasty fresh battery sooner than later!
Previous Apple mantra was to be “Very Good” as a fall back position. The actual goal was to stand alone as the premier innovator, developer, and deliverer of the most extraordinary products that changed the world. Now, the company’s highest standard is “Very Good” and a mere 28% of the web’s gathering of the company’s greatest fanboys believe Tim Cook is delivering at that level. Aren’t you all ready to join me in demanding a replacement – it’s very likely that the once-great company could do any worse with whatever replacement they put in place.
So you are back Jay? Can’t say thst I missed you. Not going to “join” you in any way, shape, or form. G’day!
Anonymous coward ‘Jay Morrison’: whatever. How about YOU replace Tim Cook. I guarantee ‘the once-great company’ would do a hell of a lot worse with a dolt like you running the show.
Back to sanity: Apple is faceplanting in a number of key areas right now. But Apple pulled blunders on a regular basis all throughout the Steve Jobs years. As per usual, we fanboys are ranting at Apple to get their act together and sort out the problems. We’ve enumerated those problems repeatedly here at MDN. That’s a great thing and one reason a lot of us bother to hang around, despite the dumbass political crap.
Anybody find an English version of this page?
Found it – just drop the “/cn” from the URL.
Damn. Mine was eligible, too, but I took care of it a week or so ago, when we still had to GO there (and wait, even though I had an appointment time), then be told “yep, yours is on the list, but we have no batteries in stock, so we’ll have you come back again in a few days.”
I would have preferred to not waste a couple hours for that first appointment and just look it up on the website, the way a recall is supposed to work.
I’m glad they are letting people do that now, just kinda pissed they wasted a bunch of my time by not setting up the online look-up sooner.