“Some people across the country are reporting that they’re having a tough time getting their iPhone batteries replaced through Apple Inc.’s battery replacement program that launched after the company admitted that it slows down phones with older batteries to preserve the phones’ performance,” Hayley Tsukayama reports for The Los Angeles Times.
“From Silicon Valley to Washington, from Detroit to Atlanta, people are sharing stories of long waits, dropped customer service calls and hard-to-get appointments,” Tsukayama reports. “One man told the Chicago Tribune in February that he was told to come in after a two-week wait for his battery appointment, only to be told there were no batteries. Washington Post columnist Geoffrey Fowler said last month that one store in the Bay Area told him stock levels won’t be back to normal until the summer.”
“When asked to comment about the long wait times, Apple pointed to its support site. The company warned customers that supplies would be limited. Different models can have different wait times. Some of the phones covered by Apple’s replacement program — the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus — no longer are being manufactured, which means battery supply is limited,” Tsukayama reports. “Calls to 10 Apple stores in different regions of the country last week revealed that wait times for a new iPhone 6 battery ranged from three to five days to two to three weeks, with no discernible pattern about why certain stores had shorter wait times than others.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s understandable that Apple would lack supply of older iPhone batteries after the company was caught flat-footed by batterygate and forced to respond by lowering battery replacement prices from $79 to $29 in an attempt to assuage customers.
Batterygate is Apple’s self-inflicted wound that continues to fester. The company has only themselves to blame.
SEE ALSO:
Apple tells U.S. Senate company may offer rebates for battery purchases amid iPhone blowback – February 6, 2018
Apple previews iOS 11.3 with new battery health features, ability to turn processor throttling on and off, and more – January 24, 2018
Tim Cook: ‘Maybe we should have been clearer’ over throttling iPhones with aging batteries – January 18, 2018
China consumer group seeks answers from Apple over batterygate – January 16, 2018
South Korean consumer group considering criminal case against Apple over iPhone batterygate – January 11, 2018
Republican Senator John Thune, Chair of the U.S. Commerce Committee, has some questions for Apple over throttling old iPhones – January 10, 2018
French prosecutor launches probe into Apple planned obsolescence – January 8, 2018
Apple’s design decisions and iPhone batteries – January 8, 2018
Apple now faces over two dozen lawsuits for ‘purposefully’ or ‘secretly’ slowing down older iPhones – January 5, 2018
Why aging batteries don’t slow down Android phones like Apple iPhones – January 5, 2018
Apple’s $29 replacement batteries expected to hurt new iPhone sales – January 4, 2018
How to see if Apple’s throttling your iPhone – January 4, 2018
Brazilian agency requires Apple to inform consumers on batteries – January 3, 2018
Analyst: Apple’s ‘batterygate’ solution may mean 16 million fewer iPhones sold this year – January 3, 2018
An Apple conspiracy theory blooms – January 2, 2018
Apple clarifies policy on $29 battery replacements: All iPhone 6 and later devices are eligible – January 2, 2018
If the battery was this much of a problem aging, Apple should have seen this coming, and nobody is looking for the worlds thinnest phone either, Put a friggin big battery in a iPhone and
call it the PRO series, Pro because it works more than 2 hours.
With use, I get about 3 hours with my X if Im lucky before the battery is pretty low, and obviously i’m going to use it, and thats with all the ANNOYING ways the phone “SAVES:” power, like constantly dimming the screen if not turning it off completely. I get it, but the battery doesn’t last long, so last night, my brand new iPhone X was at 15 percent about, a decent sliver of “Yellow bar” left, Then the phone just shut off.
Unacceptable.
If thats all you’re getting from your new phone, only two possibilities exist, a) background processes are out of control, or b) you have a faulty battery.
In the first scenario, it is on the user to find the rogue app or service that is out of control. Use the Battery widget in Settings to determine where all this power is going.
In the second instance, and only after ypu have eliminated any app or service as the problem, a trip to the Apple Store or a call to AppleCare will have them test the phone and look at the metrics to make a determination. Battery will be replaced without charge and quickly.
No need for a “PRO” model with a bigger battery when a PRO user knows how to maintain there phone.
Best of luck tracking down the problem!
I have had no problems at all with my iPhone X battery.
MDN hit the nail on the head.
Apple did this to themselves. I’m still in shock that no one at Apple saw this type of backlash coming.
A simple motto of “Do to the customer the way you want them to do to you…” could have prevented this problem.
Slowing their iPhones down without telling them is one way to cause outrage. Even if it was for legitimate reasons.
Well, it depends doesn’t it. If what they would do to themselves is slow their phone down so they’re not stuck in the wrong neighborhood with a phone that shuts down immediately after making a call, then that’s what they did. So maybe it’s more like “Find out what the customer wants you to do then do that”.
Nope, Wrong Again (fitting name). The problem is NOT that Apple decided “slow phone better than no phone.” The problem is that they did not TELL the user that was the reason their phone was slow.
That hides the problem that the battery needs to be replaced, and just gives the user a bad experience (slow phone) with no obvious way to fix it. It was dishonest. I actually think it wasn’t malicious dishonest, but it was a stupid paternalistic way to treat the user.
Think about how “Lower Power Mode” works on iOS. THAT is how they should have handled this. Respect the user!
What’s so difficult or frustrating? I called Apple a week and a half ago requesting batteries for two iPhone 6s that I’ve passed down to my kids. Simple process with a friendly associate who placed the order. Followed by a confirmation email within seconds and a follow-up call later that week. I was told the store would notify me when they received the batteries to schedule an appointment. Got that call today and I’ll head to the Apple Store Friday night.
Can only see it being a problem if the phones didn’t hold a charge at all. And if that was the case, I would have replaced them before this became a thing. And, I’d expect a refund for the difference.
The company has only itself to blame.
Seamless for me.
Went to the store.
They ordered it.
Called me a week later when it came in.
Went back, and they replaced it.
End of story!
Same here. Ordered it and just happened to stop by 2 days later. Said they didn’t have time to replace 2 batteries at 7pm, but I explained that I live an hour away. They put me in the queue to do it right then.
Awesome service. Thanks Apple Birmingham.
It was a three-day turnaround time for my iPhone 6 battery replacement and a 6 week turnaround time for my iPhone 6 battery. Both devices rune well, now, though.
I made the mistake of getting a third-party battery for may iPhone 6 about two months before Apple lowered their price. Now I’ve got a mediocre battery that lasts about six hours, and Apple won’t replace the battery because it’s not the factory original. Sigh.
My order took over 6 weeks to come in. Got the battery replaced and still have the same issue of quick drain on the battery. Wasn’t worth the $29!
Then you need to check your device for problems. Depending on which phone you have, (6, 6s, 7), your new battery should last significantly longer (under same conditions), and the phone performance should be noticeably better. If it isn’t, then something is definitely wrong and Apple will fix it for you for free. Make an appointment with the Genius Bar.
I had a 6s (bought at launch, therefore some two years and four months old), and the battery was already eligible for a free replacement (the first batch had some problematic ones). I only replaced it a few weeks ago. The battery life is now significantly longer, and overall performance is also noticeably better. With the old (recalled) battery, Geekbench scores were inline with 5 or 5s (the number was almost half from nominal scores for 6s). After replacement, scores went up and are now about 10% higher than nominal 6S. That’s because iOS 11 is that much more efficient from original iOS9 that came with 6S.