“A Los Angeles-based consumer watchdog group that filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. in 2006 has called on the company to spell out the iPhone’s battery-replacement policy to prospective buyers,” Gregg Keizer reports for Computerworld in an article headline and subtitled, “Consumer group questions iPhone battery replacement, iPhones must be mailed to Apple for battery swap; all data disappears.”
“In a letter sent Friday (PDF) to Apple CEO Steve Jobs and AT&T Inc. CEO Randall Stephenson, the Foundation for Taxpayers and Consumer Rights (FTCR) asked that iPhone battery issues be disclosed in all advertising, before retail sales close and during activation using iTunes ‘to ensure that no customers are misled concerning the performance and effective cost of the unit.’ The letter also urged Apple to provide replacement batteries free of charge throughout the life of the iPhone.”
“Under the iPhone’s standard one-year warranty, Apple will replace the battery free of charge if it drops below 50% of original capacity. This month, Apple will begin selling an $69 extended warranty that stretches the hardware repair coverage, battery included, for an additional year,” Keizer reports.
“To replace the iPhone battery, owners must pay $85.95, then ship the device to Apple,” Keizer reports. “The normal repair time, Apple said in a brief FAQ on iPhone battery replacement, will be three business days. Users, however, will receive a data-free iPhone in return. ‘The repair process will clear all data from your iPhone,’ Apple’s FAQ stated. ‘It is important to sync your iPhone with iTunes to back up your contacts, photos, e-mail account settings, text messages and more. Apple is not responsible for the loss of information while servicing your iPhone and does not offer any data transfer service.’ The program is similar to the one offered to iPod owners, which charges $65.95 to replace a battery and returns the unit sans music and video about a week after Apple receives the device.”
Full article here.
We’re going to issue a letter (we’ll even post it online in PDF format and send out press releases to places like Computerworld, to make it official) that calls on Apple to provide us with free Macs, iPhones, and whatever else we request for life. Somewhere in it, we’ll pretend we’re technologically-illiterate, too, and make a big stink about “all the data disappearing” and ignoring basic concepts like synced data between devices and lithium-based battery maintenance.
Man, oh, man, we hope it works!
Now, that said, we do hope that Apple works on the turnaround time. Three business days on average is long enough to go without an iPod, but it’s just way too long to be without your phone! Apple needs to figure out a way to do it faster (at all Apple and AT&T stores, on the spot, would be best) or get a loaner into users’ hands while they wait.
More info about Apple iPhone batteries: http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html
what are these people smoking?
MW: head “cases”
I’d like free tires for life on all my autos too
I’m sure there’s already an after market battery replacement in the works, just like there is for the iPod, with a handy do it yourself kit.
And if you don’t have the sense to sync your iPhone before you send it off for a battery replacement, maybe you shouldn’t own one.
One word: greedy.
This is probably some “organization” that works out of the home of the director’s Mom.
Free tires?! Man, I want a free car for life.
Lawsuit on their grubby little minds. Perhaps Apple should also detail the manufacturing process to assure customers that the metals used were not adulterated at the factory level? Heck, they should reveal all the coding – who knows what time-triggered little bomblets are hidden in the iPhone’s software code?
Wait another word: stupid.
how much does a replacement battery cost for a razr? sixty bucks?
i think apple’s out of warranty battery replacement program sounds pretty awesome.
and 69 bucks for applecare is pretty sweet.
If Apple is going to basically replace the unit, and keep the one you return, the bigger question is, will they zero out the data on your old phone to ensure that identity thieves cannot retrieve the data using off the shelf data recovery tools.
Groups like the aforementioned are clear evidence that the fittest are not the only ones that survive.
Can they send a letter to Microsoft and Motorola to have them replace my “Q” with one that doesn’t turn off on it’s own, nor stop responding to button presses, and that can hold a charge for more than 3 hours of talk-time? This is class-action fodder. Everyone I know that has a “Q” has the same issues. I’m on my second one.
Dicks.
First, the battery make last for years. Why bring this up when there are no indications it will be an issue.
Soecnd, the bloody phone can easily back up everything before you send it off. Who cares if your info is wiped.
Third, by the time anybody needs this sevice, Apple will have a 24 h or less return service.
Last word: idiots.
And free ice cream. It’s only fair.
Apple could avoid trouble with groups like this by making the battery user replaceable. I really can’t understand why they don’t.
MDN Magic word: coming, as in Maybe it’s coming in the next version.
WOW, Iike REALLY WOW. You think I can get free minutes too for life It only fair If I can get free battery replacement can they biggie size that too. From a 4g to 8g and for one dollar more can I all the songs from iTunes. These people must be working for microsoft or dell
@Irritated: I concur, I don’t care what screen you’re viewing MDN on, those goddamn Kontera green double-lines are a major PAIN IN THE ASS! Even when you turn them off, you have to do it again after a couple of days. THEY SUCK! GET RID OF ‘EM!
Someone needs to make a Cellebrite cable to copy the data on one iPhone to another. When I worked at a cell phone shop, we used it all the time to backup cell phonebooks.
These clowns are just laying the groundwork for a future class action lawsuit.
Initial tear-downs show that the battery is *soldered*, making it definitely NOT user-replaceable. Also, what they had to do to get into the unit was not pretty. I cringed just looking at the pictures. This is NOT like replacing batteries in your remote control.
@Botvinnik
How do you turn them off on the iPhone?
I honestly can not navigate MDN from my iPhone.
With my fingers scrolling, pinching and zooming there is NO WAY TO AVOID THOSE STUPID POP-UP BUBBLES.
“‘The repair process will clear all data from your iPhone,'”
OH NOES!!! im in ur fonez, stealing ur contaks!
This was written by someone who does not understand how iTunes data synchronization works. At all. Get a job, looter.
-c
I agree with Chris. I find it hard to understand why Apple didn’t make the battery user replaceable, especially on a phone, where it is unacceptable to have the battery run out during a long day of use (unlike with an iPod). This is one of only two bad iPhone decisions Apple made, in my opinion. The other was the failure to allow the keyboard to be rotated into landscape mode whenever it is used (instead of just in Safari). That would have solved most typing problems.
That doesn’t address the complaint of these bozos, however, since they are talking about replacing a worn out battery, not a discharged one. They must have spent the whole weekend finding something to whine about. Better to have waited to see how long the battery would last before complaining.
I have just bought an Apple keyboard, and I think I deserve a Mac Pro with ATi graphics and two 30″ displays. No need for Mighty Mouse.
Why? Do car manufacturers replace the car battery for the life of the car? Most car owners need to take their car into a shop and pay a lot of money to have the battery replaced (although they can do it themselves and save money).
Because of the black plastic piece at the bottom back of the iPhone, it seems to be relatively easy to open compared to iPods. There will be third party replacements available for iPhone for $20 on eBay. This will become a non-issue.