Apple is providing a solution to anyone with a faulty battery in their iPhone 5.

There have been several devices reported to have suddenly lost power, had capacity diminished, or just need to be plugged in almost constantly to retain a charge.

Apple claims it is “a very small percentage of iPhone 5 devices” sold in the devices original launch window from September of 2012 through January of 2013 that are affected, but the smartphone behemoth has provided a tool to check if your device falls within the range of serial number affected.

It’s unclear how this is any different than Apple’s standard warranty or Applecare+ program, but since the one year limited warranty is already expired for the first wave of iPhone 5 devices sold and those with Applecare+ are coming up to the end of the two year service window, this is likely Apple’s way of providing extended service to those customers.

This is a seemingly out of character move for Apple, who has been historically criticized for possibly scheduling obsolescence into its devices in order to encourage customers to pay to upgrade to a newer model.

With the much rumored iPhone 6 just around the corner, it appears Apple is confident that the quality of the new device will live up to the hype and provide consumers all the encouragement they need to leave behind their iPhone 5.

On the other hand, this issue does suggest that these devices may not be built with the intent to last beyond the typical 2 year device upgrade window, but this move by Apple is definitely a respectable one, considering the timing could definitely be used to generate some negative spin.

Either way, smartphone technology is still growing so fast, that it may be time to get a newer device, even if your iPhone 5 is still fully functioning, considering many app developers use newer hardware as a benchmark.

Source: Apple