Apple’s iPhone Battery Replacement Program


I’m sure all of you have heard by know that Apple is offering reduced iPhone battery replacements for iPhones that are an iPhone 6 or newer:

  • iPhone 6/6 Plus
  • iPhone SE
  • iPhone 6s/6s Plus
  • iPhone 7/7 Plus
  • Even the iPhone 8/8 Plus and iPhone X (but only if the battery is truly degraded)

It is normally $79 to have an iPhone battery replaced out of warranty and now Apple is doing it for only $29. If you are someone that holds on to iPhone for 2 or more years before upgrading then I highly suggest you take advantage of this limited time program. Apple is offering these $29 iPhone battery replacements through the end of calendar year 2018. Right now there is a pretty large rush on these batteries, which means there is a wait. So don’t expect to just walk into an Apple Store and have them be able to replace your battery. In fact, I have some personal experience with this...

My Dad, sister and I were in Vegas this past week (I was there for CES). My Dad was passing down his iPhone 6 to my sister (since he recently got the iPhone X). Let’s just say he uses his iPhone a lot, so his iPhone 6 battery was pretty much shot. So he wanted to get the battery replaced before handing it down. My Dad doesn’t have any Apple Store anywhere near where he lives (the closest one is over 3 hours away) so he figured he would take advantage of being near an Apple Store while in Vegas and get the battery replaced. He made an appointment with Apple specifically for a battery replacement a couple of weeks in advance. But when we got to the Apple Store we got a couple of surprises. First, Apple did a diagnostics on the iPhone. Maybe I missed it, but everything I read early on about this battery replacement program was that Apple was replacing the battery irregardless of whether the battery was showing a degradation in performance. Turns out that is not the case. Not a problem, the diagnostics showed his battery was shot. The problem was that Apple didn’t have any batteries in stock and it would take a few weeks before they could get one in. Well, we weren’t going to be in Vegas for several weeks and my Dad doesn’t live close to another Apple Store so that wasn’t going to work. But then Apple did what they normally do...they went above and beyond. They went ahead and replaced the entire phone for the cost of the $29 battery replacement.

I am sharing this experience because I’m sure there a lot of you out there that are also thinking of taking advantage of this battery replacement deal. If so, just be aware that making an appointment is just step 1. You have to go in and have a diagnostics run on your iPhone and then once it is determined that your battery is in need of a replacement you will need to wait for a battery to become available. This is also the case if you take your iPhone in to a Apple Authorized repair center. One of my co-workers had the same experience at a local place here in Melbourne, Florida (their online appointment made it sound like the appointment was for the battery replacement instead of it being just the diagnostic test). So be prepared to wait in line for a battery. Although, some smaller repair centers actually have batteries in stock so you might just get lucky.

Also, if you aren’t having battery issues right now I suggest you wait until later this year. Get the most time out of your new battery and avoid the current rush on these cheap battery replacements. Make yourself a calendar reminder for Oct or Nov of this year to get your iPhone in for a battery replacement. iPhone batteries will last about 2-3 years on average, so waiting until later this year means your iPhone battery life will be extended out 3-4 years from today.

Apple Intentionally Slowing Down iPhones


By now I’m sure you have heard about this story, either in a short blurb on the news or second hand through a friend or family member. It’s true, Apple has been intentionally slowing down iPhones, ever since a software update from early 2017 and it impacts iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE and iPhone 7. Now that the “link-baity” garbage is out of the way do you want to know what has really been going on?

”I knew it, Apple just wants to force people to upgrade”

Conspiracy theorists all over the world rejoiced when this news finally broke. At long last Apple has finally admitted to slowing down iPhones through software just so people would be frustrated and pay to upgrade to a newer iPhone. Except, that’s not what is going on. But let’s start with how this story broke, because that is the real story here. A developer, John Poole, published a study that looked at how benchmarks (lab-based performance tests) on specific iPhone models vary depending on the version of software running on the iPhone. After further testing he was able to pinpoint the performance “slow down” to the iOS 10.2.1 update which was released in January of 2017. Finally, after enough news outlets covered this story Apple made an official statement:



So What Does This Mean?

Lithium ion batteries will degrade over time. After about 500 charging cycles (about 2 years of use for the average user) an iPhone’s battery will only be able to charge to 80% of its original capacity. There are all sorts of safe-guards built into smartphones so that if they get too hot or too cold or if the battery conditions are just right the operating system takes action to proctect the hardware. If you live in a location that gets really cold or really hot you have probably encountered your iPhone literally shutting down to protect itself.

In this specific case, Apple has added a safeguard into the iPhone operating system to slow down the iPhone’s processor slightly as a way to avoid having the iPhone completely shutdown due to an aging battery and the spikes and all-around “flakiness” that comes along with it. If you have ever owned an “elderly” iPhone you know exactly what I am talking about. You are plugging along at about 20% battery and then all of the sudden your iPhone turns off and it is out of power. What Apple has done starting with iOS 10.2.1 keeps this from happening. But in order to keep this from happening Apple has to slow down the iPhone’s processor, only slightly and only for short periods of time. To the average user this “slow down” will be minimal but noticeable. It is most notable when performing a performance benchmark test where you run the processor at maximum speed for long periods of time (which is exactly how this new “feature” was discovered).

Why is Everyone So Upset?

I agree with what Apple is doing, but they really blew it when it came to messaging. Apple is notorious for being tight-lipped about everything and this issue was no exception. If Apple had just come out when they released iOS 10.2.1 and explained what they were doing and why, then all of this negative press and wailing and gnashing of teeth would not have been necessary. But they didn’t. In true Apple style they kept this information internal and it took concrete proof published by a developer to get Apple to admit what they were doing.

But that is where the negative aspects of this story end. What Apple is actually doing with the iPhone is A GOOD THING. Be honest, if you are browsing a web page and a site takes 1.25 seconds instead of 1.35 seconds to load is it the end of the world? No. If you are out with a group of friends and one of them drops to floor having a heart attack and you reach for your iPhone to call “911” and it shuts off because the battery has dipped down below 20% ? Yes, that is a big deal. So I would argue that what Apple has done is actually allowing users to keep using their old iPhones longer, which goes totally against the conspiracy theory that Apple is just doing this to sell more iPhones. If you don’t like having a slightly slower iPhone then spend the approximately $80 to get a new battery installed and get a couple more years out of your iPhone without any performance impacts.

What Apple should have done is been more open about what they were doing. Apple should also give users the option to “opt out” of this automatic processor throttling so that all the performance obsessed people out there that seem to think that intentionally slowing down the processor is the end of the world can choose to run their old lithium ion battery in their phone into the ground and live the all the consequences from doing so. As usual this entire story is just an over-reaction. Hopefully Apple will learn from this and start being just a little more open about what they are doing. In this case, what they are doing is a really good thing and they need to be taking credit for it instead of flack.

12/29/17 Update: Apple has come out and addressed concerns over their actions and lack of communication with the following message:




Apple has also created a new page dedicated to explaining what happens to aging lithium ion batteries here.

iPhone 5 Battery Replacement Program

On August 22 2014 Apple rolled out a free battery replacement program for a small number of iPhone 5 devices that are having shorter than expected battery life. If you have an iPhone 5 that has a much shorter battery life than it used to or you find yourself charging your iPhone 5 much more often than when you first got the phone then you may be eligible. Here is how to check to see if your phone is eligible:

  1. Go to the Apple iPhone 5 Battery Replacement Program support page here
  2. Enter your iPhone 5 serial number in the entry field on the Apple support page
  3. Take your iPhone 5 into an Apple Store (by making an appointment at an Apple Genius Bar) or taking your phone into an Apple Authorized Service Provider

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