[EXPIRED] iPhone 6 or Later Replacement Batteries - $39 AUD from Apple

Ldust on 29/12/2017 - 11:30
Last edited 01/01/2019 - 16:54 by 2 other users

Moved to Forum: Original Link

Apple to offer $29 battery replacements for a year as a way to apologise for slowing down of iPhones.

Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, starting in late January and available worldwide through December 2018.

https://www.apple.com/au/iphone-battery-and-performance/
Thanks thewinchester for the AU link.

Mod: Insufficient details for upcoming deal. This deal is missing (1) A price for Australia (the price won't simply be the US price converted to AU $) (2) A definite start date.

This offer should therefore be re-posted as a deal in the future, once these details are known (AU price & start date). Moved to the forums so discussion can continue.

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Comments

      • bargaineer on 31/12/2017 - 12:49
        +3

        Your recollection of the Samsung exploding battery fiasco and how Samsung handled it is a little lacking.

        They actually tried to deny it was a major problem for quite a while until they were forced to come out and acknowledge the issue.

        Also, their PR team was caught trying to bury complaints about the situation and even accidentally emailed a customer in relation to this instead of the internal stake holders.

        Using Samsung as a beacon of light in corporate responsibility is laughable!

      • [Deactivated] on 01/01/2018 - 00:04
        +1

        These are not remotely the same thing.

        Apple have intentionally (profanity) up here, whereas Samsung's stuff up wasn't intentional.

        But Samsung devices were exploding, these phones are just running slow and making you buy new ones. You can't really compare that.

        Apple's problem here is their batteries were too small and that's a design fault. There was no risk to the iPhone, it's just the CPU was designed with a maximum power that required more current than all but the newest batteries could provide. And it goes part of the way to explain why iPhone CPUs are 2 generations in front of the one's used by Android devices. Apple push them beyond what is sustainable beyond launch day.

  • twilsoncrow on 29/12/2017 - 11:33
    +28

    What about iPhone 5 users? Don't we count? Maybe it is their way to make me buy a new phone

    • jv on 29/12/2017 - 11:35
      +21

      Maybe it is their way to make me buy a new phone

      which was the whole reason this story came about anyway…

      • Al123 on 15/01/2018 - 19:45

        Tim Cook laughs again ;)

    • pifts on 29/12/2017 - 12:17

      The update they're admitting to wasn't pushed to iPhone 5's so they're avoiding that. Though 5's had their own debacle and the battery replacement was free.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/12/2017 - 12:27

      There's a 4 year cut-off. Anyone with a device older than 4 years on any platform are now obsolete. We live in a sad time of throwaway living.

      It shouldn't be this way, computers don't age that fast.

      • dufflover on 29/12/2017 - 12:55

        I remember as a kid always thinking my old desktop computer was "slow" but only cos the new ones were always getting faster and faster.
        Never thought I'd see the day when a tech compnay thought they needed to manually hurry that process along! Not surprised Apple were the first to do it (or the first to get caught anyway).

        • [Deactivated] on 29/12/2017 - 13:01
          +7

          You can also thank shitty Software developers.

          So many software developers are bad at their job and so they just write this inefficient garbage and hope the hardware can handle it.

          Like, our computers were not that fast a decade or so ago, but we were able to do browsing, etc.

          Now they're a shitload faster and yet we're still not "limitless" with our speed. Thank you bad software!

          This is another reason why that new AirBNB app feels slow on fast old phones.

        • ausdday on 29/12/2017 - 14:58

          @StoneSin:

          I think you forgot to mention that shitty consumer who wants everything done by the computer/phone, hopefully with a press of a button.

        • Mortal Krumpet on 30/12/2017 - 00:43
          +2

          LoL - it slows the phone down so that the battery lasts just as long after the battery naturally degrades over time (which is as per normal) - everyone twisting the intentions here haha… it’s so that they have less battery replacements.. not so that you replace the phone for going slower - but people always want to complain. The bigger a company gets, the more that people complain over whatever the media puts out.

          Note that the change they are implementing now doesn’t stop the phone slowing down, it just tells you IF it is slowing down due to the battery dying and allows you to know if that is the reason… because, slowing it down to preserve battery life is something they want to do… they could have easily just made it die quicker instead.

        • [Deactivated] on 01/01/2018 - 00:12
          +1

          @Mortal Krumpet: The problem was that phones started dying even with 40%+ battery remaining and the phones were less than a year old. Because the battery was designed too small for the CPU there was no design headroom when it started to age, it wasn't just a matter of charge being held, but also peak current. So the software fix was to slow the CPU and reduce the peak current demanded of the battery.

          I'm sure this wasn't intentionally to force people to buy new phones. But I'm also just as sure that it was to prevent returns under warranty as without this software update slowing the CPU people would have had dead phones that were less than a year old. So they've hidden a warrantable design fault by patching it in software.

          I'm sure plenty of people expect battery life to reduce over time, but not speed. Other manufacturers have confirmed they don't do this (and it would be easy to check). So you can see why they have bigger batteries to start with, they build in overhead to allow for the degredation of the battery without reducing performance.

        • entropysbane on 02/01/2018 - 07:24

          @Bargs: excellent summation of the problem. It reminds me of that scene in Apollo 13 with the engineers trying to work out a restart sequence that didn’t go over 20 Amps or the whole Apollo module system would crash.

          However, I think why competitors have a bigger battery is more to do with (at the time) a need for all day battery life and a less efficient mix of software and hardware. I am sure other manufacturer’s phones this old also have shutdown issues because the battery can no longer supply enough current.

    • cmdwedge on 29/12/2017 - 21:20

      We gave my wife's iPhone 5 to her mum a couple of years ago. Battery wasn't great, so I Googled how to replace it myself. Cost bugger all, and took maybe 15 minutes to do by following a Youtube video.

      It's cheap and it's really easy - DIY the iPhone 5!

    • Brendoo on 30/12/2017 - 21:34

      From my understanding the update isn't sent to iPhone 5's so iPhone 5 is not slowed down. iPhone 5's cannot receive updates since months ago as they are end of life so Apple cannot modify the code on iPhone 5 or lower to slow it down.

      i have an iPhone 5 on the most recently allowed update, 10.3.3, and it is very fast. I have had the phone since late 2012 and after 5 years it's working just as great as the day I got it. I have no reason to upgrade at this point. Every app works fine, games work fine, nothing to complain about. Sure the camera isn't as high quality as an iPhone X but it's fine for me.

      I have replaced the battery once for $9 (replaced it myself seeing it's easy) and still holds charge for over a day with medium use.

      It's unbelievable how high quality Apple phones are and how many years you can get out of them. Such incredible value for money. I'm surprised that it's still going strong after 5 years, I'm sure it will do another 5 easily, just with a couple more cheap battery changes. I find the battery lasts well for maybe 2 - 2.5 years.

    • [Deactivated] on 01/01/2018 - 00:07

      The battery in the iPhone 5 was big enough to start with and the iPhone 5 CPU was slow enough to start with. So this didn't affect them. This came about because Apple has been shrinking batteries while trying to push CPUs faster and faster. Eventually they pushed too hard and they've produced batteries too small for the CPUs. Batteries that are only able to provide enough current when new. This caused phones to shut off when they still had plenty of battery remaining, so they fixed it in software…… (Because the failure was showing up in the warranty period so if they didn't fix it in software they had a hardware recall on their hands)…

      • entropysbane on 02/01/2018 - 07:30

        The iPhone 6 and on are much more powerful, 64bit CPUs. Peak current requirements are much higher.
        Bargs, this power management is about older, after warranty has expired phones and extending their useful life after the fact. In warranty if the capacity is below 80% Apple replace it for free. That would be above the level where this power management software kicks in.

        • [Deactivated] on 02/01/2018 - 11:36

          Pre-this patch, my iPhone 6 was reporting the battery was reporting that it was fine, but it was shutting down suddenly with 39% remaining. This was about 11 months into owning it. Post this patch, that never happened. By 2 years in, the battery was only lasting about 6 hours and I bought an external battery pack rather than replacing the battery which was a mistake, had I known the battery was causing other issues than just running out of charge earlier I would have done that instead. 2.5 years in the phone failed to power on entirely on an intermittent basis, even when it had been charging all night and was still plugged in, reporting low power. So then the battery had to be replaced.

          So this software definitely kicks in when the phone is still under warranty.

          And yeah, the CPUs are more powerful and peak requirements are higher. Peak requirements that can clearly only be met with a new battery just lasting long enough to get great benchmarks for the reviews.

        • entropysbane on 02/01/2018 - 22:43

          @Bargs: yes, it would probably kick in if the battery was dying at 39%. Apple would have replaced at 11 months for nought. Interesting that it stopped shutdowns after the patch, which is its purpose.
          I think the battery is designed to be useful for over two years of normal use.

        • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2018 - 20:00

          @entropysbane: yeah, they would have had to replace the battery for nought, but they silently fixed it in software instead saving themselves quite a lot of money in replacements. Crafty.

        • entropysbane on 04/01/2018 - 20:00

          @Bargs: did you go to Apple and have them look at the battery? They would have replaced under warranty in 30 mins. Stop misrepresenting what this software engineering is, a fix for old batteries to prevent shutdown.

        • [Deactivated] on 05/01/2018 - 02:27

          @entropysbane: I made an appointment but by the time it came around this patch was out and I wasn't able to replicate the issue (shut downs with 39-40% battery remaining), so I didn't keep it. Because I didn't think I had an issue anymore. That's the point. If people don't think they have an issue, they're not GOING to go to Apple to have them look at the battery. But the batteries WERE an issue, and causing the processor to silently slow down.

          If they'd told me they were slowing down the processor to prevent the shut downs instead of hiding it I damn well WOULD have gone to Apple to have them replace it!

  • jv on 29/12/2017 - 11:33
    +9

    a way to apologise for slowing down of iPhones.

    Only from the iphone 6 onwards is what I heard on the radio…

    So it's only a partial apology…

    • PlagueistheCheap on 29/12/2017 - 11:43

      This is true, 6 onwards.

    • Trishool on 29/12/2017 - 11:54

      Yes as it was a 'feature' that was introduced to the iPhone 6 and iPhone SE last year with iOS 10 I think. They rolled it out to the iPhone 7 etc this year with iOS 11.2.

      • jv on 29/12/2017 - 11:58
        +4

        Yes as it was a 'feature' that was introduced to the iPhone 6 and iPhone SE last year

        and which phones was it 'introduced' to the year before that?

      • JTTheMan on 29/12/2017 - 13:25
        +5

        And when I took my iPhone 6 back to the Genius Bar last month to check why it was suddenly slow after the iOS update they said they have to reinstall the software and to do that I would have to back up all my iPhotos before wiping the phone and to do that I would have to upgrade my iCloud data account costing me $5.95 a month instead of free.
        After all that there was no change and they claimed it is working OK and it has not slowed down.

        Now I see these news articles saying it is a deliberate slowing down by Apple!
        So in fact not only did they lie to me, they are stealing money from me to pay for iCloud storage! Unbelievable.

        • Hirolol on 30/12/2017 - 08:38
          +1

          Use Google drive to backup photos and just use iCloud for phone numbers and basic stuff.
          Google drive is free for first 15gb

        • curryblender on 31/12/2017 - 03:53

          Genius Bar guy/girl probably didn't knew it themselves

        • entropysbane on 02/01/2018 - 07:35

          I am pretty sure by what you describe this power management issue isnt the cause of your slowdown. It is just your old phone is not as capable of running the latest version of the operating system as older versions. And yes, sometimes a full restore fixes performance issues, particularly after successive ‘upgrades’ without a full install.
          If it had been a dying battery they would have told you.

          Also: you don’t back up your photos? I recommend you do so.

        • JTTheMan on 02/01/2018 - 12:06

          @entropysbane: yes entropysbane I back up my photos manually to my Mac via USB (not iTunes). But
          The Apple store said something about an iTunes backup doesn’t save photos but I need to do an iCloud backup for everything including photos so I had to purchase a bigger storage plan. After everything they had no answer and it was a waste of money. Then I see this big story in the news saying Apple deliberately slowed the iPhone 6 with iOS11, exactly what I have experienced.

        • muncan on 02/01/2018 - 22:46

          @JTTheMan: What they meant to say was you should cloud-backup your photos with Google Photos
          Unlimited storage for free. Yes you're the product, but you're a great product!

        • entropysbane on 02/01/2018 - 23:00

          @JTTheMan:
          You need to sync your photo app to backup. If you can’t do that then yes you need some sort of cloud storage. Apple is po t going to steer you toa competitor product, like google photos cloud storage.
          Apple didn’t deliberately slow down your iPhone with iOS 11. Not spend as much time optimising ios11 for a three gen old phone maybe, it would unreasonable to expect it to run an OS with more overhead designed to make the most of a CPU several generations newer, as fast as an older version of the OS.
          I suggest however, that it shouldnt be that noticeable and you need to do a restore.

        • JTTheMan on 03/01/2018 - 12:49

          @entropysbane: They did do a complete restore and it made no difference. I put it down to an iOS11 issue, especially after the news

    • jace88 on 31/12/2017 - 23:03

      Nuts… was thinking $39 is a great deal to bring new life to my iPhone 5S and iPhone 5 :(

  • Grok on 29/12/2017 - 11:35
    +2

    That would be $29 in the USA. Anyone know if Oz gets the same price?

    Also what about if you are nowhere near an Apple Store.?

    • dangerdanger on 29/12/2017 - 11:36
      +62

      Yeah interested in this.

      $29USD = $500 AUD /s

    • jv on 29/12/2017 - 11:37
      +15

      Also what about if you are nowhere near an Apple Store.?

      Just ask Dan Andrews… He'd be happy to tear down a building on public land and hand it over to Apple to build a new store…

      • try2bhelpful on 30/12/2017 - 06:31
        +1

        Fed square looks like a kid discarded his connect blocks and walked away. I wish they would tear is all down and give us a good view of the park and an open green space with a couple of low rise buildings. What a colossal waste of money and prime real estate.

    • forumninja on 29/12/2017 - 11:44
      +1

      Current pricing here: https://support.apple.com/en-au/iphone/repair/service/pricin…
      I'd guess they'll probably offer it here AUD$39 to $59.

    • EnterTheShiftKey on 29/12/2017 - 12:16

      You can ship it to Apple. It should be free unless the post office near u don’t know what they’re doing.

    • Ryanek on 29/12/2017 - 11:37
      +31

      Don’t your batteries explode?

        • Ryanek on 29/12/2017 - 11:52
          +26

          Why so agro. I have no emotional attachment to my device, it’s just a phone.

        • darthsparrow on 29/12/2017 - 11:52
          +1

          Why don't you get out of here since this deal is of no concern to you?

        • lxstr on 29/12/2017 - 12:01
          +10

          I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a slower phone than a phone that might explode and kills you

        • gummibear on 29/12/2017 - 12:24
          +3

          Explosions making a device unusable and slowing down performance are very different issues.

        • OzBrogains on 29/12/2017 - 12:37
          -1

          Loled. Hey if I have a 1.5% chance of a phone blowing up next to my ear I think those are damn good odds :D

        • Oz8argain on 09/01/2018 - 09:33

          oh man, do I want a slight chance of burning my d1ck off or choose a different brand. Hard decision..

      • smuggler on 29/12/2017 - 11:54
        +8

        Aren't all your phones slow?

        Most people don't even own a Note 7

        • stan-C on 29/12/2017 - 12:23
          +5

          "Most people don't even own a Note 7", thats a good news tbh

    • gnarkill on 29/12/2017 - 12:45
      +3

      To be fair, I wish my Samsung's came with apple level of support. Samsung won't even let me pay to get my phones fixed under warranty.

  • hippyhippy on 29/12/2017 - 11:35
    +35

    This is very apple. Present the flaw in their products as a feature. Sell the isheep the fix instead of paying for it themselves hahah

    • askbargain on 29/12/2017 - 11:42

      When did this happen before? I'm very interested.

      • overlook on 29/12/2017 - 11:44
        +5

        like antenna gate that you hold your phone wrong way?

        edit: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2010/jun/25/ipho…

        • [Deactivated] on 29/12/2017 - 12:28
          +4

          This whole "drama + gate" word is getting annoying. Please (profanity) stop.

          "bagel-too-soft-gate". Ohmgyoddjsah do you remember that time that one place sold Bagels too soft? BAGELTOOSOFTGATE GUYS!

        • overlook on 29/12/2017 - 12:51

          @StoneSin:

          antennagate was the original..the problem after ppl like add gate on it. it is ok to born later, but not quite to be ignorant.

        • dufflover on 30/12/2017 - 00:50

          @overlook:

          it is ok to born later, but not quite to be ignorant.

          Not the same level but this reminds me of a time many many years ago we were playing a Half Life deathmatch LAN game during school lunch break and one of the younger kids watching asked "What Counter-Strike mod is this?"

        • [Deactivated] on 30/12/2017 - 13:48

          @StoneSin:

          Gategate

        • [Deactivated] on 30/12/2017 - 14:14

          @Cubist: Stargate

        • [Deactivated] on 30/12/2017 - 14:25

          @StoneSin:

          Gatecrashergate.

      • hippyhippy on 29/12/2017 - 11:45
        +3

        Phone cables and chargers.

      • huey on 29/12/2017 - 11:49
        +10

        Antennagate #Touchdisease #Applemaps #Bendgate #yellowgate #scratchgate

      • jesseboy89 on 29/12/2017 - 11:51

        Airpods

    • ThithLord on 29/12/2017 - 12:14
      +2

      "iSheep" - christ, you're edgy, m8

      • hippyhippy on 29/12/2017 - 12:36

        No mait.. Im iedgy.

    • dogboy on 29/12/2017 - 12:42
      -4

      Careful. This forum post is full of Apple users who don't understand technology. The flock will stampede you with their ignorance. They have blindly devoured Apple's marketing hype and are too far gone to be saved. The funniest thing is that most of them probably think this is a good deal!

  • Savas on 29/12/2017 - 11:36
    +6

    There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue

    oh yeah, good one Apple

  • Mr Mrrtn on 29/12/2017 - 11:37
    +1

    How does the replacement get installed? Do users get the battery and are expected to put it in themselves? Or is this done through authorised "technician" for free or for a fee?

    • pifts on 29/12/2017 - 12:09

      I imagine it will be similar to other programs - an appointment at any Apple Store genius bar, and it's a normal repair at the lower rate.

      • ozdesi on 29/12/2017 - 12:29

        with the sheer number of people wanting this, they may simply give you a replacement iPhone and repair your original one at their leisure

        • cashews on 29/12/2017 - 12:37
          +6

          Doubt it

        • pifts on 29/12/2017 - 12:50

          That would cost them far more and my guess is more people have been eligible in previous programs - though there are still ways this could happen :p

        • Marty131 on 29/12/2017 - 23:30

          Reckon you’ll be required to make a booking to bring phone in to nearest Apple store, with the booking probably weeks in the future. If you’re late or forget the booking, then tough luck - make a new booking.

  • ycon on 29/12/2017 - 11:37

    Which iPhones does this include? Will they do my old 5S?

    • jv on 29/12/2017 - 11:39
      +2

      6 onwards.

  • khing on 29/12/2017 - 11:45

    So I can replace battery of my iPhone 6 before December 2018?

  • dangerdanger on 29/12/2017 - 11:50

    I was holding on to my iphone 4 as a backup…. Somehow I don't think they'll replace the battery on that one…

  • bryans on 29/12/2017 - 11:54
    +1

    My iPhone 6 runs noticeably slower after iOS 11. This should be free (labour at least).

  • cynix on 29/12/2017 - 11:55
    +1

    It’s important to note that this offer will only be available if the battery actually needs replacing. I believe the criterium is that its usable capacity must have fallen below 80% of the design capacity, or something like that.

  • smuggler on 29/12/2017 - 11:56
    +1

    This is soooooooooo frustrating. My workplace has approximately 500+ iphones 6/6s/7 used for testing and business use. What are they going to do for us?

    • nightelves on 29/12/2017 - 11:59

      Keep quiet until someone complains.

    • alexGoodwin on 29/12/2017 - 12:03
      +1

      smuggler - user name checked out

    • malouphix on 29/12/2017 - 12:10
      +1

      SFA

    • RockyRaccoon on 29/12/2017 - 12:20
      -3

      My workplace has approximately 500+ iphones 6/6s/7 used for testing and business use

      So you must work for Samsung, who else would need so many iphones for testing etc

      • smuggler on 29/12/2017 - 12:34
        +4

        So you must work for Samsung, who else would need so many iphones for testing etc

        Every major software development company. You're clearly not an engineer, you wouldn't understand.

    • [Deactivated] on 29/12/2017 - 12:30
      +1

      Why should they do anything for you?

      They've reduced the cost of replacing the batteries, is that not a direct solution to your issue?

      • smuggler on 29/12/2017 - 12:33
        +1

        Why should they do anything for you?

        Because business warranty is different to consumer warranty.

        • [Deactivated] on 29/12/2017 - 12:33
          +2

          So use your warranty, since it's different and obviously covers your use case.

        • smuggler on 29/12/2017 - 12:42

          @StoneSin:

          That's my problem.

          I don't know what their plan is for business. It's not my responsibility at work, but it means system level verification will need to be performed again to account for this slow down in phones.

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