It is claimed that Apple has at last made a good decision concerning battery replacement for iPhones and will now service devices that have had new batteries installed by third-party repair shops. It’s about time.

Apple does the right thing for battery repairs

For years iPhone users have been forced to pay quite a lot of money to Apple in order to have old batteries replaced.

If they couldn’t afford that cost, then they will have taken their devices to a third-party repair shop – only to later discover if their device developed another fault that Apple would refuse to repair their device if a third-party had fixed it in the past.

What’s wrong with this?

The batteries used inside iPhones naturally degrade over time and because the devices are sealed units you need to get them repaired somehow.

Apple does offer a repair service, but not everyone can afford the fee and high street repair shops can sometimes replace the battery while you wait. It’s quicker, easier and cheaper.

Apple has clearly profited from this particular form of built-in obsolescence, though the company was forced into an embarrassing about face on this when it was discovered that it artificially degraded battery performance over time.

[Also read: The iPhone Battery Condition and Replacement guide]

This forced the company to offer free battery repairs. It began supporting devices that had received third-party display replacement in February 2017.

Millions of iPhone users wondering about battery life.

What has changed?

France’s iGeneration reports the following:

In the event a device with a third-party battery is presented to Apple for repair:

If the iPhone repair is for a non-battery problem, for example a problem with the mic, logic board or ports, Apple repairs staff can now repair the device, which they could not before.

If the repair is battery related, they can now replace and repair a third-party battery, though they must drain power to under 60 percent before they do.

If the devices battery tabs are broken/missing, or too much adhesive has been used then the company may offer to replace the entire device at the cost of battery replacement only.

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Apple will still refuse to fix an iPhone that contains any of the following replacement components acquired from a non-Apple/Apple Authorised repairer:

• Logic boards
• Enclosures
• Microphones
• Lightning connectors
• Headphone jacks
• Volume/Sleep buttons
• TrueDepth sensors

So if you have a problem with those then you should contact Apple, rather than your local repair shop. Though never forget to get any pocket lint out of your device’s ports before you do.

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