Apple has a performance SW/battery issue with the iPhone 6 and announced a battery replacement offer of only $29, which is (IMO) an excellent price.
DW and I both have iPhone 6, the battery is failing in each, so I went to the Apple store yesterday, with an appointment, to get the replacement. The reason I know the battery is failing is the indicator of remaining power will suddenly shift from 40% to 20% (mine) and 40% to 15% (DWs). They are both effectively at 80%, which is end of life for that battery. Apple said the battery life was expected to be 500 charge cycles. Mine has been charged at most every third day over two years, so less than half that expected life. Bad battery.
So, yesterday at the Apple store the young man took the phones and ran a diagnostic. His assessment was “the battery is at 100%, so nothing wrong. He did smile and say not to worry, they’d still give me the battery replacement for $29. This irritated me so I challenged the 100% and we argued for about 10 minutes, and he had a coworker help. They finally acknowledged that the 100% was of “expected performance” for a 2 year old phone, which meant it had gone through 300-500 charge cycles, was at 80% and therefore at end of life. They finally acknowledged the battery was prematurely dying, their diagnostic assessment showed that, but they communicated something different and misleading to the customer. Not sure why, Apple was more open and upfront with these things in the past.
They couldn’t do the battery replacement yesterday, as they don’t have any in stock. No hard commitment date, either. His guess was by the end of the month, but no need to worry, he’ll call. As I walked out the store, I wondered how many people in a similar situation would, after hearing the 100% and a month long wait for the replacement battery, just skip it and not return.
Other iPhone 6 owners thinking about the battery might want to get on that wait list before it gets any longer.
DW and I both have iPhone 6, the battery is failing in each, so I went to the Apple store yesterday, with an appointment, to get the replacement. The reason I know the battery is failing is the indicator of remaining power will suddenly shift from 40% to 20% (mine) and 40% to 15% (DWs). They are both effectively at 80%, which is end of life for that battery. Apple said the battery life was expected to be 500 charge cycles. Mine has been charged at most every third day over two years, so less than half that expected life. Bad battery.
So, yesterday at the Apple store the young man took the phones and ran a diagnostic. His assessment was “the battery is at 100%, so nothing wrong. He did smile and say not to worry, they’d still give me the battery replacement for $29. This irritated me so I challenged the 100% and we argued for about 10 minutes, and he had a coworker help. They finally acknowledged that the 100% was of “expected performance” for a 2 year old phone, which meant it had gone through 300-500 charge cycles, was at 80% and therefore at end of life. They finally acknowledged the battery was prematurely dying, their diagnostic assessment showed that, but they communicated something different and misleading to the customer. Not sure why, Apple was more open and upfront with these things in the past.
They couldn’t do the battery replacement yesterday, as they don’t have any in stock. No hard commitment date, either. His guess was by the end of the month, but no need to worry, he’ll call. As I walked out the store, I wondered how many people in a similar situation would, after hearing the 100% and a month long wait for the replacement battery, just skip it and not return.
Other iPhone 6 owners thinking about the battery might want to get on that wait list before it gets any longer.