Apple To Temporarily Offer $29 iPhone Battery Replacements, Promising More Battery Health Info In Future iOS Update

Apple today published an open letter on its website to address customer concerns about an ongoing controversy over power management features in older iPhones. Additionally, the company is also plan to offer cheaper battery replacements, and an update coming to early 2018 which will give users more of visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery.

In the letter, Apple apologizes for the misinformation that's been spread and says that it would never "intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or to degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades."

First and foremost, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades. Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.

At issue is the power management feature which was initially introduced in iOS 10.2.1 in the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6s, which was implemented to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to high power draw peaks. Apple's lack of clarity of the feature has led to a number of lawsuits being filed in recent days claiming that Apple is purposefully slowing down older iPhones.

Apple says these power management features are implemented in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus, and will be added to future iPhones as required. They kick in when the battery begins to degrade and can be fixed with a new battery.

To fix this, the Cupertino tech-giant will reduce the cost of iPhone battery replacements for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later from $79 to $29. The price drop is temporary and will begin in late January and run through the end of 2018. More details will be available soon. They also plan to release a new version of iOS in 2018 that offers users more insight into their battery’s health.

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. Details will be provided soon on apple.com.

Apple says its team is also always working on ways to make the user experience better, including how performance is managed to avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age. The full letter can be found here. They also published a new support document entitled “iPhone Battery and Performance.”

Via MacRumors And 9to5Mac, Image Credit Apple World Today