Apple's Statement On iPhone Battery Performance Throttling
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, available worldwide through December 2018. Details will be provided soon on apple.com.
Early in 2018, we will issue an iOS software update with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.
The initial press comment felt rushed and incomplete, the public statement that has been posted on Apple.com is a pretty good response to the furore. Promising the discount only through to the end of 2018 is weak, though.
If Apple wants to consider iPhone batteries as consumable, I don’t want them to profit off of the battery repairs. $29 is a palatable service cost to bear after two years of iPhone ownership, $79 stings. If their aim is to maximise the longevity of their devices, they should not have conflicts in incentives with making money from repairs down the road. I do not want Apple to run a razor and blades business model, even inadvertently.
I’m interested to see exactly what battery statistics Apple will surface in the software update due ‘early in 2018’. When this update ships, I expect another wave of complaints from people as everyone will be able to see for themselves how degraded their own iPhone battery is. Regardless of the public reaction, transparency is critically important and what caused the fiasco to flare up so badly in the first place.
I would also like to see Apple release estimated numbers on how long customers should expect to be able to use their iPhone at full performance. This support document gives a rough idea about what effects the throttling will have on the user experience but I haven’t seen Apple say when customers should expect their iPhone experience to become less optimal.