Apple today announced it is making its reduced $29 battery replacements available immediately for iPhone 6 and later.
Apple previously said it would offer the cheaper battery replacements in late January, but it has removed that timeframe from its letter to customers, and has confirmed immediate availability in a statement to TechCrunch.
We expected to need more time to be ready, but we are happy to offer our customers the lower pricing right away. Initial supplies of some replacement batteries may be limited.
Apple normally charges $79 for out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements, but it reduced the price by $50 following a wave of controversy over its process of dynamically managing the peak performance of some older iPhone models with degraded batteries to prevent unexpected shutdowns.
Given a lack of nuance in some mainstream coverage, some headlines have fueled speculation that Apple artificially slows down older iPhones to drive customers to upgrade to newer models, but the actual issue was Apple’s lack of transparency about the power management changes it made starting in iOS 10.2.1.
Apple said it will release an iOS update in early 2018 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. It’s unclear if Apple will ever let customers opt out of the power management process.
Apple said the cheaper iPhone battery replacements will be available worldwide through December 2018, and it will share more details soon.
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