Apple To Swap Faulty iPhone 6S Batteries (bbc.com)

Apple is offering to replace the batteries of a "small number" of iPhone 6S phones with a fault that makes them unexpectedly shut down. The phones with this fault were manufactured between September and October 2015, it said in a statement. From a report on BBC:Affected devices will suddenly stop working even though the handset's battery has plenty of charge. Anyone with an eligible phone who takes up the offer will get a free replacement battery for their handset. In its announcement, Apple urged customers who believe they have a faulty phone to contact an Apple store, an authorised repair shop or the firm's support line to start the process of getting a new battery. A "limited serial number range" was affected, it said.

Comments

What about my 5C?

[fustakrakich]

The battery slowly swelled up and busted the case.

Re: What about my 5C?

[Anonymous Coward]

I had a 3gs two years out of warranty and the battery swelled. Apple replaced it at no charge.

Re:What about my 5C?

[Aaron B Lingwood]

What about my 5C?

The battery slowly swelled up and busted the case.

No, no. That's a feature.

Re:What about my 5C?

[EvilSS]

The battery slowly swelled up and busted the case.

Did you take it to an Apple store or open a ticket on it? What did they tell you?

Re:What about my 5C?

[Calydor]

Sounds like you have a Note 7.

Re:What about my 5C?

[Anonymous Coward]

Huge fucking difference between battery swell (dangerous, admittedly) and LITERALLY EXPLODING INTO FLAMES AND LIBERAL TEARS.

That's why Samsung's stock has taken a good ol' rogering; well, that and their exploding clothes washers, to boot. And their TVs that rape your wife. Wait, was that one real? Hard to tell reality from fantasy given the amount of shit Samsmug has been shovelling.

Re:What about my 5C?

[dhaen]

I took my 3-years old 5 to the Apple store (UK) last year with a swollen battery that was pushing the screen out of the bezel. I was expecting a repair bill, but was surprised that that they agreed to replace it for free. I was so pleased I bought a 6S for myself and gave the 5 to my wife to replace her ageing 3Gs. Everyone happy - including Apple!

Re:What about my 5C?

[Anonymous Coward]

Offtopic?! That's funny! Somebody is trolling with *moderation*. I suspect it's a personal thing, and quite childish

Re:What about my 5C?

[Anonymous Coward]

At least samsung will recall defective products. Unlike Apple.

Re:What about my 5C?

[avandesande]

iphone users need to stop stroking their phones

Affected serial numbers?

[OffTheLip]

Seems like a proactive approach by Apple would be to provide a web based tool where customers could enter their serial number and determine if the problem is looming.

Re:Affected serial numbers?

[Coisiche]

They will probably say afterwards that the range was lowest serial number claiming a replacement battery to highest one. If they specified a range up front (and they probably only know roughly than exactly) then lots of people who might not have required a replacement battery would claim one anyway, because who wouldn't?

Re:Affected serial numbers?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not only that but it would give insight into just how many iphones are defective and apple sure would not want that number getting out. Remember how only 9 people complained of Bendgate.

Re:Affected serial numbers?

[antdude]

No kidding.

Wait, they're not going to bill people?

[Anonymous Coward]

Crapple not charging $150 to fix a problem they created? HELL HATH FROZEN OVER.

Re:Wait, they're not going to bill people?

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a fairly normal pattern for Apple:

* Product fault generates bad publicity

* Apple denies the problem exists, offers no remedy

* Product fault generates more bad publicity

* Apple holds firm in denial: "nothing wrong," offers no remedy

* Product fault generates more bad publicity

* Apple says "There's no problem, but whatever, we'll replace it for a large fee"

* Product fault generates more bad publicity

* Apple finally admits problem, offers free repair/replacement to people who are persistent enough

Re:Wait, they're not going to bill people?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think after step 5 you need to add
* People start talk about class action lawsuit, some lawyers get involved.

And as a final step

* apple worshiper praise apple for being so responsive and such a great company

Serial Number Range

[Nukenbar]

Eligible iPhone 6s serial numbers will have these characters in the 4th and 5th position: Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 QC QD QF QG QH

Re:Serial Number Range

[bonizzem]

What is the source of this information? I'm really interested and nobody seems to know what the serial affected are.

Re:Serial Number Range

[SirMasterboy]

Those serial numbers are listed in the (AASP) Apple Authorized Service Provider Program guidelines that were sent out for this issue.

When?

[ChrisMaple]

What months come between September and October?

Re:When?

[parkinglot777]

What months come between September and October?

Septober?

What? How is this possible?

[Ecuador]

I don't get it, this is the first time Apple does something like that. I have paid twice out of pocket to have my iPhone 4 and 4s replaced (there was one more replacement but within warranty), because of a well known issue (search about iphone 4 / 4s wifi grayed out) that Apple refused to acknowledge - their website instructions said "reset network settings" like that could do something about what we knew was a malfunctioning heat-sensor that disabled the wireless module (and was only actually enabled in firmware from a specific iOS version and on - you were fine if you never upgraded the original iPhone 4!). They have even voided the warranty of a 6 month Mac Mini with a failed motherboard, because the found "dust" (no cat hair or smoke, as it was a smoke/pet free home), and the owner of the Mac Mini just accepted that it was his fault!
So how come it is their fault for the first time? Are we not holding the battery wrong? Do we not have our central heating set too high? Are Apple sales slowing and they actually have to start behaving like other companies instead of treating their customers like they are lucky for the privilege of owning Apple products? After having seen the $300 "Designed by Apple" book come out just last week, I wouldn't have thought so...

Re:What? How is this possible?

[Anonymous Coward]

The only reason why Apple is still around is because people buy their products. If you want Apple to fail, just convince people not to buy their products.

I have this problem and Apple LIED to me

[iONiUM]

I own an iPhone 6S (among other phones), and this exact issue happened to me (and my phone is within the serial numbers posted above). What's really fucking irritating is that it started only 8 months after I got the phone. I immediately contacted Apple online support who ran a "diagnostic" through iTunes and said everything was perfect, followed by several trips to the "genius bar" where they said everything is fine and unless it shuts off above 80% (it was shutting off at 40%) there's nothing they can do.

This has been going on all of this year, and I continually tell them there must be a hardware issue since it's significantly worse in cold weather, however the latest word they gave to me was "Apple is aware that there is a small software glitch that will be fixed shortly for this issue."

Then, suddenly today, they admit this is a hardware defect and my serial number is included. Are you fucking kidding me? I cannot believe the disrespect this company has for their clients, and I can't wait to never buy any of their products again. I'll stick to my Nexus 6P.

Related story?

[manu0601]

Is it related to the recent self-shutting down iPhones?

Apparently my phone isn't possessed...!

[torkus]

I figured it was just another apple "battery issue" that would be unprovable in any genius bar and ignored it...and just kept my phone charger nearby all the time.

For me - random shutdown anywhere below 35-40% battery with it frequently happening around 20%. Looks like my serial % is one of the affected ones too.