March 28, 2024
Apple Posts Open Letter to Customers on iPhone Slowdown, Will Offer Battery Replacements for $29

Apple Posts Open Letter to Customers on iPhone Slowdown, Will Offer Battery Replacements for $29

Posted December 28, 2017 at 10:07pm by iClarified
Apple has posted an open letter to customers to address the uproar following its admission that iPhones are secretly slowed down as their batteries age.

Here's the letter in its entirety:

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A Message to Our Customers about iPhone Batteries and Performance
We’ve been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process. We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize. There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, so we would like to clarify and let you know about some changes we’re making.


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.

How batteries age
All rechargeable batteries are consumable components that become less effective as they chemically age and their ability to hold a charge diminishes. Time and the number of times a battery has been charged are not the only factors in this chemical aging process.

Device use also affects the performance of a battery over its lifespan. For example, leaving or charging a battery in a hot environment can cause a battery to age faster. These are characteristics of battery chemistry, common to lithium-ion batteries across the industry.

A chemically aged battery also becomes less capable of delivering peak energy loads, especially in a low state of charge, which may result in a device unexpectedly shutting itself down in some situations.


To help customers learn more about iPhone’s rechargeable battery and the factors affecting its performance, we’ve posted a new support article, iPhone Battery and Performance.

It should go without saying that we think sudden, unexpected shutdowns are unacceptable. We don’t want any of our users to lose a call, miss taking a picture or have any other part of their iPhone experience interrupted if we can avoid it.

Preventing unexpected shutdowns
About a year ago in iOS 10.2.1, we delivered a software update that improves power management during peak workloads to avoid unexpected shutdowns on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. With the update, iOS dynamically manages the maximum performance of some system components when needed to prevent a shutdown. While these changes may go unnoticed, in some cases users may experience longer launch times for apps and other reductions in performance.

Customer response to iOS 10.2.1 was positive, as it successfully reduced the occurrence of unexpected shutdowns. We recently extended the same support for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in iOS 11.2.

Of course, when a chemically aged battery is replaced with a new one, iPhone performance returns to normal when operated in standard conditions.

Recent user feedback
Over the course of this fall, we began to receive feedback from some users who were seeing slower performance in certain situations. Based on our experience, we initially thought this was due to a combination of two factors: a normal, temporary performance impact when upgrading the operating system as iPhone installs new software and updates apps, and minor bugs in the initial release which have since been fixed.

We now believe that another contributor to these user experiences is the continued chemical aging of the batteries in older iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s devices, many of which are still running on their original batteries.

Addressing customer concerns
We’ve always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible. We’re proud that Apple products are known for their durability, and for holding their value longer than our competitors’ devices.

To address our customers’ concerns, to recognize their loyalty and to regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple’s intentions, we’ve decided to take the following steps:

● 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.
● 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.
● As always, our team is working on ways to make the user experience even better, including improving how we manage performance and avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.

At Apple, our customers’ trust means everything to us. We will never stop working to earn and maintain it. We are able to do the work we love only because of your faith and support — and we will never forget that or take it for granted.
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Unfortunately, Apple's open letter fails to address some key questions like why did this 'feature' only need to be implemented following unexpected shutdowns with the iPhone 6s and why other manufacturers do not need to take such steps.

So far at least ten class lawsuits have been filed against Apple for its handling of this situation. Please follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.


Apple Posts Open Letter to Customers on iPhone Slowdown, Will Offer Battery Replacements for $29
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Comments (21)
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1
Arnold
Arnold - December 29, 2017 at 9:37pm
I don’t why are they blaming them. They had the balls to do this its a good thing imo. I wondered how did iphones managed to last so many years without new battwries:) Way to go Apple!
Sabtain Aziz
Sabtain Aziz - December 29, 2017 at 6:26pm
Personally I don’t think it’s that big of a issue to stop shutdowns they reduced performance slightly, however they should have been more transparent about it. it’s nice of them to retaliate over the backlash by giving frankly quite cheap battery replacements just my opinion
SayingWhatEveryonesThinking
SayingWhatEveryonesThinking - December 29, 2017 at 2:48pm
There are good reasons why the iPhone works better than others, and why Samsung batteries explode.
Bubba123
Bubba123 - December 29, 2017 at 11:17am
For the first time ever just the other day i woke up and my iPhone 6+ was at 4% battery. I know it was at 65% before I went to sleep. I shut the phone down, waited a few minutes and turned it back on and the battery reported to be at 55%. I think apple is playing games here...
Aric
Aric - December 29, 2017 at 9:24am
I actually had this issue with my iPhone shutting down and it was really annoying. When under half charge, it would just shut off without working at any given moment, even when battery was not depleted. Then it wouldn’t turn back on, sometimes for 30-40 minutes. It was a nightmare and left you in helpless situations, stuck without a phone.
Tindernightmare
Tindernightmare - December 29, 2017 at 6:51am
I don’t understand the uproar here, it’s always been a widely known fact that your device isn’t as efficient when you install a new iOS update but it’s only slightly slower because the device is handling a new OS, same if you update from windows 7 to windows 8, this is never some mass conspiracy, its just people looking for a reason to moan. If you have an iPhone 6 onwards and you have noticed the phone painfully slow to open apps or freezing consistently, try deleting Tinder! I’m surprised this hasn’t been widely publicised for such a big app but this app with iOS11 causes your phone to freeze when using photos/Facebook and Instagram. Try deleting/uninstalling tinder and you will see (you don’t lose any matches as your account is still live).
A-non-e-moose
A-non-e-moose - December 29, 2017 at 7:13am
I don’t understand how you can’t understand the underlying issue: it is the fact that Apple has throttled the performance of a device you pay a premium without your consent or your acknowledgment simply because “of the battery”. Second: it’s not a “wide-known” issue about the throttling. It is has ALWAYS been a rumor until GeekBench provides the results. Apple HAS ALWAYS DENIED they throttle your phones until GeekBench said “no. These tests show they do.” Now Apple is saying “oh yeah we do.” So the message is clear that the company either didn’t know what the hell they were talking about or they simply lied to their customers.
Dont agree
Dont agree - December 29, 2017 at 7:59am
Yes many users experience some slow down when you roll on the latest software, be it a iPhone or computer but the issue here is Apple forces you to install the latest software if you want to continue using many third party apps and even Apple’s own accessories – like the guy below experienced with his Apple watch. You don’t have to upgrade Windows, you don’t have to update Android for third party apps to continue working. You can’t roll back to an earlier software version if you are unhappy with the performance (which you can with both Windows and Android) and thereby Apple is slowing down older phones even without this new ‘improved power management’ feature. And finally, why didn’t Apple just state in the change log for iOS 10.2.1 and onwards they had implemented this feature and even better give the users the option to switch it on/off – Apple could have a pop-up saying: if you disable this feature you could experience random shutdowns due to a deteriorating battery. What galls me is Apple’s arrogant attitude: we know best -and implement features regardless of if the users wants it or not.
Joe
Joe - December 29, 2017 at 4:47am
Continued: so I said no problem I will now use my ios 10.2 iphone. But my plan failed when it came to my apple watch pairing process, there was a message forcing me to update to the latest ios 11.2.1 to continue further. Apple really pushing me hard and i might give a shot to android world....
Joe
Joe - December 29, 2017 at 4:30am
I have 2 iphone 5S, one on ios10.2 the other on 11.2. They both have same settings and apps. I did a couple test and there is significant performance differences that I would roughly say around 30% like boot time: 45 sec vs 67, same for heavy web content loading.
Alen
Alen - December 29, 2017 at 2:49am
Why they chose to slow down. What if I’m using powerbank along with my device. So this only make sense when I’m in low power mode with less than 20%.
Dennis Tran
Dennis Tran - December 29, 2017 at 2:47am
"We now believe that another contributor to these user experiences is the continued chemical aging of the batteries in older iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s devices, many of which are still running on their original batteries.¨ Oh, this just struck you now as another contributing factor huh?
Come ON . Uodate the your app
Come ON . Uodate the your app - December 29, 2017 at 1:32am
I will not open this app again until it’s updated. You guys are not serious about your users if so many months you do not put the time to update the interface !!!
Chip
Chip - December 29, 2017 at 12:27am
I don't think anyone from some in a place of power reads any of these comments. But do feel free to express yourself.
Mike52
Mike52 - December 29, 2017 at 12:12am
Great. Now, they should a) add a Settings toggle to force an iPhone to stay locked on a weak 3G / 4G connection and b) let us completely disable Wi-Fi and Bluetooth from the lock screen. Until then, Apple hasn't changed my opinion, that it doesn't take the needs of some of its customers seriously. Stop these silly restrictions. No wonder Android users are making fun of iOS users.
Ran07
Ran07 - December 28, 2017 at 10:27pm
Apple has cheated millions of loyal customers on this issue. I have been using iPhone since 3G model and have been experiencing unexpected slowdown everytime the new model is launched. This letter doesn't clarify the underlying issue which is raising a lot of suspicion around Apple operative. Really shame on APPLE for cheating millions of customers.
Neeraj
Neeraj - December 29, 2017 at 1:00am
Same here. How is this possible that every time a new phone launches with new os, my current phone slow down.
Neeraj
Neeraj - December 29, 2017 at 1:01am
Also since I have upgraded to iPhone X , how would they compensate me for selling my slow iPhone 6plus. ???
justabrake
justabrake - December 29, 2017 at 1:16am
I’ve had them since the 3G also my 5S needed a battery change 2 months ago the whole phone was acting up
Deepblue432
Deepblue432 - December 28, 2017 at 10:17pm
Why not just make it easier to replace the battery and not slow the phones down at all.
Userone
Userone - December 28, 2017 at 10:14pm
Finally! Happy new year!
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