I have an iPhone 6s, about two and a half years old. The battery is pretty much shot. It goes down crazy fast. Depending which apps I’m in, sometimes I can literally watch the battery go down a percentage point every few seconds. Sometimes this happens even when the phone is plugged into a charger. So, yeah, it’s getting pretty bad.
I’d like to get an iPhone X, because it’s way cool. But damn, they’re pricey. And the 6s is still a fine piece of equipment. Now that Apple has dropped the cost of battery replacement to $29, that seems like a nice economical way to defer the cost of a new phone for another year or two - if it solves my problem.
Has anybody here gotten a new iPhone battery lately? Will it restore my phone to like-new condition, or is the phone itself breaking down and in need of replacement soon anyway? I need to do something soon. Thanks.
$29, for a legitimate OEM battery installed by a pro is a no-brainer. How about you get your battery swapped first. Then, once it’s been swapped, evaluate how well the phone works after. If it still smoothly does whatever you do with a phone, and this battery fault is fixed, then stay with it. If 1k isn’t much to you, then after you get the battery swapped, ebay your old phone off. It’ll be worth more with a new battery.
The next IOS update will let you check the battery health yourself, so you will be in a better position to decide. I don’t know when that will come out, though. In the meantime, Apple can check the battery health. (I made an appointment at the Apple Store and one of the geniuses ran the utility for me.) I think they can also run the utility remotely, if you have a case open with them.
My iPhone 6 battery went kaput about a month before the new phones were available. I paid something like $80 to replace it at a local place and it’s worked fine since. For $29, it’s a no-brainer - I’d get it repaired unless you were already planning to upgrade.
For the record, I was planning on upgrading with the 8/X came out, but my current one works well, the new ones are pricey, and I’m lazy. YMMV.
I just got the $29 replacement. Turns out my phone wasn’t that bad to begin with (83% capacity which is quite good). But since I was there and I didn’t feel like coming back, I went for it.
I think it’s a very worthwhile test, to see if it makes a difference. And like **SamuelA **says it’ll make it all that much easier to sell.
All good points. I just did a remote diagnostic while on a chat with an Apple technician that I’m 99% sure was a bot. I didn’t get a percentage figure, but I was told that I am “eligible for a reduced price battery replacement.” Woo-hoo.
So I went to Apple and they told me my battery is at 94%, and that a new one wouldn’t make much difference. I got the usual lecture about various ways to save battery life. I do most of them, but it still runs down crazy fast. She also told me the new software upgrade would help. It didn’t.
I’m skeptical that there’s nothing wrong with the battery, so I’m going to replace it anyway – in three weeks. Because they don’t actually have batteries there and have to order them. sigh
I know they’re just trying to break my spirit until I give in and drop a grand on a new phone.
So I never did get that new battery. They notified me that the battery had arrived and I had five days come in and get it installed. Of course this was at a time when I was crazy busy and there was no way I was going to get in within the 5 days. I called them a couple weeks later, and sure enough, they didn’t hold it for me.
Now, though, I’m beginning to wonder if the battery may be OK after all. Recently, I watched the percentage drop all the way to 7%. On a hunch, I powered down and then turned back on. The display read 61% and it lasted several more hours. I’ve repeated this a few times since with similar results. So now I can’t even trust what my phone tells me the status of the battery is. Weird. But at least I found a little trick to extend my usage a bit.
I did that a few months ago, when I was using Google Maps on my phone to get someplace, but as I was getting there, it warned me that the battery was almost drained. I was a little worried, because I was going to need Google Maps to get back, but turning it off and then on again brought it back to something like 40%.
And a recent IOS update includes a “battery health” display, which might help you decide if you really do need a new battery.