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iPhone Battery Replacement An Unwelcome Surprise
Posted by
Zonk
on Fri Jul 06, 2007 10:33 AM
from the hope-you-really-like-that-phone dept.
from the hope-you-really-like-that-phone dept.
epidemic99 writes "Apple has released what it will cost to replace the battery in the iPhone, and consumers might be a bit put off. Replacement is a tricky ordeal, as the battery is apparently soldered into the device. The service will cost $79, plus $6.95 for shipping, plus an optional $29 'loaner iPhone' rental. A consumer advocacy group sent a letter to Apple complaining that this information was not made public before iPhone's release since the cost of the battery replacement is so high. Even reviewer Harvey Rosenfield, who is usually very kind to Apple, was quoted as saying 'some of them might be waking up now, wondering who they got in bed with.'" Update: 07/06 21:06 GMT by Z : Fixed incorrect attribution of quote to Mossberg.
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I guess Mossberg is spelled Rosenfield ? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I guess Mossberg is spelled Rosenfield ? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:I guess Mossberg is spelled Rosenfield ? (Score:5, Informative)
That being said, to those who are waking up next to Steve Jobs, you have at least 2 weeks to return your iPhone and get a refund.
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re: proprietary parts (Score:5, Insightful)
It's funny how "vendor lock-in" is used as though it's a unique reason to avoid Apple products, yet I see examples of it rampant with ALL the major PC vendors.
Truthfully, Apple's replacement battery program for the iPhone doesn't strike me as all that unreasonable. The battery in my Moto Razr v3c wore out after about 8 or 9 months of use, and a good replacement for it cost me over $50 at a local cellphone store. So for an iPhone, I might get a few months more use out of their battery than the really slim and relatively low-capacity Razr batteries, and will have to pay about $29 more than I paid for the Razr's replacement? Big whoop.... Yeah, I know. I have to *send it in* for repair. But Apple should give you a postage-paid mailer for this if it's like everything else they do. So the mail-back part should be pretty easy and painless... and a 1-2 day turn-around? I think we can probably live without a cellphone for 24-48 hours, can't we? If not, then pay the $29 for the loaner iPhone. The total isn't much more than you pay in a month just for the service, right?
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Re: proprietary parts (Score:5, Insightful)
Since hurricane Katrina, I've kept a spare battery in my overnight bag, as I was stuck in Florida without power and a nearly dead phone. Those times are the ones I depend on my cellphone the most, trying to call my airline (flight canceled, can I rebook?), friends and family (is everyone alright?), rent-a-car companies (can I drive to Jacksonville and get a flight outta there?) all in a small window of time. Not being able to swap in a fresh battery is a major CON for me, and maybe a few more nerds like me.
FWIW - my LG VX9800 plays mp3s, and I purchased spare batteries on eBay for $15 each.
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Re: proprietary parts (Score:5, Informative)
But hey, I like a phone I can throw around, so I use those $10 prepaid phones and not worry about damaging it.
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Re: proprietary parts (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re:I guess Mossberg is spelled Rosenfield ? (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, Mossberg's name is spelled "Rosenfield", but it's pronounced "Throat-Warbler Mangrove".
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based on the cost... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:based on the cost... (Score:4, Insightful)
I replaced the battery on my SonyErikson phone that I bought at the same time, 3 times. I use it maybe an hour a day. The batteries cost me $40 each.
Keeping count, thats $20 for the iPod before I finally gave it away and bought a nano. Thats $120 for the batteries in the phone.
So based on my knowledge of the cost of the batteries in the iPod, I'm sure there will be a service available that will allow me to send the device in and they guarantee the work for probably around $40...$50 for quick turn around (in which time, I pop my card into my ancient SE phone for a few days).
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Re:based on the cost... (Score:5, Insightful)
I upgrade about once every three years and I have never replaced a battery. by the time the battery normally needs replacing the screen is all scratched up, half the numbers have rubbed off, and there's a dent in the housing. A new phone is just as easy. I make sure I have bluetooth, and I keep all the phone numbers on my laptop. it isn't hard to transfer phones then.
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Re:based on the cost... (Score:5, Funny)
If you can rub the numbers off this thing, you have problems
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Re:based on the cost... (Score:4, Informative)
Yup, it's all usage cycles. I think education goes a long way.
Case in point: I have a cell phone from spring of 2001. (Yeah, I haven't upgraded yet, yadda yadda.) I use it as my primary phone - which means it's on pretty much every day, except when I'm camping or something (which isn't that often).
I'm still on the original battery. Yes, that's right - both the phone and the battery have lasted over 6 years now.
So, I don't know if I just got lucky or what, but it seems to me that my usage cycle is such that Batteries Like It.
So, if you have a battery management system that is able to emulate my usage cycle, my guess is a single battery could easily last the ninety-fifth percentile lifespan of phones (I'd say with a 6 year old cellphone, I'm probably in the 98th or higher).
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Re:$87? Big deal! (Score:4, Insightful)
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$87 is a big deal. (Score:5, Informative)
The fact that it's soldered into the device and that it's so expensive isn't surprising to you or me because we visit Slashdot and other sites that reported the iPod battery fiasco. We knew this was coming. Millions of phone buyers did not see this coming.
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Re:Quick edit (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:$87? Big deal! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:$87? Big deal! (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:$87? Big deal! (Score:5, Insightful)
1. It's not stupid if there's a good reason for it.
2. A standard Razr has a thickness of about 16mm and it doesn't have even half the features or power requirements of the iPhone. The iPhone is only 11.5mm thick and is capable of 10 days of standby time, 24 hours of music playback, 8 hours of talk time, 7 hours of video playback, or 6 hours of web browsing. That's amazingly good for a phone that's only 72% of the thickness of a Razr. The only phone with a somewhat comparable size and feature set is the Slvr, which has terrible battery life [lordpercy.com].
In short, Apple is fitting that extra battery space in the phone by using simple soldered wires rather than wasting space on a proper battery compartment. Seeing as how the battery is connected by just a couple of wires (it's not like it's surface mounted or anything!) it's quite easy for a professional to replace. So maybe Apple isn't quite as "stupid" as you're making them out to be?
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oblig. bad analogy to Cars... (Score:5, Informative)
I got my truck a few years back, and after driving it around off road and such, its time to replace the shocks. Every car owner knows that the shocks will have to be replaced eventually, and that some people like to replace theirs before going off roading and again when done, and that driving off road over bigger bumps and hauling heavy stuff wears them out faster, but the brand I bought decided to use special nuts that hold the shocks on tighter, so now Im going to have to go to a service center authorized by the manufacturer to get them replaced at a cost of about 10% the original price of the truck! Why didnt they tell me that the shocks used special nuts before I bought it??!?!? How can they charge me so F'n much to keep using my truck that I already bought?!!? Why cant they just use normal nuts and bolts like everyone else?
BLAH!
1. Do you expect a manufacturer to sit down with you and list line by line everything they did thats "Different" from other manufacturers? Every part they soldered in instead of clipped? How the case is heat-welded instead of screwed together? How the antenna is integrated and cant be replaced and has no way to attach an external one to it without serious modifications? How the software it runs has certain lockouts in place that allow and prevent certain features as they see fit? I bet if you ask about certain qualities, like "how hard is it to change the battery" they will gladly tell you before you buy it. Its not like they are holding a gun to your head forcing you to buy their product. If you dont like the design, dont buy it! If you are concerned about battery life, ASK, and if you dont like the answer, DONT BUY IT!
2. Phone batteries, like shocks on vehicles, tend to last quite a long time these days, as technology has increased their performance to that point. I have actually had my truck for 5 years now without needing to change its shocks, and have had my current cell phone for even longer and am still on the original battery, which can still go a few days without a recharge (not quite the week and a half it did when I first got it, but still). 3. Actually, I would much rather they just soldered my phone's battery in place and have a solid case around the whole phone rather than deal with its tendency to fall off, since the release lever is in a place that your finger tends to hit when pulling the phone out of your pocket, its quite annoying and led me to actually glue over the release. The iPhone was designed with that in mind, instead of having access panels that can fall off, create seams and lines and stuff in the case, they made it sleek and seamless, and knowing the battery will last years before needing replacement, they soldered it in place. I would rather have it soldered than risk a connector coming separated inside there with no easy access to just re-connect it. To de-solder and re-solder the two tabs would take less than a minute if you have any soldering experience.
4. Shocks, like batteries, are not cheap to begin with. This goes even more so for higher-end parts, like the Li-Ion batteries in the iphone, or special heavy-duty off-road shocks on trucks. 10% of the original cost is about right for higher-end OEM shocks (hell, the shock on my mountain bike is well over 30% of the total cost of the bike, and its not the most expensive one out there), including labor and everything, and 15% sounds reasonable to me for the cost of the battery replacement on the iphone, considering they could have just said "F you all, we wont replace any batteries, so when it dies, its dead!".
5. The iPhone is a little different from everything else in the industry, and is the main reason so many people are buying it. Comparing it to a plain old cell-phone just doesnt work.
Tm
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Re:$87? Big deal! (Score:4, Insightful)
I really think that it's absurd that Apple chose to make the battery non-user-replaceable. I mean, there's a reason every phone in the history of cell phones has let you replace the battery yourself, it just makes sense. If this is the "revolution" iPhone fanatics have been talking about, count me out.
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Non user-serviceable is a feature, not a bug (Score:4, Insightful)
About two weeks ago, my 11-month old son found my wife's cel phone, managed to knock off the battery cover, and crawl around playing with it. It took us a week to find it, and in that week, her phone was unstable because the batteries would pop out. Another time with another phone, I dropped it and the cover cracked... used masking tape for a bit, and realized that it was time for a new phone anyway. Number of cel phones where we lost the battery cover in the past 5 years, 2.
The last time I replaced the battery on my phone was my Samsung i330 where I bought the extra-length battery for around $50 to last longer, and it's battery time remained shorter than the iPhone. This was back in 2002 or 2003. Number of batteries I've replaced in the past 5 years, 1.
So given the choice between non-user accessible battery covers, or a slightly more expensive battery replacement in the unlikely event that I need to replace the battery, I think that Apple made the right call.
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Re:$87? Big deal! (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's a suggestion for the complainers : if you believe $87 is terribly overpriced
I think $87 is expensive compared to other battery replacement costs. Who cares if the cost is actual labor and not profit?
The point is Apple doesn't really care about maintenance costs, or maintenance inconvenience. They care about aesthetics. People are pissed off because apples value of aesthetics causes usability problems. Who wants to send in a phone just to replace something as trivial as a battery, which is a component guaranteed to wear out?
I think these concerns are certainly valid, but it doesn't affect me as I'll never buy an overpriced phone with a 2 year expensive plan attached to it anyway.
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High quality editing! (Score:4, Informative)
So no, Mossberg did not actually say that. Are even the submitters not reading the articles these days?
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
And this obsession with Apple's integrated batteries is tiring. Billions of batteries have been kept out of landfills thanks to Apple, and the expected lifetime of even replaceable batteries is two years. Here is a free point: consumer products are purchased, used and eventually discarded. It's the Circle of Life.
Wow this is great news!! (Score:5, Funny)
Just like the iPod! (Score:4, Funny)
Oh, wait...
Crow T. Trollbot
What? (Score:4, Funny)
no surprise, part of the plan (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Seriously, how many of you have replaced one? (Score:5, Insightful)
People complain that it's 20% of the cost of the phone. If I buy a replacement battery for my RAZR, it's $40, which is more than 20% of the cost of the phone. Yes, I can do it myself, but will I ever? Not likely. The only time I've ever replaced a battery was back when I had a StarTAC phone, and I bought the smaller, thinner battery, because the phone slipped into my pocket.
Apple knows that only 5-8% or so of the people will even want to replace it, so they made it a possibility. People just need something to gripe about I guess.
Personally, if you're fine with a $60 iPod batt... (Score:3, Insightful)
Surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)
That said, it's overpriced for what it is. And the people buying it up right now are only paving the way for Microsoft and others to fix up their mobile OSes to deliver cheaper devices capable of much of the same things as the iPhone. Only they will have replaceable batteries, cheaper cost (subsidized by the carrier), and 3G.
Apple makes a habit of ensuring that you as a consumer are 'locked in' to their platform. In every way, shape and form. They are turning into yet another Microsoft, from another angle. I am rather alarmed that people don't realize that Apple is no different than Microsoft in that they want market share for their devices, and they want money. There are no lofty goals with Apple, just cute looking devices that have a cult following. I will give them, that their OS is better than Vista. But they had the luxury of being able to dump support for older applications, where MS does not. Their presentation is better than Microsoft but again, Microsoft delivers software with an API that can be written against. Apple is a closed architecture, especially with the iPhone.
When people realize that Apple is no different than Microsoft, they will choose devices and software based upon need and usage requirements, rather than a religious belief to either company. I run a Mac laptop as my only laptop, but my home PC is a dual boot of Ubuntu and Vista. I'm mostly on Vista, admittedly -- but it's for gaming and I love my games
Me personally? I'll be waiting for the next generation iPhone to be released before I make a choice in buying anything. My iPod works fine and I enjoy the 3G speed of my Samsung Blackjack. And hopefully by then, Microsoft has made an answering shot to the iPhone and I'll have the ability to choose the device suited best for me. Slow, deliberate choices are the ones I make after taking time to think about it. If I see another moron carrying the iPhone and using it in a way just to show it off, I am going to smack them.
Re:Surprised? (Score:5, Insightful)
You seem to make the mistake of assuming that people use apple based on fanboy-ism. That might have been true in the past, but I do not believe that the preppy college guy on the train in the morning, or the bottle-blonde, pretty-in-pink girl beside him, each with the distinctive white headphones stuck in their ears, are buying iPods because they are Apple obsessives. They buy because it is trendy, and with the iPod, Apple's domination in the area of trendy technology reached its peak. As long as they can keep themselves in with the people who buy based on how "cool" it is to own one, then they can get to and stay at the top of any market.
If you can convince enough people that it is trendy to own an Apple iToaster, even if it only toasts one at a time, then you will dominate the toaster market. Sure, there will be companies still out there, toasting 2, 4, 16 slices at a time, more suited to the needs of almost everybody. There will be people who buy those products, and don't understand why the hell you would want a one-slice toaster, but it wont matter. Its cool, so the vast majority of people will just go along with it. Its sad, but it is true - most people (at least in the "developed" world) care more about appearance than functionality.
For anybody that is interested, I recently was reading about a product that is suspiciously similar to the iPhone, called the Meizu M8. The specs are better, the cost is cheaper and all the reviews I have read have been excellent. I am considering getting one, specifically because the battery is removable, unlike in the iPhone.
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Warranty repair? (Score:5, Interesting)
oh dear (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Kinda like complaining about tires for a Porche (Score:5, Insightful)
I mean, what's next, complaining to Ferrari because they don't advertise the cost of maintenance?
Re:Kinda like complaining about tires for a Porche (Score:5, Funny)
Don't mess with me, boy! I know a genuine Porche when I see one! And look, there's Vorkswagen and Awdi!
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Re:Kinda like complaining about tires for a Porche (Score:5, Funny)
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Well, its listed on the technical specs... (Score:5, Insightful)
"Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information."
You can then get to this link from the batteries page:http://www.apple.com/batteries/replacements.
"iPhone Owners. Your one-year warranty includes replacement coverage for a defective battery. You can extend your coverage to two years from the date of your iPhone purchase with the AppleCare Protection Plan for iPhone, which is expected to be available in summer 2007. During the plan's coverage period, Apple will replace the battery if it drops below 50% of its original capacity. If it is out of warranty, Apple offers a battery replacement for $79, plus $6.95 shipping, subject to local tax. Apple disposes of your battery in an environmentally friendly manner."
Do I agree with the policy? No, as I wish I could replace the battery myself. But, it is stated there on the website, even if its buried. If you google "Apple Battery Replacement" [google.com], the official Apple iPhone battery page comes up ranked seventh.
Did anyone expect otherwise? Honestly, if battery replacement is important in regards to your purchase, you should research it online or ask at the store. But I don't think most people care. If you get AppleCare on the phone (2 Year Warranty), if your battery dies you get a free replacement if it goes below 50% charge. Every other Apple iPod based product has the same policy, and, the iPhone is much more iPod than it is MacBook Pro.
That being said, I understand if someone new to Apple products was upset, since, the majority of mobile phones allow the battery to be replace by the owner. However, with the large amount of iPod users out there, I doubt most will be shocked to find that the battery can't be replaced.
Re:Well how long will it last? (Score:5, Funny)
To what Apple answers: Please speak louder. My cash register is making a lot of noise because of all the iPhone I'm selling...
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Re:300-400 charges, at least 2-3 years (Score:4, Interesting)
From all the stuff I read about different battery technologies, keeping cells fully charged whenever possible (without overcharging) is the best way of maximizing a battery's useful lifespan... and it seems this is even more important/effective with lithium batteries.
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Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Maybe they want to be like vehicle manufacturers and make
Re:whats going on? (Score:4, Insightful)
Greed could just as easily push them in the other direction, "We can sell swappable batteries, and then maybe we can sell multiple batteries to each customer. Then, we can re-engineer the iPhone for the next version to use different batteries, so that customers will need to buy new batteries if they get a new iPhone!" That's the sort of scheming most electronics manufacturers would pull.
My guess is that the choice really isn't nefarious at all, but rather a simple design choice. Apple wants people to perceive these things as an atom, an unbreakable unit, a single thing, and not a collection of parts. Therefore they aren't really interested in giving their customers easy access to the innards, and so making the battery easily swappable is just another unnecessary challenge. The iPhone is already packed into a mighty small case, and in order to design it so the battery is right in an accessible place, you might need to shuffle things around. Additionally, you'll need to add a layer of plastic between the battery and the innards so that taking the battery out doesn't expose all the innards. Then you have to figure out how to make it easy to swap batteries without having the batteries pop out on their own.
I'm not saying that it's a challenge that is insurmountable or even hugely difficult for Apple, but it puts more design restrictions on an already hard-to-design unit. If Apple can make the whole unit slightly smaller, slightly more durable, slightly prettier, or slightly more powerful by dropping this restriction for a swappable battery, I think it's a pretty decent trade-off.
And given that it usually takes a couple years or more to for batteries to really die, I doubt Apple is relying on dead batteries to sell more iPhones. Or are you really imagining that the iPhone won't be enough better in 3 years that the upgrade will sell itself?
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Re:Mossberg's quote (Score:5, Funny)
Connery-fixed.
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Re: (Score:3, Informative)
They did not make it easy to change the SIM card or the battery in this device.
Funny, I see the SIM card slot right on top of the iPhone, with a little hole that, presumably, I can push something pointy into and get the card to pop out. Looking at the dissection link you posted, I can see how that's not obvious, but seeing an iPhone in person it's pretty clear what the deal is.
If you're going to criticize flaws, it helps your point of view if you stick to actual ones. I'm not stressing the battery life, I can tolerate sending it in to Apple or whomever for a day or three to get
Re:gee, you cant' change the battery on any other (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:gee, you cant' change the battery on any other (Score:5, Funny)
Where it *EXPLODES*, killing everyone in the room...
(Or was that the Sony batteries?)
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trade offs. (Score:4, Insightful)
Exactly, what makes the iPhone different?
They sacrificed ease of maintenance for battery life, size and robustness. It would have to be thicker to have these things and the same battery life. Contacts add resistance and heat build up. Doors that open increase device size and decrease case strength. They could have made things easier with screws, but even those would require a larger size.
I don't like the non standard battery size game that device makers play, but Apple is not special. They at least will support the device into the future, which will result in a lot fewer devices thrown out.
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