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Apple Hardware Your Rights Online

Apple's Battery Replacement Prices Are Going Up by $20 To $50 (theverge.com) 55

Posted by msmash from the everything-getting-expensive dept.
Apple is raising the price of getting a new battery installed in most iPhones, iPads, and Macs, starting on March 1st. The company made the announcement on the devices' repair pages, in small text under its price estimators. From a report: How much the price hike is depends on what device you have. For iPhones, it's simple -- Apple's site says "the out-of-warranty battery service fee will be increased by $20 for all iPhone models prior to iPhone 14." For phones with a home button, that means the price will be going from $49 to $69, and for Face ID phones that means it'll be going from $69 to $89. Those prices, by the way, were put in place in 2019, after Apple ran a year-long promotion where you could get a new battery for $29, to make up for its battery throttling controversy. For "all MacBook Air models" the price increase will be $30, bringing the price from $129 to $159.
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Apple's Battery Replacement Prices Are Going Up by $20 To $50 More

Apple's Battery Replacement Prices Are Going Up by $20 To $50

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  • Removable Batteries Law - Can't wait (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bubblyceiling ( 7940768 ) on Monday January 02, 2023 @02:39PM (#63174542)
    I can't wait till removable batteries becomes the law. Fuck Apple & their insanely overpriced battery replacements

    • You donâ(TM)t need to buy an Apple device. Sure it limits you to a subset of Android phones, if you want a smart phone, but thatâ(TM)s a choice you have today.

      • Remember buying an Apple device also limits you to a subset of character sets. It's like trademarks everywhere.

    • I think mandating something like what Apple has here though is a fair compromise; all manufacturers have to offer reasonably priced battery replacement services for X years after date of purchase or end of product life or something like that (and publish DIY instructions and make parts available). I just don't see removable batteries makiong a big comeback in the sense that the market demand just is not there unfortunately but the batteries themselves at least have gotten a lot better.

      I think if people ar

      • When Choice X is crammed down your throat, there really is no demand for other choices. Das Apple life so good, we wouldn't leave it if we could!

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Xenx ( 2211586 )

        I just don't see removable batteries makiong a big comeback in the sense that the market demand just is not there unfortunately but the batteries themselves at least have gotten a lot better.

        The EU is looking to make removable batteries mandatory. It wouldn't matter what the market demand is if that happens.

        • I just don't see removable batteries makiong a big comeback in the sense that the market demand just is not there unfortunately but the batteries themselves at least have gotten a lot better.

          The EU is looking to make removable batteries mandatory. It wouldn't matter what the market demand is if that happens.

          Hmmm.

          That sounds a lot like Freedom.

          NOT!

    • All that will mean is Apple will put chips into the batteries so you can only purchase original verified batteries at their 700% premium.

    • The EU will probably force them to change their products soon, or pull out of the market (or limit availability to some downmarket models, or whatever it is they can field with a removable battery without changing their designs). That's probably why they're raising battery prices now.

    • I can't wait till removable batteries becomes the law. Fuck Apple & their insanely overpriced battery replacements

      The batteries are removable. If you're good with your hands you can get a replacement battery including all tools need to swap it out for $30. If you are not good with your hands the local corner store will have a 15 year old Chinese kid in the back that would do it for you for $15.

      There's nothing stopping you from getting a reasonably priced replacement battery *RIGHT NOW*. And even if the battery was clickin/clickout Apple would still charge an insanely overpriced fee for it.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

      Unless you had a really popular phone, I recall paying $200 for batteries for my phone back in the day.

      And unless it was a really popular phone, you couldn't get replacement batteries after a couple of years - even the third party manufacturers stopped making replacement batteries.

      Just because the battery is replaceable doesn't mean you can get replacements. At least Apple doesn't make too many models and they sell enough of them that 3rd party manufacturers can keep them in stock for years afterwards.

  • Fanboi prices (Score:4, Informative)

    by mspohr ( 589790 ) on Monday January 02, 2023 @04:24PM (#63174730)

    This is just preying on the stupid.
    I just replaced the battery in a MacBook Pro for $30. It even included the special screwdrivers (and screws) that Apple uses to discourage DIY.
    My old battery swelled up with gas. (This is apparently a problem with Apple batteries.) It only took about 15 minutes to remove the back and replace the battery.
    TFA says this will cost me $249 with the new prices.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by higuita ( 129722 )

      the joke is on you and all the apple users, you get the brand and all this stupid policies. until their sales drop and many people complain about their fake "green" or "security" policies, they have zero incentive to do better

      And yes, you have alternatives, there are many open , pro-repair hardware and when paired with linux, you get the best setup to last a long time

      • Why? No really why, explain the benefit to the person who you claim the joke is on. He just said the replacement battery was a nothingburger to him, and independent repair shops can do it as well for quite cheap. What is the driver for him, or the millions of people who don't ever use their phones in a way that the death of the battery is a limiting factor to change?

        I don't like Apple, I voluntarily chose another company with equally poor practices. I don't need "open or pro-repair". Having a skill doesn't

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by higuita ( 129722 )

          how many people that buy a iphone can replace their screen or change their battery... sure, there are tech enough people that can do it, 99% of the apple users have no idea how to do it

    • I've found that some apple devices are extremely difficult to pry open and then require a moderate degree of finesse in removing the battery adhesive

      As such, I recommend people to just have their local cell phone repair shop do the battery swap (e.g., my local shop just charged me $30 for labor and battery on an iphone 6s a few weeks back, it was like magic watching this guy do it, it took him like 10 minutes and he did it perfectly)

      I also try to not charge more than 80% and discharge below 20-30% to keep t

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        They don't cement the laptop batteries to the frame, I'm not sure if the phones and pads still do. You can tell they want to, hiding their goofy adhesive strips underneath, but I imagine the old cement approach was too much even internally and/or got too much flack from tech news talking shit (by quoting ifixit).

        It's true glued phone screens are tricky, but I don't blame apple for those.

        All said, if you can find reasonable rates at a third party might as well hand it to someone who's done it a hundred times

      • Totally agree with you. Had my sons iPhone 7s replaced, was $50 I think at the Apple store. Dropped it off, picked it up later. I think that's totally reasonable for a battery swap. A $20 increase... getting to be a little expensive but still worth it.

    • I just replaced the battery in a MacBook Pro for $30.

      And if you can't then the local corner store electronics shop will do it for you for just a few dollars more than that.

      It's like all of Slashdot doesn't realise that independent repair shops exist despite us constantly running stories about them.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sremick ( 91371 )

      That was a pretty old model Macbook Pro if that's all it required.
      Macbook Pros have had batteries glued into the topcase for many years now.

      • Yes, it's about a 2010 model. Pulled it out of an old pile. Was my daughter's.
        Needed a Linux machine for some projects. It works remarkably well. (A1278 Core2Duo 2.4 Ghz, A1322 battery)

  • The likes of Apple & imitators have gotten away with sealing the battery in phones for too long. Hopefully the EU with its e-waste initiative will crack down on it and any other bullshit they might pull like DRMing batteries.

    • The likes of Apple & imitators have gotten away with sealing the battery in phones for too long. Hopefully the EU with its e-waste initiative will crack down on it and any other bullshit they might pull like DRMing batteries.

      So how do User Replaceable batteries "cut down on e-waste"?

      A battery replaced by a vendor is much more likely to be recycled properly than one pulled out by the User and thrown into the trashcan.

      And BTW, almost all Apple products have reasonably User Replaceable batteries.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        It cuts down e-waste because people aren't tossing otherwise functional phones or letting them languish in a cupboard forever more. Obviously.

        • It cuts down e-waste because people aren't tossing otherwise functional phones or letting them languish in a cupboard forever more. Obviously.

          I don't know about non-Apple Devices (where I submit the vast majority of this "e-waste" comes from); but...

          When you're truly sick of your old iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV (I think), MacBook or Mac, if you don't want to trade it in or sell/give it to someone else (neither of which causes e-waste); Apple will be glad to take it back (even giving you Credit if it's newish), grind it up and turn it into new iPhones, iPads, Watches, MacBooks and Macs. Again, no e-Waste!

          Or, you can just have Apple or a re

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by DrXym ( 126579 )
            No, an old phone in your drawer *is* e-waste. Instead of reusing it, you went out and bought a new phone. So now 2 phones instead of 1. And while I can understand keeping one as a spare, just in case, the reality is that these things stack up and are *never* going to be reused.

            And the EU doesn't buy the whole "personal responsibility" thing because it's basically an excuse for doing nothing. Because if people did as you say and responsibly replaced the battery and responsibly disposed / recycled old phone

            • No, an old phone in your drawer *is* e-waste. Instead of reusing it, you went out and bought a new phone. So now 2 phones instead of 1. And while I can understand keeping one as a spare, just in case, the reality is that these things stack up and are *never* going to be reused.

              And the EU doesn't buy the whole "personal responsibility" thing because it's basically an excuse for doing nothing. Because if people did as you say and responsibly replaced the battery and responsibly disposed / recycled old phones then there wouldn't be an issue to start with. But they don't and the EU cares more about waste, recycling and circular economies that the US or other regions do. And the reality is that this situation is an artificial and cynical construct by manufacturers sealing batteries in the first place to hasten phone sales.

              My fear is that Apple (and others) will be assholes when the EU mandates replaceable batteries and they'll find some way to be dicks about it the way they have in the past with other mandates. DRMing the battery would be one way to be a dick. Another would be to completely reset the phone when the battery is swapped out or the cover removed. Any legislation has to take account for that, and be worded such that replacing a battery should not result in any loss of function in the device.

              You are insane, and argue against your own "points" as well as advance ridiculous, speculative paranoid bullshit; which is nothing more than Anti-Apple Hatemongering.

              You do not Discuss. You Jabber.

              Good Day To You, Sir.

              Now kindly Fuck Off And Die.

              • Re: (Score:2)

                by DrXym ( 126579 )
                I've made reasoned points and countered your guff. Not my problem if you're too shallow to understand them. Nor are the remarks paranoid, since if you had a clue you would know how Apple has skirted around legislation aimed at standardization and reducing e-waste and will do so again if given the chance.

    • It won't. The EU rules require the battery to be able to be replaced by an expert. An expert can currently replace Apple batteries without issue, and if Apple includes DRM in the batteries than the rules will only force them to make batteries available.

      Sealing batteries isn't an issue. We need to get away from this silly concept of every ham fisted idiot being able to perform maintenance. A local repair shop will do it for you for $20, just like my local car yard charges $20 for an oil change.

      The service in

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by DrXym ( 126579 )
        From the agreed text - "Portable batteries incorporated in appliances shall be readily removable and replaceable by the end-user or by independent operators during the lifetime of the appliance, if the batteries have a shorter lifetime than the appliance, or at the latest at the end of the lifetime of the appliance.". There is still a way to go before it becomes law though or to finesse the details.

        But yes it says end user and not expert. What "readily removable & replaceable" means is yet to be defin

  • Pray it's not going to be harder next time.

    • It really is not. iFixIt rates it as "moderate" meaning you should entrust it to any 14 year old and probably exclude anyone with Parkinsons. You want difficult, try swapping the Surface Pro 4 battery. That was hard, and yet people do it themselves the world over.

      If you have 2 left thumbs and don't know which way to turn a screwdriver then maybe consider reaching out to a local repair shop. They'll charge you like $20-30 to swap the battery.

      • Any design that requires pulling off a screen attached with double sided tape using a suction cup is not for the faint of heart. Yes people replace these things all the time, but they only do it because otherwise the phone is trash anyway so they risk it.

        My android phone has the same dumb design, and I only risked pulling the screen off because otherwise the swollen battery yielded the phone both unusable and unsafe. Although as a plus the swollen battery already pushed the screen 1/3 off the case so rep

  • Apple institutes another Apple Tax(tm) to gouge the morons who buy their overpriced, underperforming, third-world exploiting, poorly-engineered shit.

    Evolution in action, folks.

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