
Apple is locking iPhone battery replacement - bkmn
https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/8/20776965/iphone-xs-max-xr-battery-service-third-party-repair
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intopieces
They are not locking the replacement, they are refusing to guarantee the
performance of parts they can’t certify are genuine.

There are third party battery health checking apps on the App Store that
replace this functionality.

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jaclaz
>They are not locking the replacement, they are refusing to guarantee the
performance of parts they can’t certify are genuine.

According to the article:

> is shown regardless of whether a genuine Apple battery has been installed in
> the phone — it all comes down to whether Apple or one of its Authorized
> Service Providers installed the replacement.

So the theme is not on the genuinity of the part (unless we assume that Apple
doesn't know how to recognize an "own" original part or that third party,
unofficial batteries are indistinguishable from the original ones [1]), it is
only on the fact that the person that changed it (and regardless of how good
the work was performed) did know the "secret handshake".

Very likely it is a matter of either a sequence of commands/taps/whatever or
of connecting the device to some program (or server or whatever) to "reset" a
flag.

And yes it shouldn't be so different from how a number of cars have "reset
codes" for errors or for oil/filter change log.

Now in the car, the on board oomputer has no way to know if the oil you (or
the dealer) changed is good or bad, but a battery on a smartphone?

[1] even if it _seems_ I am saying the same thing twice, the meaning is
actually slightly different

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kitsunesoba
As far as I understand it, it’s not uncommon for third party parts to try to
appear genuine. There’s usually imperfections in the faking that Apple hones
in on, but it’s a bit of a cat and mouse game.

There’s also the possibility of repairs being performed with used or otherwise
tampered with genuine parts, which are almost as much of a wildcard as third
party parts.

Maybe things have improved with smartphones, but I remember third party
replacements for MacBooks with swappable batteries being worse than a
crapshoot — on top of bad capacity and faster degradation they also often
caused kernel panics and power management issues. I can see why Apple might
want to not be stuck with supporting that.

~~~
jaclaz
Yes, but the point still stands.

If an original (used) battery is installed, it should be recognized as
original and graded accordingly to its state (let's say 80% of what it should
be).

The current provision doesn't prevent the use of a defective or used or sub-
standard battery, it only prevents non-Apple personnel from performing a
repair without triggering the (possibly unjustified) alarm.

~~~
intopieces
I agree with your original assessment and support this move from Apple. I am
glad there is a mechanism for determining whether work done on a device I
might purchase (such as a used iPhone) was done by Apple certified
technicians. I do not think Apple should spend time or money attempting to
certify or measure every battery that a person could put in the phone.

This is a pro-consumer move, because it gives the consumer more information
about the state of a product. They can ignore it if they want, it doesn’t
impact the operation of the device.

~~~
eesmith
But there is no reason for Apple to "guarantee the performance of parts they
can’t certify are genuine".

This is not pro-consumer any more than saying that only Ford-certified auto
shops are able to disable the "check engine" light, because Ford can't
guarantee the performance of auto parts they can't certify are genuine.

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gen3
> iFixit likens it to an “Oil Change” indicator light in a car that will only
> turn off if a Ford dealership changes the oil.

With the whole "iPhones throttle" thing a couple years ago, and how simple
this comparison is, hopefully this will get picked up by mainstream news and
be changed.

~~~
rasz
HP ink cartridge telling you its empty while you can visibly see liquid is
another good comparison.

~~~
dmonitor
Not really, since the battery still works fine. The HP ink cartridge prevents
the printer from printing, though

~~~
sushid
I mean Apple used to say your battery is pretty bad so we’ll slow down your
device, so your device didn’t exactly work fine, just like how the printer
prevented you from regularly printing with it.

~~~
dmonitor
That was an option, not something you're forced to do

~~~
sushid
You were forced to do until the whole slowing down phone on upgrade scandal.
As a direct result of this action, Apple discounted battery replacement until
the end of 2018.

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djmobley
Seems like a good thing for consumers buying second-hand phones.

That’s not to say all third party batteries (or unauthorised replacements of
genuine batteries) are bad, but as a consumer it’s nice to at least be aware
what’s in your phone.

~~~
la_barba
Its also nice to not be forced to pay the Apple tax to repair your device.
Apple is trying their darnedest to prevent independent repair shops from
extending the life of Apple products, while Apple tosses boards out, and
generates more e-waste, instead of actually repairing components. But yeah, it
is certainly nice to have Apple tell you that Apple thinks your Apple
authorized battery, that was installed in an Apple authorized store, by an
Apple trained and Apple authorized Genius is working just fine. Priorities.

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jaclaz
Cross referencing other thread, different source, same topic:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20641424](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20641424)

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GhostVII
Seems like a duplicate of
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20641424](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20641424)

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tibbydudeza
iPhone sales are down ... better start nickel and diming the loyal
"supporters".

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_salmon
No one tell Louis Rossman

