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posted by janrinok on Thursday August 08 2019, @12:35PM   Printer-friendly
from the can't-stand-competition dept.

https://www.ifixit.com/News/apple-is-locking-batteries-to-iphones-now

By activating a dormant software lock on their newest iPhones, Apple is effectively announcing a drastic new policy: only Apple batteries can go in iPhones, and only they can install them.

If you replace the battery in the newest iPhones, a message indicating you need to service your battery appears in Settings > Battery, next to Battery Health. The "Service" message is normally an indication that the battery is degraded and needs to be replaced. The message still shows up when you put in a brand new battery, however. Here's the bigger problem: our lab tests confirmed that even when you swap in a genuine Apple battery, the phone will still display the "Service" message.

It's not a bug; it's a feature Apple wants. Unless an Apple Genius or an Apple Authorized Service Provider authenticates a battery to the phone, that phone will never show its battery health and always report a vague, ominous problem.


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  • (Score: 2) by Mer on Thursday August 08 2019, @01:01PM (16 children)

    by Mer (8009) on Thursday August 08 2019, @01:01PM (#877426)

    The apple batteries are non removable anyway. This crap isn't what prevents you from removing the battery on the fly.

    --
    Shut up!, he explained.
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  • (Score: 2) by JNCF on Thursday August 08 2019, @01:43PM (15 children)

    by JNCF (4317) on Thursday August 08 2019, @01:43PM (#877450) Journal

    "Non removable" as in, you have to pop the screen off first? The battery is probably the easiest piece of an iphone to replace.

    • (Score: 2) by Mer on Thursday August 08 2019, @01:57PM (10 children)

      by Mer (8009) on Thursday August 08 2019, @01:57PM (#877455)

      Of course I don't mean impossible to remove, that would be silly when the article talks about changing them.

      --
      Shut up!, he explained.
      • (Score: 2) by JNCF on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:06PM (9 children)

        by JNCF (4317) on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:06PM (#877463) Journal

        I get that. I feel like people overestimate the difficulty of iPhone repairs becasuse of those little pentalobe screws keeping them out. I bet I can replace an iPhone battery in less than ten minutes. I don't own any Apple shit, but I have to concede that the repairs are usually easier than random Android devices (at least when they're not pulling stunts like this).

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:28PM (8 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:28PM (#877472)

          I bet I can replace an iPhone battery in less than ten minutes.

          And how long to put it back together? And will it look and feel the same as before?

          Too much like Humpty Dumpty [wikipedia.org]. Sure - you might be able to gather the pieces but you you won't be able to "put Humpty together again".

          • (Score: 2) by JNCF on Thursday August 08 2019, @04:11PM

            by JNCF (4317) on Thursday August 08 2019, @04:11PM (#877529) Journal

            That's including reassembly. I've never replaced the water-proof glue, but otherwise you can't tell the difference. No scraping or anything, and the screen still stays in tight from the hooks and screws.

          • (Score: 3, Informative) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday August 08 2019, @05:13PM (6 children)

            by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 08 2019, @05:13PM (#877555) Journal

            It's two pentalobe screws to open the case, release the battery connector, pull the battery release tabs (these work like command adhesive strips), and the battery is out. The new battery goes in the same way, and most customers go for the slightly more expensive aftermarket batteries that have a larger capacity than the OEM battery.

            It takes literally 5 minutes for an OE quality install, 10 if you are working on a waterproof (hehe) phone that adds the trivial complexity of replacing the screen gasket.

            Yes, they feel the same after you replace it properly.

            Left turn from phones here. Would you willingly buy a car that wouldn't let you change the battery, or putting in a battery required you to go to the dealer and pay to get it blessed to get the check engine light to turn off?

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @05:19PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @05:19PM (#877560)

              If my car were at a price point where I could reasonbly expect to be replacing it around the time the battery gave out, and I expect that I'll afford that cost when that time happens, why not? That could either be because the car will be replaced in 1.5-2 years, or because the battery complex was designed to last for 10 years.

            • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Rupert Pupnick on Thursday August 08 2019, @07:47PM (4 children)

              by Rupert Pupnick (7277) on Thursday August 08 2019, @07:47PM (#877620) Journal

              My car has a TPI warning light that won’t go out ever since I got rid of the shitty low profile rims and replaced them with standard 16 inch steel rims that don’t have the TPI sensor. Putting in the four sensors would run about $200. No thanks. If I could get access to the indicator, I’d paint it over with black nail polish for a lot less.

              • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 09 2019, @12:22AM

                by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 09 2019, @12:22AM (#877689)

                Google "TPMS bypass"

              • (Score: 2) by fliptop on Friday August 09 2019, @01:46AM (2 children)

                by fliptop (1666) on Friday August 09 2019, @01:46AM (#877715) Journal

                Putting in the four sensors would run about $200

                If you're talking about putting the original sensors back in, then you're getting ripped off. If you have to buy new sensors then that's about correct.

                The shop I work at would charge $10 per to reinstall sensors. In most cases you only have to break one bead to do so but you'll more than likely have to rebalance after.

                Why did you not install the old sensors after changing your wheels?

                --
                Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
                • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Friday August 09 2019, @03:28PM

                  by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Friday August 09 2019, @03:28PM (#877936) Journal

                  Parent is asking the right question. For most cars the TPMS is an electronic module that threads on the inside of the tire on the end of the valvestem. They should have been able to move them from the old wheels to the new ones, even if they put in new valvestems.

                • (Score: 2) by Rupert Pupnick on Friday August 09 2019, @05:14PM

                  by Rupert Pupnick (7277) on Friday August 09 2019, @05:14PM (#877972) Journal

                  Thanks for asking, fliptop. I actually DID remove and keep the sensors from those old alloy rims.

                  So, I called the wholesale club (that does free seasonal swaps) where I buy tires to ask about installing used sensors. It’s $13.98 a tire. I’d seen the $200 figure for new sensors advertised on the placard in the shop, and assumed wrongly that they don’t offer the service for sensors bought elsewhere.

                  Still undecided because I’m a cheapskate.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:03PM (3 children)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 08 2019, @02:03PM (#877461)

      > "Non removable" as in, you have to pop the screen off first? The battery is probably the easiest piece of an iphone to replace.

      "Pop the screen off," as in, you have to buy a heat gun and special plastic prying tools, and then carefully and evenly heat the screen and its glue underneath and then carefully and delicately pry off the screen before the glue solidifies?

      Also, you have to re-glue the screen afterward.

      • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday August 08 2019, @05:15PM (2 children)

        by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 08 2019, @05:15PM (#877557) Journal

        "Pop the screen off," as in, you have to buy a heat gun and special plastic prying tools, and then carefully and evenly heat the screen and its glue underneath and then carefully and delicately pry off the screen before the glue solidifies?

        This is FUD. It's two screws and a guitar pick to get the case open. The gasket residue comes off with a toothpick, and a new gasket takes under a minute to place properly.

        • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday August 08 2019, @07:46PM (1 child)

          by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday August 08 2019, @07:46PM (#877618)

          But aren't the screws one of those custom kinds you can't unscrew without a proprietary screwdriver? Or at least not without stripping the screw.

          --
          "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
          • (Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Thursday August 08 2019, @08:26PM

            by ElizabethGreene (6748) Subscriber Badge on Thursday August 08 2019, @08:26PM (#877629) Journal

            The two external case screws are. Most single-battery replacement kits include the correct driver. I do enough phone work that I bought the $10 Wiha driver.