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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: 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.