Is It Safe To Get Battery Replaced At Repair Shop

Hither's What It's Like to Replace Your iPhone Battery

Thinking nigh pulling the trigger on that iPhone battery replacement that Apple is currently offering, but concerned about roughing it without your telephone for an extended period of time? So was I.

Editor'due south Annotation: Apple's discounted iPhone battery replacement plan ends on Dec. 31. After that engagement, out-of-warranty battery service costs will rising. Refer to our guide if y'all desire to know how to go yours before it's too belatedly.

I bought my iPhone 7 in December of 2022. Later a niggling less than a year and a half of use, I noticed the bombardment life began to take a sharp downturn. The iOS 11.three update confirmed my suspicions, with the new Battery Health tool telling me my iPhone was working with only 88 per centum of its original chapters.

That may not sound too serious, because Apple only recommends servicing batteries that accept fallen below lxxx percent. Withal, since joining Tom's Guide final September, I've e'er been on the go — commuting to the office hours every twenty-four hour period and using GPS to help me traverse New York Metropolis for various events. My information plan feels a hell of a lot less luxurious at present that I'm rarely on Wi-Fi. After Mobile Globe Congress, my colleague Caitlin McGarry swore off traveling with me ever once again unless I brought a backup bombardment.

More than: Cheque out the best Mac VPN and the all-time iPhone VPN

In other words, information technology'due south been a challenging few months for my trusty iPhone 7, and they've only accelerated the deadening death of its battery. I had been debating cashing in that $29 replacement for weeks, but I assumed in that location would be a wait. And then I didn't get effectually to it until I happened to be within anxiety of an Apple Store i twenty-four hours.

If y'all oasis't been keeping tabs on the iPhone battery saga since it began tardily concluding year, here'south what happened. Apple admitted it had been throttling functioning on iPhones with degraded batteries. Devices running iOS 10.2.1 — which includes every model from the iPhone 6 onward — were programmed to automatically limit clock speed to extend longevity on a charge and stave off random reboots, which are common during times of stress on the processor.

MORE: 10 Tips to Boost Your iPhone's Battery Life

The merely trouble? Apple didn't tell anyone what was going on behind the scenes. As a event, in January the company discounted out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29 until the end of 2022 for affected products. Unsurprisingly, rather long wait times were reported right out of the gate, with firms like Barclays citing delays ranging from ii to four weeks due to short bombardment supplies for sure models. Apple also added Bombardment Health in iOS eleven.3, which allows users to both monitor the state of their telephone's battery and deactivate automatic throttling if their handset has lost 20 percentage or more of its capacity.

Anyway, back to my story. I told the representative I wanted to see nigh getting my iPhone 7'southward battery swapped. Given that my phone was merely downwards 12 percentage down from a fresh unit, he recommended I look until afterward in the yr to get a better blindside for my buck. And I well-nigh did — until I thought to myself that come up November, there could be a lot of people like me who had washed the same, and needed those new batteries correct now.

I told the rep I wanted to go through with it, expecting to set an appointment sometime in May. To my surprise, the answer to the question "how long will it accept" was a matter of minutes, not weeks.

Long story brusque, my iPhone 7 was dorsum in my hands with a new battery in less than two hours. Wandering the mall alone without a phone was a strange experience, specially when I was told to return to the Apple Store to pick up my device by a specific time, and they were in possession of the but way I could easily cheque the clock. (Possibly this is just an Apple plot to goose smartwatch sales.)

To my surprise, the technician didn't fifty-fifty remove my handset's matte screen protector, which I appreciated. Granted, Apple tree had no reason to, and my iPhone vii is in pretty proficient shape, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little concerned if the plastic film would survive the surgery.

More: How To Replace Your iPhone's Battery for $29

I was also worried the rep would give me a hard fourth dimension for requesting a battery exchange considering my phone hadn't crossed the 80 percent threshold yet, when iOS begins throttling performance. Technically under Apple tree'south program, owners of iPhone half-dozen devices or newer are eligible for one discounted out-of-warranty replacement until the end of 2022, no matter the condition of the original battery. But I was never pressured against ordering the service — just given a sensible recommendation to put off the upgrade until later on, which I chose to ignore.

The moral here? Everyone (Tom'south Guide included) is reporting on await times for iPhone batteries, with information from surveys and insider sources. But the simply fashion to actually know how long yous'll exist left phoneless is to inquire your local Apple Shop yourself. If they warn you of delays lasting days or weeks, there'south never any damage in checking elsewhere. You may just exist pleasantly surprised.

Oh, and another recommendation: Before you make that trip, back up your iPhone. I had lucked out and by take a chance connected my phone to my Mac to sync music a few days earlier (streaming services be damned!) If you don't, Apple isn't liable for any data loss your iPhone may experience when it'due south under the knife.

Photo Credit: Shaun Lucas/Tom'south Guide

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Adam Ismail is a staff writer at Jalopnik and previously worked on Tom'south Guide covering smartphones, motorcar tech and gaming. His honey for all things mobile began with the original Motorola Droid; since so he'south owned a variety of Android and iOS-powered handsets, refusing to stay loyal to one platform. His work has also appeared on Digital Trends and GTPlanet. When he's not little with the latest devices, he's at an indie pop evidence, recording a podcast or playing Sega Dreamcast.