Apple Adds Software Lock to iPhone Batteries, Discouraging 3rd-Party Repair

[Tsing]

Apple is going to great lengths to ensure iPhone repairs are only performed by an Apple Genius or Apple Authorized Service Provider. According to iFixit, the company has added a dormant software lock on the newest models, which will be triggered whenever the battery is swapped.

That's even if it's a genuine Apple battery. Once the lock occurs, the iPhone will no longer show its battery health and display an "Important Battery Message" indicating that it may not be authentic.

Put simply, Apple is locking batteries to their iPhones at the factory, so whenever you replace the battery yourself—even if you’re using a genuine Apple battery from another iPhone—it will still give you the “Service” message. The only way around this is—you guessed it—paying Apple money to replace your iPhone battery for you.

 

[Dan_D]

And my hatred of that company grows.

 

[xGryfter]

Like everything Apple of late, inferior, overpriced and extremely restrictive so they can continue to bugger their customers, That being said, their customer base seems to enjoy all the buggery so I guess there's no reason for them to stop.

 

[Zarathustra]

We need right to repair!

 

[Eduardo_Domingot]

Man I hate liking their phones but thats about it. Everything else I pass on.
And really the only reason for that is **** like this. Just stop this crap Apple.

 

[Strelok]

So you can still repair and it will work just fine, but you won't get battery health information? I don't really see the issue here, that part of the software is meant to work with their specific batteries and you have no actual ownership of the software. Title is misleading.

 

[Brian_B]

So you can still repair and it will work just fine, but you won't get battery health information? I don't really see the issue here, that part of the software is meant to work with their specific batteries and you have no actual ownership of the software. Title is misleading.

Sorta..


You can use an authorized genuine Apple replacement part, and it still won't work unless it's also performed by an authorized Apple repair facility

 

[Strelok]

Sorta..


You can use an authorized genuine Apple replacement part, and it still won't work unless it's also performed by an authorized Apple repair facility

The battery itself still works just fine though, which the title seems to indicate it wouldn't. I honestly don't see anything wrong with this since Apple has no idea if the person who replaced the battery used a proper one or installed it correctly. As long as it isn't prevented from doing its basic functions, I don't care.

 

[Valve1138]

I always chuckle at the panty twisting Apple hate.

My Nintendo is better than your Sega.

 

[Grimlakin]

The battery itself still works just fine though, which the title seems to indicate it wouldn't. I honestly don't see anything wrong with this since Apple has no idea if the person who replaced the battery used a proper one or installed it correctly. As long as it isn't prevented from doing its basic functions, I don't care.

Alright editing this after watching the video.

Yea this is a bit of an over reaction. Looks like the battery life indicator still works fine. This is like when your printer complains you are using non brand toner. Meh...