For those of us that didn't jump to the 7 when it came out, didn't drool over the 8, and didn't want to spend 4 digits on the iPhone X/10/face scanner, we have told ourselves that we are happy with the 6 or the 6 Plus. I've told myself that there have not been too many upgrades to the iPhone so I'll stick with my 6 Plus until it dies. But what I didn't know was that Apple was going to take the best phone I ever had and force it into retirement. Yep, I have one of the slowed down bricks (Apple Admits To Slowing Older iPhones).
When Facebook takes between 30 seconds and a minute to turn on, when apps show their primary screen and then decided to shut off, when other apps know you've tapped the next button, but just want to see how many more times you'll think you need to tap, yep, there are issues. I was happy to hear the water cooler gossip about apple offering a $29 new battery for the affected phones, a lessing from its $79 usual cost.
So I was up at 7 AM this morning and decided to get my battery issue resolved. How hard could it be? As I was heading out the door at 9:45 to be at the Apple store at 10 AM when it opened, my roommate asked, "You made an appointment, right?"
Now what I type next is what I know, what I did, what I found. It is not the Apple way or backed by Apple. There were no recordings made, but thi sis how I am going to tell it.
"You made an appointment, right?" he said. I was like, well I don't know if I need one and I don't know if there are any batteries in stock. I called at 10:05, well I tried to call the store at 10:05 but got lost in a maze of voice activated prompts, and gave up. My roommate and I searched online as to how to make an appointment. He said it use to be on the Apple Store app. Going to that app, nothing was found about an appointment. Searching online, I found that I needed to download the Apple Support app which was not already on my phone. I think this would be more important to have than some of those other apps Apple chooses to originally bundle on the phone.
So I was able to install the Apple Support app onto the phone and was able to finally click on the right sequences of prompts to get to making an appointment. No appointments were available for my phone and its issue ( I did select my phone style/number and battery replacement issue). So no appointments, maybe I could walk in? By this time I was in the car and driving to the store.
As I drove to the store, I was able to click on an option to have Apple give me a call. Mind you, it would no tbe the Apple store I ws going to, but Apple Support. They gave me a call in less than 10 seconds and we chatted about the possibility of me getting my phone fixed today. He wanted to ask me some questions about my issue to see if I really did need a new battery, but I nipped that in the bud and said that was the issue. My big question was … if there are no appointments available, does that mean there are no batteries in stock? The man on the phone could not answer that question, but proceeded to tell me that he did not see any appointments available at the store I was headed to for my issue at this time. He did not see any for the next few days. The recommendation for me was to consider another store or call back on Wednesday or Thursday. As I was pulling into the mall, I told the man on the phone I would call back another day.
Going into the store at 10:30, it was packed already. There were greeters at the door to direct the customers in the right direction. I was first 1/2 way lead to the wrong line, but eventually ended up in the 17 person line. Luckily, the man ahead of me was talking to a tech/genius and I was listening. The line I was in was to sign up at the geek bar to get your name on an upcoming battery delivery. There were no batteries around. If each person took 3 minutes to check in, 3 x 17 = 41 minutes, well the guy in front of me had two phones and an iPad so I am sure he was going to take a little longer, I decided to leave. But before I did and once the tech/genius was done with #17, I asked him about the fact that if I go through all the prompts on the Apple Support app and make an appointment for my 6 Plus batter replacement, is there a guarantee that there will be a battery in stock that day of the appointment and I could get it replaced then? He just referred back to there is a large back order and they don't have any in stock at this time and he did not know if the appointment system was intertwined with the availability of stock. I didn't get a clear answer.
As I left I reflected back on my options, which were minimal.
- I could have waited in line for 41+ minutes to get my name on a list so I could come back later.
- peek in another time when the line was in single digits and less than 20 minutes.
- I could watch the appointment maker and make an appointment and hope that the systems are interwoven and there will be a battery there when the appointment occurs.
- wait for up to a year and take care of it some time months later, like the tech/genius on the phone said he was going to do.
- check other non Apple Stores but I've heard many of those will send them into Apple to do the swap.
- send in my phone to Apple, have them replace it, and then wait for it to be returned in the mail.
The option I chose was to text one of my friends who works for Apple. I hate bothering him with Apple questions because I know many of our friends do so. But at this time, I've tried two apps, online, 3 phone calls, and went to the store.
I texted him the most important question I had … would success in making an appointment for battery replacement guarantee that the part was in stock and available at the time of the appointment? He said no. There is no visibility to inventory levels. An appointment does not equal or guarantee inventory. That is what I wanted to know. He followed up with the same statement I heard from everyone I was actually able to talk to today. He said it may be some time before inventory ramps up. And this is most likely why Apple is supposedly going to offer this replacement for some time. I'm going to need to check on how long that will be out there for.
What devices are concerned?
According to Apple, only iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE qualify for the program. iPads are apparently exempt from performance throttling, so these devices aren’t part of the battery replacement program.
So anybody can get his battery replaced?
Nope! This isn’t that simple. Obviously, you need one of the devices mentioned above, and your device will most likely have to qualify for the battery replacement. Apple will probably run a diagnostic and assess whether or not your device’s battery qualifies for a replacement.
But how do I check myself if my battery needs to be replaced?
Right now, Apple only has one way of checking if your battery needs to be replaced, but we recently shared 3 other ways to check your iPhone battery health.
How much will that cost?
If you qualify, the cost of a replacement will be $29 in the US (check price in your own country). This price will be valid until the end of 2018. – idownloadblog.com
So my recommendation. Take a peek into the physical Apple store that is near you and get your name on an incoming battery. May that be now or in a month's time. Fo r those of you that live on your phone and are frustrated with the 6 and 6 Plus issue you are suffering, go live in line for 40 minutes and then wait to be contacted to come back in and wait another time for the actual battery replacement.
See you in a couple months Apple!
Have you guys had success yet in this Apple battery mess?
No matter what, we've come a long way from this.
I feel the same way I’m still
I feel the same way I’m still waiting and I made this complaint a month ago I’m very upset because I work off my phone and it seems like a scam because iv never had this problem before and it’s really not a Discount and I didn’t damage the phone so I don’t understand why my insurance doesn’t covers it all they can say is sorry and my phone is not even old shame shame on them
It’s really easy to make an
It’s really easy to make an appointment online. This article was pretty ridiculous. I didn’t really need to hear all the stuff about how you had a hard time because you weren’t smart enough to make an appointment and come prepared.
Thanks James Jackson for
Thanks James Jackson for reading. Sorry you weren't smart enough to follow along. It's okay to use your words as a reader back at you, right? Ok. It is really easy to make an appointment once you have the correct app on the phone. The Apple Store App does not have the ability to make an appointment but the Apple Support App does. The other part of making an appointment online or on the app is that there needs to be a slot or opening available to make such an appointment. If you read, there were no appointment or time slots available. There were none for a week's time. I guess you want me to be smarter and somehow hack the Apple Apps and create an open appointment out of the blue? When on the phone with Apple, the tech/genius said he did not see any appointments available and they do not schedule out more than about 4 or 5 days and I would have to call back on Wed or Thurs. The main question I had was IF THERE WAS AN APPOINTMENT AVAILABLE (which there wasn't) does that mean there is a battery in the store for me to purchase.
So thanks for the comment that I was not smart enough to make an appointment when no appointment could be made, no matter if I looked online, on the apps, or called in.