Roger Fingas
An imminent iOS update will help collect information about sudden iPhone shutdowns, specifically problems aren't limited to the iPhone 6s units Apple is currently offering battery replacements for, according to an updated support document posted on Tuesday.
On the webpage, at the moment only in Chinese, Apple explains that some phones "outside the affected batch" are suffering from shutdowns as well, and that it will "will add an additional diagnostic feature to the iOS software update that is [to be] released next week."
That tool will gather data that could contribute to algorithms for managing battery performance and shutdowns, Apple said, noting that if it can make improvements, they'll be delivered in subsequent software releases.
The iOS update coming next week is presumably iOS 10.2, which is already in its sixth beta and likely close to completion. Its main features will actually be a dedicated "TV" app and single sign-on support for TV providers.
Free battery swaps are only available to people with an iPhone 6s built between September and October 2015, and even then owners must check their serial number to see if they qualify. Apple didn't identify which iPhones outside that range might be having problems.
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20 Comments
As far as I can tell the 6 had dud batteries too. Seen a lot of replacements of those; mine was at 80.2% with 250 odd cycles after one year, and I ended up replacing it at the 16 month mark.
As a long time user of Apple's products (first Mac 1994) I have had very few problems with Mac hardware and software. Sure the early (beta) days of Mac OS X included many spinning beach ball moments but we all understood this was a new frontier for the platform and most of us were happy to follow.
Things seem to have changed in the past couple of years and it may be hard to pinpoint exactly why things appear to be going south. I'm not talking about a new revoltuoinalry device unleashed every two years but about inconsistent hardware, software bloat and Apple looking like the old guy in the room.
IOS in particular has gotten over cluttered and Apple's mantra of simplicity and minimalism has given way to a baroque overlay of options which I doubt most people ever use yet these "improvements" get touted as breakthrough and that they have had an army of people working on this feature just to ease your daily use of you iOS gadget. Take a look into the Settings of iOS 10, just the General section seems endless with options. If you need to select a seldom used option such as (turn off find my iPhone) you will find it eventually but it will be buried pretty deep somewhere in that mess.
Maybe I am spoiled by how well Apple's product have worked for me and having to replace a defective battery on my iPhone 6s recently was bound to happen when a company produces a billion of them per year but it may be the iOS that has me most concerned. I don't know if anyone else feel the way I do about this or if my love of things simple and intuitive make me more critical.
Many people are doing the battery replacement. Last night I took my phone into the Apple Store -- at a reserved time, noted for Battery Replacement -- and they mentioned having no batteries in stock. They estimate it'll take about 1 week to get a new stock of replacement batteries. (I wish they could have told me that before I took the time to visit their store!)
I have a iPhone 6 and the battery has suddenly started jumping down in power status. I keep the % on the screen and I've watched it jump from 33% to 1%. I've also just had it die with plenty of charge (+30%), and when I plug it in and restart it, it still has plenty of charge (+30%).
I have an iPhone 6 that exhibits this same behavior. It was purchased in December 2014 and the problem started about 15 months after purchase. The problem got worse after It had a hard fall on a concrete sidewalk.