Apple's wait times for iPhone battery replacements actually increasing, says analyst

Even though Apple's iPhone battery replacement discounts are no longer in the news, and the company has theoretically had time to ramp up supply, wait times for replacements have actually worsened in the past few weeks, according to Barclays research.

While wait times typically fell between 2 and 4.5 weeks around the beginning of February, the average is now 3 to 4.5 weeks, said Barclays analyst Mark Moskowitz, citing checks with Apple stores. The main culprits are said to be iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus owners, some of the most likely to be impacted by iOS battery throttling.

One store estimated waits between 9 and 10 weeks, or over two months for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus batteries.

AppleInsider spot checks showed a similar situation, with iPhone SE and iPhone 7 batteries available on the spot, and an average of 4.5 weeks for an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus battery. Availability of iPhone 6s family devices batteries varied wildly between immediately available and six weeks out.

In the wake of its admission that it slows down iPhones with chemically depleted or aged batteries, Apple dropped the price of out-of-warranty battery replacements from $79 to $29 through the end of 2018. It has also promised control and monitoring of throttling in iOS 11.3, with the feature currently in the beta releases.

Apple's battery replacement program continues throughout all of 2018.

On top of negative publicity, Apple is also facing government scrutiny and multiple lawsuits over its policies. In France the company is coping with accusations of so-called "planned obsolescence".

13 Comments

zoetmb 2655 comments · 17 Years

About 6 years ago

My iPhone6 definitely seems far slower, but it's slower even when the battery is fully charged. I don't think this has anything to do with throttling the device when the battery is low (although I do want to get that $29 replacement), but it seemed to have started with the last iOS update. Everything on the device reacts slower - key presses, etc.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

zoetmb said:

My iPhone6 definitely seems far slower, but it's slower even when the battery is fully charged. I don't think this has anything to do with throttling the device when the battery is low (although I do want to get that $29 replacement), but it seemed to have started with the last iOS update. Everything on the device reacts slower - key presses, etc.

I have an iPhone 6 and experience no such slow downs. Apps load more slowly but once active everything is fine. To me it is an expected fact of life that as the operating system gets more features and functions older hardware starts to lag under the horsepower requirements. I had a 2008 24” iMac that got a little slower with each macOS update until Mavericks made it almost too much to accept. That’s when I bought my current Late 2013 27” iMac and ordered it with an I7 Haswell 3.5Ghz processor. Here it is five years later and High Sierra still runs wicked fast on it. I think the same will be true of iOS. The new A10 and A11 phones will be able to handle future iOS version better than the iPhone 6.

There’s no evil Apple conspiracy, no intentional planned obsolescence, just the march of progress and the dancing between hardware and software to remain functional.

mavemufc 326 comments · 8 Years

I didn't actually think there would be that many people bothering to go for one.

sflocal 6133 comments · 16 Years

zoetmb said:

My iPhone6 definitely seems far slower, but it's slower even when the battery is fully charged. I don't think this has anything to do with throttling the device when the battery is low (although I do want to get that $29 replacement), but it seemed to have started with the last iOS update. Everything on the device reacts slower - key presses, etc.

lkrupp said:

zoetmb said:

My iPhone6 definitely seems far slower, but it's slower even when the battery is fully charged. I don't think this has anything to do with throttling the device when the battery is low (although I do want to get that $29 replacement), but it seemed to have started with the last iOS update. Everything on the device reacts slower - key presses, etc.

I have an iPhone 6 and experience no such slow downs. Apps load more slowly but once active everything is fine. To me it is an expected fact of life that as the operating system gets more features and functions older hardware starts to lag under the horsepower requirements. I had a 2008 24” iMac that got a little slower with each macOS update until Mavericks made it almost too much to accept. That’s when I bought my current Late 2013 27” iMac and ordered it with an I7 Haswell 3.5Ghz processor. Here it is five years later and High Sierra still runs wicked fast on it. I think the same will be true of iOS. The new A10 and A11 phones will be able to handle future iOS version better than the iPhone 6.

There’s no evil Apple conspiracy, no intentional planned obsolescence, just the march of progress and the dancing between hardware and software to remain functional.

Well, my iPhone 6+ IS dog-slow, especially after upgrading to iOS11. And I'm not referring to specific apps, but in basic stuff. Entering text is painfully slow at times in Safari, and it intermittently stalls, jumping from app-to-app, going from portrait-to-landscape and vise-versa is a trial of patience.

It's strange, because my girlfriend also has an iPhone6 and hers is fast as new, and we're both at the same iOS levels. She actually complains as to how slow it is when she borrows my phone to check something quickly.

Most of this is when the battery is at full charge too. I know it's not an Apple conspiracy. I don't feed into that, but there is something else going on. Perhaps my phone has something physically wrong with it and the OS is simply trying to work around it, or maybe the battery is just so old, I don't know.

I know a few that have similar problems on their iP6, I also know many that don't. It would just be nice to have a clear, concise reason as to why. I question whether installing a new battery is even going to make a difference. I don't want to wait weeks to get a new one, so I'm considering buying a new phone just so I can get some peace. I have had it for 3.5 years so it's done me well.