mixmaven

Q: 6s battery replacement? Apple says my phone is fine.

How do I schedule a battery replacement for my iPhone 6s?  Apple refuses to replace the phone, but it continues to shut down at 20-ish percent.  Today it shut off at 33% while I was listening to headphones with the screen off.  I power+function reset the phone, it turned on to see the battery percentage was 33% and then shut off again.  Apple "Genius" tonight again said my phone normal and didn't believe me that I was having issues. I tried to schedule a battery replacement online, but it doesn't allow for battery replacement ($80) of a 6s. 

Very frustrated.  Ready to bend the phone around a table.

iPhone 6s, iOS 9.3.2

Posted on May 25, 2016 4:32 PM

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Q: 6s battery replacement? Apple says my phone is fine.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by ember1205,

    ember1205 ember1205 May 25, 2016 5:48 PM in response to mixmaven
    Level 2 (183 points)
    May 25, 2016 5:48 PM in response to mixmaven

    What have you done so far with Apple to check the battery and/or the phone itself?

     

    You can install the app "Battery Life" (free) to get a sense for the overall health of the battery itself. The app reads data off of the chip connected to the battery to tell you whether or not it is worn. If it is heavily worn (maybe 40-50% or more, Apple may then consider it "consumed" and replace it. Otherwise, they won't touch it.

  • by mixmaven,

    mixmaven mixmaven May 26, 2016 5:33 AM in response to ember1205
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    May 26, 2016 5:33 AM in response to ember1205

    Thanks for the response. I can't pay Apple to replace the battery because it is under warranty, however they won't replace the battery under warranty because it reports fine yet there is still a problem.  I am stuck between Apple telling me the phone is fine and the fact that it isn't.   The battery reports fine in Apples software tests (comes up green twice in the software suite they run), however the phone will die intermittantly anywhere between 21-33%.   The next day, it may work fine, or I can put it on the charger for five minutes and it will power up and then die at 1% like normal. Again, this is after a settings reset, full reset and setup as new.  It is not my apps or settings.

    I have been a happy apple customer for years.  I shouldn't have to pay $749 to buy a new phone when this one under warranty isn't working properly.

  • by Meg St._Clair,Helpful

    Meg St._Clair Meg St._Clair May 27, 2016 8:13 AM in response to mixmaven
    Level 9 (58,397 points)
    iPhone
    May 27, 2016 8:13 AM in response to mixmaven

    I would make another appointment and ask to speak to the manager while your there. Or, call Apple Support and explain your situation. Again, politely ask to speak to a supervisor if necessary.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch May 26, 2016 8:42 AM in response to mixmaven
    Level 8 (37,842 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2016 8:42 AM in response to mixmaven

    mixmaven wrote:

     

    How do I schedule a battery replacement for my iPhone 6s?  Apple refuses to replace the phone, but it continues to shut down at 20-ish percent.  Today it shut off at 33% while I was listening to headphones with the screen off.  I power+function reset the phone, it turned on to see the battery percentage was 33% and then shut off again.  Apple "Genius" tonight again said my phone normal and didn't believe me that I was having issues. I tried to schedule a battery replacement online, but it doesn't allow for battery replacement ($80) of a 6s.

    Very frustrated.  Ready to bend the phone around a table.

    Apple's battery test is reliable; if they say the battery is good, it is good, and you have some other problem. You can check the battery yourself with the app Battery Life from the app store. I would expect the same results from it. Other than a bad battery, the most common cause of the symptom you are experiencing is a battery gauge that needs to be recalibrated, so try recalibrating your battery gauge:

    • Charge to 100%
    • Run the battery down until the phone shuts off
    • If it shuts off above 1% charge it for a minute only, then continue running the battery down. Repeat until it makes it to 1% before shutting off
    • Charge it to 100% again
  • by BBoiss,

    BBoiss BBoiss May 26, 2016 10:26 AM in response to mixmaven
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    May 26, 2016 10:26 AM in response to mixmaven

    mixmaven wrote:

     

    Thanks for the response. I can't pay Apple to replace the battery because it is under warranty, however they won't replace the battery under warranty because it reports fine yet there is still a problem.  I am stuck between Apple telling me the phone is fine and the fact that it isn't.   The battery reports fine in Apples software tests (comes up green twice in the software suite they run), however the phone will die intermittantly anywhere between 21-33%.   The next day, it may work fine, or I can put it on the charger for five minutes and it will power up and then die at 1% like normal. Again, this is after a settings reset, full reset and setup as new.  It is not my apps or settings.

    I have been a happy apple customer for years.  I shouldn't have to pay $749 to buy a new phone when this one under warranty isn't working properly.

    To help resolve your battery issues, I suggest reviewing the following articles

     

    http://www.apple.com/batteries/maximizing-performance/#ios

     

    About cellular data settings and usage on your iPhone and iPad - Apple Support

     

    iPhones are capable of doing much more than they used to be able to. To conserve energy use in your home, you turn off the lights in the rooms you are not presently residing in. Think of toggling these settings as being similar to that.

     

    Also, one I see affect my battery the most is when I find myself in low signal areas.

     

    No Cell Coverage and Low Signal. This indicates that either you are in a poor cell coverage area and your iOS device is searching for a better signal or that you’ve used your device in low-signal conditions, which has affected your battery life.

    • You can optimize your battery life by turning on Airplane mode. Swipe up to open Control Center and tap the Airplane mode icon. Note that you cannot make or receive calls while in Airplane mode.

     

    I hope this helps!

  • by ember1205,Helpful

    ember1205 ember1205 May 27, 2016 8:13 AM in response to BBoiss
    Level 2 (183 points)
    May 27, 2016 8:13 AM in response to BBoiss

    While these are good pieces of info, they don't necessarily point to a root-cause of the problem. Whether the device is optimized or not, shutting down while the battery gauge shows 1/3 or more available power is bad.

     

    Possible issues:

     

    - The battery gauge is actually wrong and you don't have as much power as you believe you do. Use the Battery Life app to compare what IT sees versus what YOU see from the gauge in the status bar.

     

    - The battery is actually bad INTERMITTENTLY. It may work fine some of the time while others it fails. This could be heat-related in that the battery might experience an internal short when it's very warm. Making sure that you don't have apps running in the background using battery (CPU) would be wise.

     

    - An internal short in the phone somewhere could be causing an issue, although I suspect this would more likely cause the phone to restart than just shut down.

     

    Go into Settings -> Battery and look to see how much of the CPU is being consumed by various apps. Tap the clock symbol on the right side at the top of the app list to see actual amounts of TIME that the various apps are running for. This should give you some insight into what's using the most power and a rogue app in here could enlighten you to what's going on.

     

    I agree with Meg on the notion of going BACK to the Apple Store and talking with a manager. Explain the situation, and be prepared to DEMONSTRATE it. Their tests are good, but they will not necessarily re-create specific conditions that would cause the phone to actually shut down.

  • by BBoiss,

    BBoiss BBoiss May 26, 2016 11:42 AM in response to ember1205
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    May 26, 2016 11:42 AM in response to ember1205

    ember1205 wrote:

     

    While these are good pieces of info, they don't necessarily point to a root-cause of the problem. Whether the device is optimized or not, shutting down while the battery gauge shows 1/3 or more available power is bad.

     

    I wasn't offering a counter to anyone else's advice. Taking Lawrence Finch's advice into account, I was offering other documented steps to assist in bettering battery life.

     

    -He covered battery gauge correction.

     

    -The intermittent behavior can be explained by what I was explaining at the bottom of my first mention, which was taken directly out of the articles.

     

    -I'm not going to address internal shorts here.

     

    -Excellent point with checking on Settings>Battery. My first article illustrates this as well, so we agree.

     

    Please feel free to scrub through the articles yourself, ember1205.

  • by ember1205,

    ember1205 ember1205 May 26, 2016 11:44 AM in response to BBoiss
    Level 2 (183 points)
    May 26, 2016 11:44 AM in response to BBoiss

    Optimizing battery life doesn't fix the issue of the phone shutting off while it says there is still plenty of charge left - that's all I was getting at.

  • by BBoiss,

    BBoiss BBoiss May 26, 2016 11:46 AM in response to ember1205
    Level 4 (1,404 points)
    Apple Music
    May 26, 2016 11:46 AM in response to ember1205

    ember1205 wrote:

     

    Optimizing battery life doesn't fix the issue of the phone shutting off while it says there is still plenty of charge left - that's all I was getting at.

    Yes, I understand that fact. This is why I let you know I was not discrediting Lawrence when he already addressed this prior to my post.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch May 26, 2016 2:06 PM in response to ember1205
    Level 8 (37,842 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 26, 2016 2:06 PM in response to ember1205

    ember1205 wrote:

     

    Optimizing battery life doesn't fix the issue of the phone shutting off while it says there is still plenty of charge left - that's all I was getting at.

    Correct. And 99.9% of the time is is simply a case of the battery gauge needing recalibration (if the battery tests good).

  • by ember1205,

    ember1205 ember1205 May 26, 2016 2:09 PM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 2 (183 points)
    May 26, 2016 2:09 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

    Lawrence Finch wrote:

     

    ember1205 wrote:

     

    Optimizing battery life doesn't fix the issue of the phone shutting off while it says there is still plenty of charge left - that's all I was getting at.

    Correct. And 99.9% of the time is is simply a case of the battery gauge needing recalibration (if the battery tests good).

     

    I've read of situations in the past where the gauge doesn't update correctly, regardless of being calibrated or not. "Internally" the phone was aware of low charge while the gauge would not update until you opened an app or something. I recommended using the Battery Life app to show the battery's current charge level, comparing that with the gauge to see if it's a matter of the gauge being wrong, not being updated, or possibly some other issue.

  • by mixmaven,

    mixmaven mixmaven Jun 19, 2016 9:00 AM in response to ember1205
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Jun 19, 2016 9:00 AM in response to ember1205

    After an extended period of time, I went back to the Apple Store and worked with a genius who pulled a few logs and could see the phone was using more power than actually available.  The graph showed 100% battery usage in a span of a half an hour when the battery was at 35%.  It would drop from 30%~ to 0 in seconds.  First they would only offer to send the phone in, even though it is fully under warranty, however they were able to push it through and replace the phone as requested.  After a full restore and two weeks, the problem appears to be resolved.  It did not follow my software or restore, but was a hardware issue.  Thanks for the feedback everyone.