Apple should recall all iphone 5 batteries

Feedback to Apple goes HERE, and click on the appropriate subject. There is no email to tech support.

purplepain696 wrote:

I have asked for help on my battery problem here and was happy with all the help. My phone does not qualify for the iPhone 5 replacement battery program, but I almost guarantee that apple has a problem with almost all of their iPhone 5 batteries.

Nope. I've got about 30+ iPhone 5 units, none of which are within the battery replacement program and none of which have battery issues.

Make a backup. Restore as new. Test the issue again. Here's a way to test your battery 'issue' without any bias:

- First, charge up the device to 100%. To enable the percentage indicator, go to Settings > General > Usage, and turn on Battery Percentage.

- Once the device is charged to 100%, make sure to close out all Apps that are running on the device. In iOS 7/8, you close out running apps by double-tapping the Home Button, and then swiping your finger up across the preview screen of each app to move it off the top of the screen.

- Then, turn off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and cellular data. Settings > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi: OFF, Settings > Bluetooth > Bluetooth: OFF, & Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data: OFF. This will not prevent you from receiving any phone calls.

- Go back to the Home Screen, and take a screenshot. Press both the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button together briefly, and you will see the screen flash white for a split-second, and an image will be saved to your Photo App Camera Roll.

- Disconnect the iPhone from the charger, and lock the screen so it is dark.

- Let the iPhone sit in this ‘standby state’ for as long as possible, preferably overnight.

- In the morning, unlock the screen, and then take a screenshot of the Home Screen again.

These two screenshots will help to document how long the device was in standby mode, and how much battery percentage was used.

If you restored as new and it was working correctly, then when adding apps you started to experience problems, then I would bring it back to Apple. As far as the app, I'm not fond of apps that purport to report battery info. I have a 5s that I use extensively with iOS 8.1.2. The maximum battery usage I have is 3% per hour. I have everything turned on, push Exchange mail from work that I receive and send a great deal of email, a personal IMAP account set to push every 30 minutes, and around work have marginal LTE signal, so the phone is always working harder to get signal.

I am not doubting your statistics here about people having problems, but given the number of units sold, this percentage is in the decimal units. A recall is not going to happen. I gave you the feedback link earlier to let Apple know of your thoughts.

Batteries have a limited lifespan. They can only handle a limited number of charge cycles before they begin to lose capacity. If yours is out of warranty and doesn't qualify for the battery replacement program, then get a new battery fitted.

They did not lie. That's an average.

The primary cause of fires and explosions in phones is the use of cheap replacement batteries. Not to mention the fact that attempting the replacement yourself will permanently forfeit your ability to ever have it serviced by Apple again.

Apple does not sell iPhone parts, including batteries. The only possible sources are counterfeit parts, stolen parts, and salvaged parts. Given the re-sale value of the phone, it's not worth it to use 3rd party parts. Just get the battery replaced by Apple. They have mail in service if you don't want to drive there.

I'm afraid that if you replace the battery yourself and there is a problem, you are going to come back here wondering why Apple refuses to work on the device again. Once you open the device, you void all post-warranty support and support from the forum here. I guess you have to weigh the costs you quote earlier and the cost of a brand new phone if necessary. The iPhone 6 starts at $649 for the 16GB version.

purplepain696 wrote:

So you lose forum support if I try to replace my battery?

Yep. If you do that, it's no longer an iPhone. The hardware is in a completely unknown state. It's extremely easy to damage the phone in an attempt to service it yourself, not to mention the damage that can be done by salvaged, possibly already bad, or counterfeit parts.

It is very sad that a phone that costs what my iPhone 5 did can't make it for 1.5 years before the battery is trash. I bought apple because I was brainwashed that they were better hardware and had better support, but I have experienced just the opposite.

If the 1.5 year battery lifespan, given your usage, is a problem for you, then you should absolutely purchase extended coverage on your next phone. I'm not aware of any smartphone that comes with more than a 1 year warranty from the manufacturer. Nor am I aware of any manufacturer out there that would replace the battery at no charge after the warranty is expired.

Apple owned up to the problems with a batch of bad batteries. They even offered to reimburse customers who paid to have those batteries replaced out of warranty.

The main reason you do not hear instances about Samsung batteries is because they are user replaceable. Not sure what the prices are for replacement batteries there, but there is a cost. However, Samsung does not provide for a reduced out of warranty replacement that Apple does, and to get work done on their devices, you have to send it off to them, whereas you can walk into the Apple store and get it taken care of with your appointment. Any problem other than that battery gets you a refurbished device that comes with a 90 day warranty. Try and get that from Samsung. I know, I've had Samsung devices before. You also get software updates with the iOS devices, where Samsung Android updates come few and far between. Some of their devices won't even accept the very next version of Android as they are sold.

You are welcome to make whatever decision you want to make, as users your decision to use or not use Apple doesn't matter to us. For you, I hope you make an informed decision and not one based on the fact that a battery failed on one device. I'm not sure how you feel you did not get good service with Apple. Good luck with your phones.

ChrisJ4203 wrote:

The main reason you do not hear instances about Samsung batteries is because they are user replaceable. Not sure what the prices are for replacement batteries there, but there is a cost.

OEM batteries are generally about 40 dollars USD. That would make the iPhone battery replacement seem about right: $40 for the battery, $40 for labor.

purplepain696 wrote:

I have done all of the stuff that you have said above.

I doubt that. That procedure is not something I pulled from another source. I wrote that. Follow it exactly. Then post your screenshots here.

You may have done some of the things I mentioned, but I am skeptical that you did it in the order that I described.

purplepain696 wrote:

So you lose forum support if I try to replace my battery? I am not sure I am losing much in the way of Apple service. If it costs $80 to just replace the battery, I don't want to know what they would charge me for anything else. I am less than 6 months away from upgrading phones, and do have an early upgrade option available. I am severely disappointed that my iPhone was only usable for 1.5 years, so it makes my upgrade a hard one. I might have to try a phone that will last a little longer. Most all of my family has Samsung galaxy s4 phones, and they have been much better after this same time period. I have 2 family members that have Samsung s5 phones, but they aren't even 1 year old yet so don't know how long they will last.

It is very sad that a phone that costs what my iPhone 5 did can't make it for 1.5 years before the battery is trash. I bought apple because I was brainwashed that they were better hardware and had better support, but I have experienced just the opposite. The only thing I have been quite impressed with are these forums.

$79 for battery replacement.

$129 for a screen replacement

$269 for a whole-unit repalcement

If you void your support:

$450 to buy another 8GB iPhone

$549 to buy another 16GB iPhone

$599 to buy another 32GB iPhone

I also recommend that you get AppleCare+ on your next new iPhone. For $99, it extends support by an additional year (two years from date of purchase total), and covers up to two incidents of damage.

In my opinion, $79 to service the battery on a $600 device isn't unreasonable. If you tried to do it yourself, you'd spend about $30-40 on a battery of any quality (even though it would be non-Apple authorized). So your out of pocket cost to get Apple to do it right is about $39.

Tell me; is it worth saving $39-49 to void your warranty?

KiltedTim wrote:

purplepain696 wrote:

So you lose forum support if I try to replace my battery?

Yep. If you do that, it's no longer an iPhone. The hardware is in a completely unknown state. It's extremely easy to damage the phone in an attempt to service it yourself, not to mention the damage that can be done by salvaged, possibly already bad, or counterfeit parts.

It is very sad that a phone that costs what my iPhone 5 did can't make it for 1.5 years before the battery is trash. I bought apple because I was brainwashed that they were better hardware and had better support, but I have experienced just the opposite.

If the 1.5 year battery lifespan, given your usage, is a problem for you, then you should absolutely purchase extended coverage on your next phone. I'm not aware of any smartphone that comes with more than a 1 year warranty from the manufacturer. Nor am I aware of any manufacturer out there that would replace the battery at no charge after the warranty is expired.

Apple owned up to the problems with a batch of bad batteries. They even offered to reimburse customers who paid to have those batteries replaced out of warranty.

Man, what a horrible company! The admit their mistake, offer to do service on this units for free, and even offer to refund the money spent by people that paid for the service? Even when the end result of the service wasn't the $79 battery fee, but actually the $269 whole unit fee, if the initial report was battery failure? And they did the same for the Sleep/Wake button issue that some iPhone 5 units had?

Wow... what jerks! That really cut into my stock price share.... oh, wait, it didn't. It's gone up consistently and strongly. Imagine that.