iPhone 6 Batteries Won’t Be Replaced Free: Apple Source

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Many iPhone 6 owners have been complaining that their handsets suddenly shut down for quite some time, and earlier today, it was reported that Apple was coming to the rescue. However, an anonymous source at the iPhone maker has denied that report. The person said the company has no intention of replacing those batteries like it did for the iPhone 6s devices that have been having the same problem.

iPhone 6 struck by 30% battery bug

This week the Japanese-language website Macotakara reported that Apple was preparing to launch a battery replacement program for the iPhone 6 devices experiencing sudden shutdown problems. The website didn’t say why it believed such a program was about to be launched, but it didn’t take long for the tech blog-o-sphere to pick up on the unconfirmed report and hypothesize that the program must be in response to the sudden shutdown issues that arrived with the newest versions of iOS.

Apple Insider looked into Macotakara’s report, however, and says an unnamed inside corporate source at the company denied the existence of an impending battery replacement program for the iPhone 6. The website also checked with a number of Apple Stores to see if anyone had heard anything about such a program, but no one had.

iPhone 6 owners frustrated by battery drain

Apple was forced to launch the iPhone 6s battery replacement program this past fall by a consumer protection agency in China. The agency demanded that the program be put in place because of sudden shutdowns when the handsets reached a 30% battery charge. However, many users are frustrated, particularly iPhone 6 owners whose devices are not eligible for the free battery replacement.

That pesky 30% battery bug first appeared with iOS 10.1.1, and then came iOS 10.2, which appeared to make the problem more widespread and caused iPhone 6 owners to be caught in the net as well. Even some iPhone 6s owners are discovering that their handsets aren’t eligible for the program, highlighting just how limited the scope of the program is. Apple set a specific range of serial numbers for the phones it says are eligible for the free battery replacement, and that range appears to be quite small.

Business Insider spoke to an Apple Genius Bar worker who said that there’s a growing pile of iPhone 6 handsets coming in for battery replacements. The website suggests that perhaps there is no real battery fault with the phones and that their age is simply causing the sudden shutdowns.

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