Since the launch of iOS 12, repair techs have noticed a disturbing trend. Any time a battery was replaced on an iPhone XS, XS Max or XR, battery health diagnostics would report that the installed battery was unable to be verified as an authentic Apple battery, and the battery health info would be disabled. This happened even when the installed battery was a genuine OEM Apple battery from another iPhone.
If you thought Apple had stopped attacking independent repair, we have some bad news for you: they now appear to be aggressively locking down even the most basic battery repairs by pairing your battery to your phone.
Justin Ashford from YouTube channel The Art of Repair recently discovered that iPhone batteries have a battery fuel gauge that can serialize the battery to a particular iPhone, making it impossible to swap out the battery while retaining the iPhone battery health diagnostics. We spoke with Justin to get his thoughts on the matter and what it might mean for iPhones and other Apple devices in the future.
7 Comments
Does this mean CoconutBattery for iOS will no longer read battery data on these iPhones?
I’d guess the same tech will appear soon in Mac laptop batteries too b/c they store a lot more energy and are much more of a fire hazard (and are easier to replace with 3rd party products) than an iPhone battery.
rockjapan - Reply
Like it's the first of that kind of things by them…
Vassilis Kipouros - Reply
Apple could make money if they let people repair their phones but sold the iPhone parts directly on their website. Guess there just to close minded to do so.
[deleted] - Reply
I’ve just brought my Galaxy SIIx out of mothballs, slid a new battery into its slot and transferred my SIM into it. Works great and it’s all the phone I’ll ever need. If it ever quits, I still have a GT-S5830 which actually has an FM radio in it. Meanwhile, back to making $$$ with MacBook repairs
Thomas Daniel - Reply
screw Apple.
Mr. Exploding Kitten - Reply