{"id":22637,"date":"2021-01-30T03:47:07","date_gmt":"2021-01-30T03:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rbsitsoftwaresolution.com\/blog\/i-paid-apple-69-to-replace-my-3-year-old-iphone-battery-heres-what-happened.html"},"modified":"2021-01-30T03:47:07","modified_gmt":"2021-01-30T03:47:07","slug":"i-paid-apple-69-to-replace-my-3-year-old-iphone-battery-heres-what-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/i-paid-apple-69-to-replace-my-3-year-old-iphone-battery-heres-what-happened.html","title":{"rendered":"I paid Apple $69 to replace my 3-year-old iPhone battery. Here’s what happened"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"iphone-6s-battery-20\"<\/span><\/span>
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iPhone batteries can be replaced, but it’s pretty complicated. Better to let an expert do it, especially if the price is reasonable.<\/p>\n

<\/span>
\n Stephen Beacham\/CNET
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My iPhone X<\/span> just celebrated its third birthday, which is significant for a couple reasons. First, it’s the longest I’ve ever held onto a single phone; usually I upgrade every year or two. Second, like any three-year-old model, its battery ain’t what it used to be.<\/p>\n

Thus I found myself thinking about a new phone, an extremely common reaction to poor battery life. Check out the results of a Twitter poll I conducted recently:<\/p>\n

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Quick poll: What’s the single biggest reason you’d buy a new phone right now? (I’m intentionally not including an “all of the above” option… curious to know your one main driver.)<\/p>\n

\u2014 The Cheapskate (@cheapskateblog) January 29, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n

The thing is, I really like my iPhone X. It’s plenty fast and fits perfectly in my pocket. It takes great photos, including portraits. It doesn’t support 5G, but so what? I don’t need it, at least right now.<\/p>\n

Best of all, it’s paid for. So do I really have to buy a whole new phone just to get a new battery? It’s not like I can pop the back off the X and swap out the old one. Not easily, anyway — I tried this delicate surgery a few times with earlier-generation iPhones and was never successful.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong> Is replacing your iPhone battery worth it? Here’s what you should consider<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, Apple offers in-store and mail-in battery-replacement service. And most local phone-repair shops will do this as well. Because I’m the Cheapskate<\/a>, of course I shopped around first. Apple would obviously be the most expensive option (because it’s Apple!), so I asked for quotes from three nearby shops. To my surprise, the rates ranged from $89 to $129 — on the high side, I thought, but still far cheaper than buying a new phone.<\/p>\n

Then I checked with Apple, and surprise, surprise: $69. (Prices vary depending on age and model; Apple charges only $49 for the iPhone SE, iPhone 8 and most earlier models.)<\/p>\n

Get all the latest deals delivered to your inbox. It’s FREE!<\/p>\n

The other win: I felt a little more comfortable with Apple doing the work. A few years ago I hired a local shop to replace my daughter’s phone battery; it came back with a broken front camera. Around the same time, my sister used a different shop for a replacement battery; a couple months later, the phone started coming apart due to faulty glue.<\/p>\n

This is not<\/em> an indictment of phone-repair businesses, merely a bit of anecdotal experience. And the better pricing available from Apple proper made this a no-contest choice, at least for me.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong> Does fast charging affect battery life? 6 phone battery questions, answered<\/span><\/p>\n

My date with Apple<\/h2>\n

Using Apple’s online scheduling tool, I quickly and easily set up an appointment at my local Apple Store. I was actually able to get a same-day appointment on a weekday. (Your mileage may vary, of course, same as with this entire experience.)<\/p>\n

When I arrived at this formerly bustling store, I discovered that it had two queues set up outside: one for online-purchase pickups, one for Genius Bar appointments. Due to COVID, it’s no longer a retail operation, having been condensed down to about eight walk-up windows.<\/p>\n

A security guard checked me in, and although there were about four people ahead of me in line, I waited only about five minutes. Once I got to the window, a friendly employee ran a few diagnostics on my phone, verified that it would benefit from a new battery, and sent me on my way.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong>\u00a06 easy ways to make your phone last as long as possible before you need to replace it<\/span><\/p>\n

I was told the repair would take about two hours; I was to return at precisely the time given, at which point I could skip the line and go straight to a pickup window.<\/p>\n

And that’s exactly how it went down. The entire transaction was smooth and efficient, and $69 later my iPhone X feels like it just came out of the box — at least from a battery perspective. Normally, by 5 p.m. I’d be down to about 10% remaining. Yesterday, I still had 55% — at 8 p.m.<\/p>\n

Will this buy me another three years? Quite possibly. Even if I keep the phone just another year or two, I think this was the smart move.<\/p>\n

So before you toss out your old phone because of a failing battery, I highly recommend investigating your battery-replacement options.<\/p>\n

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CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow him\u00a0on Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>. You can also sign up for deal texts<\/a> delivered right to your phone. Find more great buys on the\u00a0CNET Deals page<\/a>\u00a0and check out our\u00a0CNET Coupons page<\/a>\u00a0for the latest\u00a0Walmart discount codes<\/a>,\u00a0eBay coupons<\/a>,\u00a0Samsung promo codes<\/a>\u00a0and even more from\u00a0hundreds of other online stores<\/a>. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page<\/span>. <\/p>\n