Leaked internal documents show Apple will repair iPhones with third-party batteries
If you opted to replace your iPhone battery on the cheap -- avoiding Apple and opting for a third-party instead -- on a subsequent trip to your nearest Genius Bar you will have found that you were ineligible for repairs.
It did not matter if your problem was in no way related to the battery, Apple took a hard line: if you had replaced the battery yourself, you were getting no further help. But leaked internal documents show that the company is softening. Genius Bar and Apple Authorized Service Provider technicians are now permitted to carry out work on phones with non-Apple batteries.
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The news was first reported by French site iGeneration, and shared by MacRumors after it saw the internal Apple documents. The change in policy appears to have come into force on February 28, with technicians being told to ignore the presence of a third-party battery if spotted. Technicians may also, for the standard cost of an Apple battery, replace the third-party component with an official one.
There is also another option available to technicians at their discretion. In certain instances -- such as when too much adhesive is present, or batteries are broken -- a new iPhone may be issued for just the cost of a battery replacement.
The new policy is in effect globally, and it has been welcomed by iFixit's Kay-Kay Clapp:
This decision proves that now, more than ever, the third-party repair ecosystem is an integral part of maintaining Apple's high-quality customer experience. If Apple is getting enough third-party repaired phones for a policy change, they clearly don't have the reach or capacity to maintain all the iPhones that they've sold. All of us, including Apple, benefit from the service provided by the repair community.
Image credit: Poravute Siriphiroon / Shutterstock