In a statement released today, Apple defended the use of a battery warning message that appears when an iPhone user replaces their battery not at an Apple Store or authorized repair facility.
The tech giant says it does this to ensure device safety and performance, according to the statement. While true, the notification also likely aims to discourage iPhone owners from swapping the phone’s battery themselves, or at an unauthorized repair store, effectively hindering the third-party market’s ability to operate.
The full statement Apple sent to well-known Apple commentator Rene Ritchie (@reneritchie) regarding the notification reads as follows:
“We take the safety of our customers very seriously and want to make sure any battery replacement is done properly. There are now over 1,800 Apple authorized service providers across the US, so our customers have even more convenient access to quality repairs. Last year, we introduced a new feature to notify customers if we were unable to verify that a new, genuine battery was installed by a certified technician following Apple repair processes.
This information is there to help protect our customers from damaged, poor quality, or used batteries that can lead to safety or performance issues. This notification does not impact the customer’s ability to use the phone after an unauthorized repair.”
News broke last week, courtesy of iFixit, that if an iPhone battery is replaced either on your own or at an unauthorized repair shop, an ominous message in the Settings app reads as follows:
“Important Battery Message
Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery. Health information not available for this battery.”
This notification only appeared on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max when running iOS 12 or iOS 13, according to iFixit.
According to iFixit, all Apple batteries include an authentication feature that pairs the battery to the specific iPhone’s logic board.
It’s important to point out that Apple doesn’t disable the battery and that it does continue to work after receiving this notification, with only ‘Battery Health’ in the Settings app being no longer visible.
Source: @reneritchie Via: The Verge
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