iPhone 6 Battery Replaced

Paid $50 today to have my battery traded out, after five years of use (and literally hundreds of cycles). For the past month my phone has been getting fruitier and fruitier -- refusing to recharge until, suddenly, the phone shows 100% charged. Or last week, the phone went from 100% to 28% during a one-hour lunch. Normal charge and discharge times were becoming unpredictable, IOW.

Apple tech support, or more specifically Best Buy's Geek Squad authorized Apple support, verified these were signs of a failing battery. They were able to get me in right away, and the price was a lot less than a new phone. Took an hour.

Happiness reigns.

I can't believe a tech lover like you is using such an old phone.

I used an iPhone 4S for three or four years and the battery was getting weak. I bought a battery and a pair of screws for about $15 and spent fifteen minutes changing it. Piece of cake. That was before they started gluing everything into one clump of unworkable-on stuff.

Several days ago, while doing some deep cleaning in preparation for our exit next week, I ran across a remote control for the garage door opener. I remembered finding the remote on the counter when we bought the house twenty years ago, but I never used the device, so it immediately went into "the drawer" (you know the one I'm talking about. I believe they originate in another dimension).

As the house was only two years old when we bought it, I assume that the remote had its original-when-new battery in it. It is a 9V Eveready Heavy Duty. And the remote still works. With a twenty-two-year-old battery, it still works. And there is absolutely no leakage on the battery. Very surprising. Big deal? Not in the least. But surprising all the same.

In just over 2 years, my "new" iPhone 6 battery has started acting exactly like the original battery it came with -- battery drains in less than two hours of use.

I suspect the BestBuy Geek Squad replaced my battery in 2019 with a used one, not a new one.

I have an appointment tomorrow with the real Apple Store Genius Bar. We'll see if it was a defective battery, or whether something in my phone is really power hungry. I suspect the former, because initially the "new" battery was just fine.

BTW, I'm doing a deep cycle right now to see if that helps. This type of battery isn't supposed to have any 'memory effect' but you never know.

_Howard wrote:

I can't believe a tech lover like you is using such an old phone.

Why not? It works fine, looks like new, and none of the newer phones have any new features I want. And... the battery is replaceable in this model (the last one that was!)

"Memory effect" looking likely. Between 6:00 and 7:15 the battery charge went from 100% to 41%.

Since 7:15 p-- a half hour ago -- we've hung steady at 41%.

Held steady at 41% for a couple hours, then I went to bed.  It was dead in the morning.  Charged it up again (cold boot), turned it on, watched the battery indicator plummet from 100% to 94% to 91, 86, 71....

Took it into Apple.  They ran diagnostics, verified the battery was bad.

$50, one hour, 90-day warranty.

If the phone costs me $25/yr in batteries that's not a deal breaker.  Hopefully this one will last a little longer.

NoCoPilot wrote:

Hopefully this one will last a little longer.

Lasted from November 2021 until June 2023, nineteen months. Battery cost has gone up to $60 and they seem to be getting harder to find.

This may be my last replacement.

_Howard wrote:

As the house was only two years old when we bought it, I assume that the remote had its original-when-new battery in it. It is a 9V Eveready Heavy Duty.  And the remote still works. With a twenty-two-year-old battery, it still works. And there is absolutely no leakage on the battery. Very surprising. Big deal? Not in the least. But surprising all the same.

Yesterday I needed a stopwatch for something, and pulled out my old LCD stopwatch from, oh, I'd guess 1986? I've never replaced the battery in it... and it was dead.

Replaced the 357 button battery this morning and it works! It's been at least five years since I used the stopwatch, but it was working when I put it away.