iPhone SE Battery Issue and Concerns About Returning It

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Oubadah

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#226281 29-Dec-2017 20:14

I purchased my 64GB iPhone SE in March this year. In November, it started having battery issues. When the battery dropped below ~20%, the level meter would start dropping extremely fast (like 1% every 2-3 minutes while the screen is on).

Also, when the level got down into the ~5% range the phone would become unusably slow, which made no sense to me at the time, but now I think we all know why.

After several complete discharge/recharge cycles, this behavior has improved somewhat, but the battery life still seems to be lacking and the reported discharge rate is not at all linear. Unfortunately the phone is now "good enough" that it's hard to justify returning it. Maybe I still will (because I'm running out of warranty), but I have some questions:

1) Will Apple reject it if the battery is only iffy and not unambiguously messed up?

2) Will I get my phone back, or will they send me a refurb? This is a big deal to me because my phone has a flawless screen, and it's the older, superior part. I tried to replace this phone with a 128GB version when that came out, but the newer unit had a noticeably inferior LCD panel (worse blacks and colors), and a minor defect. I have also bought two 32GB SEs for my parents and both of them had the inferior panel and major backlight bleed defects, so I really want to hold onto my unit.

scuwp

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#1926773 29-Dec-2017 22:33

1) Why not ring them and ask? Only Apple can answer that question

2) IME they don't repair, you will get a refurb

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Batman

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#1926778 29-Dec-2017 23:26

a refurb is better than new apparently.

RunningMan

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#1926810 30-Dec-2017 08:09

The only actual iPhone repair (i.e. non replacement) that Apple Australia do is a battery replacement - usually this is an out of warranty replacement for failing batteries. Details here https://support.apple.com/en-au/iphone/repair/battery-power

This service is supposedly only for within Australia, but since Apple ship your phone out of NZ if you contact them directly (rather than a local AASP). you can ask for this - they will try and talk you out of it, but I can confirm I have had an iPhone battery replacement this way (out of warranty). The phone was collected, and the same phone returned with a new battery about a week later.

Given they can do it for out of warranty, presumably the same process can be requested for in warranty / Applecare / CGA repairs also.

RunningMan

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#1926811 30-Dec-2017 08:16

Batman:

a refurb is better than new apparently.

Except the replacement may have the model of screen that the OP doesn't want.

Having said that, of all the ones I've seen, you couldn't tell the difference between a new one and a service replacement. I'd expect some are new, and some may be refurb, but they all look brand new.

CYaBro

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#1926814 30-Dec-2017 08:37

Have you tried doing a factory reset on it?
It could be a software issue and not hardware at all.
That’s one of the first things Apple will do anyway.

AASPs in NZ do not send iPhones to Australia for repair.
If they can do a same unit repair that is always the recommended repair option by Apple.
Parts that can be replaced in iPhones, at the AASP location, include the battery, speaker and rear camera.
If it’s something else then the iPhone gets sent to the Apple service centre in Auckland.
They can do screen replacements there but generally anything else would result in a whole unit replacement.

All whole unit replacements always have brand new housing, brand new display and brand new battery.
The rest of the components inside could be brand new or remanufactured.

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

RunningMan

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#1926816 30-Dec-2017 08:44

CYaBro: [snip]
Parts that can be replaced in iPhones, at the AASP location, include the battery, speaker and rear camera.

Is that a recent thing - never heard of it as an option before?

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Pumpedd

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#1926822 30-Dec-2017 08:48

Complete battery discharges are NOT recommended. It reduces the life of the battery.

CYaBro

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#1926859 30-Dec-2017 09:47

RunningMan:
CYaBro: [snip]
Parts that can be replaced in iPhones, at the AASP location, include the battery, speaker and rear camera.

Is that a recent thing - never heard of it as an option before?

Nope. It’s been that way since we became an AASP, which is almost 3 years now.

AASPs will also replace the adhesive holding the display in, on iPhone 6s, 7, 8, and X.
We have a special press that the iPhone is put into, once reassembled, to make sure it’s fitted correctly.
So for those models that have it, the water resistance is restored.

We’ve seen a ton of iPhones come through our workshop that have been opened by a third party, for whatever reason, and that adhesive is never replaced.
I wonder if they are telling the customer about that?!

Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.