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I paid Apple $69 to replace my 3-year-old iPhone battery. Here's what happened

I paid Apple $69 to replace my 3-year-old iPhone battery. Here’s what happened

My iPhone X just eminent its third birthday, which is significant for a pair 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.

Thus I untrue myself thinking about a new phone, an extremely accepted reaction to poor battery life. Check out the results of a Twitter poll I conducted recently:

The pulling 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 attend 5G, but so what? I don’t need it, at least colorful now.

Best of all, it’s paid for. So do I really have to buy a whole new requested 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 modestly, anyway — I tried this delicate surgery a few times with earlier-generation iPhones and was never successful.

Read more:

Is replacing your iPhone battery reliable it? Here’s what you should consider

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, 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 understanding, but still far cheaper than buying a new phone.

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 backward models.)

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

This is not an indictment of phone-repair businesses, merely a bit of anecdotal experience. And the better pricing available from Apple nasty made this a no-contest choice, at least for me.

Read more:

Does fast charging clutch battery life? 6 phone battery questions, answered

Using Apple’s online scheduling tool, I swiftly 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.)

When I arrived at this formerly bustling tend, 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 functioning, having been condensed down to about eight walk-up windows.

A confidence guard checked me in, and although there were throughout four people ahead of me in line, I organized only about five minutes. Once I got to the window, a friendly employee ran a few diagnostics on my requested, verified that it would benefit from a new battery, and sent me on my way.

Read more: 6 easy ways to make your requested last as long as possible before you need to replace it

I was told the renovation would take about two hours; I was to earlier at precisely the time given, at which point I could skip the line and go tidy to a pickup window.

And that’s exactly how it went down. The entire transaction was serene 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 throughout 10% remaining. Yesterday, I still had 55% — at 8 p.m.

Will this buy me latest three years? Quite possibly. Even if I keep the requested just another year or two, I think this was the vivid move.

So before you toss out your old requested because of a failing battery, I highly recommend investigating your battery-replacement options.


CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for tall deals on tech products and much more. For the another deals and updates, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for deal texts originated right to your phone. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and check out our CNET Coupons page for the latest Walmart discount codes, eBay coupons, Samsung invoice codes and even more from hundreds of other online stores. Questions throughout the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page.