tools, technology, work
Followers (hah!) of my/the long running frustrating iPhone 6 Plus battery saga might have noticed my unhappiness (understatement) about being told I’d have to wait 10 weeks for a new battery. How long did I actually have to wait?
10 days.
Not sure if this is a failure of logistics, or of expectation management on Apple’s part.
10 weeks.
Nice to (finally) see that Apple UK’s updated iPhone 6/7/8/X/SE battery replacement pricing – £25 (to December 18) – see https://support.apple.com/en-gb/iphone/repair/service/pricing.
The thing I’ve found most frustrating about Apple’s wee iPhone 6 battery problem is the blogosphere/applefanboy’s willingness to parrot the party line and not think critically.
Techcrunch said yesterday that replacement batteries were now available – however only in the US, and only if they’re in stock at Apple stores.
Which doesn’t help customers in the rest of the world very much.
When is a replacement programme not actually a replacement programme?
Following a fairly justified public/media backlash about how Apple handles/manages battery life on iPhone 6s, just after Christmas Apple allegedly ‘solved’ the problem with a ‘message to customers about iPhone batteries and performance‘ which ends with an offer to set up a programme to start replacing batteries at a more reasonable cost – starting at the end of January 2018. Continue reading “Apple’s tone-deaf iPhone 6 battery replacement announcement”
Arguments about Apple’s lousy iPhone batteries* have got lost in a black hole where technology writing, the blogosphere and applefanboy-ery ‘overlap’.
*not a rhetorical statement: I have a dud battery, officially confirmed by a Genius.
If you have (and still use) an iPhone 6/6s/6Plus you’ll know them as once impressive phones that are now increasingly unreliable and erratic. Lots of people are in denial about this Continue reading “Apple, ‘old’ iPhones 6s, and poor battery life”
For me the sign that autumn is over is when evening temperatures have dropped to the point where my phone battery suddenly dies on the walk home.
I do wonder what the operating window for iPhone 6 batteries actually is*. You can see support threads complaining that the phones don’t work in -5C – which is amazing as my battery life collapses when temperatures drop below 10C…
*Apparently 0C to 35C.
Do you remember the update in iOS 10.2.1 that sort-of-kinda-maybe helped with battery problems with iPhone 6s? (10.2.1 added software that monitored the battery and tried to catch situations where the power fluctuated and caused sudden unexpected shutdowns.)
iOS11 has (effectively) removed it. Thanks Apple.
Apple says iOS 10.2.1 has reduced unexpected iPhone 6s shutdown issues by 80%
If, like me, you’re in the unlucky 20% who find the upgrade to iOS 10.2.1 doesn’t really help., this just means your phone will randomly die less often. The two things that tend to lead to random iPhone deaths are cold weather and listening to Apple Music.
The real solution? Carry along a spare battery back. I’d recommend the Omaker portable charger, but they don’t seem to be available any more.
Apple says iOS 10.2.1 has reduced unexpected iPhone 6s shutdown issues by 80%
If, like me, you’re in the unlucky 20% who find the upgrade to iOS 10.2.1 doesn’t really help., this just means your phone will randomly die less often. The two things that tend to lead to random iPhone deaths are cold weather and listening to Apple Music.
The real solution? Carry along a spare battery back. I’d recommend the Omaker portable charger, but they don’t seem to be available any more.
I’ve just given up on probably my fifth or sixth attempt to get iMessage working on my MacPro. Long story: don’t bother. Short story: it’s broken. Somewhere. Continue reading “The absolute and total un-debuggability of iMessage”