iPhones with aftermarket batteries installed by third-party repair shops are now eligible for service at the Genius Bar and Apple Authorized Service Providers, according to an internal Apple document obtained by MacRumors from two reliable sources. The change was first reported by French blog iGeneration.
This is significant news for iPhone repairs, as the Genius Bar and AASPs were previously instructed to deny service of any kind for an iPhone with a third-party battery, regardless of the circumstances.
If the repair is unrelated to the battery, the Genius Bar and AASPs are now instructed to ignore the third-party battery and proceed with service as normal, according to Apple’s internal document. This could include repairs to the display, logic board, microphones, and so forth, with normal fees applying.
If the repair is related to the battery itself, the Genius Bar and AASPs are now permitted to replace the third-party battery with an official Apple battery for the standard fee. Before starting the repair, the Genius Bar must drain the third-party battery to less than 60 percent of a charge.
If the iPhone’s battery tabs are broken, missing, or have excessive adhesive, the Genius Bar and AASPs are permitted to replace the entire iPhone for only the cost of a battery replacement at their discretion.
The updated guidelines went into effect Thursday and should apply worldwide. Apple will still decline service for iPhones with third-party logic boards, enclosures, microphones, Lightning connectors, headphone jacks, volume and sleep/wake buttons, TrueDepth sensor arrays, and certain other components.
Apple similarly loosened its repair policy for iPhones with third-party displays back in February 2017.
This article, "Apple Says iPhones With Third-Party Batteries Now Eligible for Repairs" first appeared on MacRumors.com
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