Apple’s most recent support announcement is good news for iPhone 6 owners. The free battery repair programme covers both iPhone 6 Plus as well as iPhone 6S.

Phone issues

What prompted Apple to launch this programme? The reason is that users started to experience issues with the screen many months ago. The two most common problems are screen flickering and user interaction when using multi-touch. These issues only occur for owners of iPhone 6 Plus and 6S devices that have dropped their phones on repeated occasions. This manhandling has affected the battery, which in turn affects the screen performance. Apple found that the issue on iPhone 6S only occurs for phones manufactured between September and October 2015. In addition, not all phones are affected, only the ones in a certain serial number range. Apple has therefore decided to offer a replacement programme to affected users. The company clearly wants to avoid bad publicity following the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 scandal.

Battery replacement programme

The company hasn’t specified the exact amount of the repair fee in New Zealand. However, it recommends a repair fee of about NZ$220 in other markets, so it’s likely that Kiwis will receive the same amount. Apple will reimburse users who have already paid for such a service up til the recommended repair fee.

Requirements

The following requirements must be met according to Apple’s support page in order to participate in the programme:

• Screen not damaged or broken.
• Phone is in working condition except for the reported issues.
• Sale occurred within three years for iPhone 6S and five years for iPhone 6 Plus.
• Serial number within range (6S only).

What to do?

Please visit an authorised Apple service provider that will check whether you’re eligible for a replacement. You should be eligible as long as you fulfil the requirements above.