Apple has announced that it will offer a refund of 60 euros to anyone who replaced the battery of their iPhone 6 or later models out of warranty between January 1 and December 28, 2017. The money will be paid to those who made the replacement through an Apple Store, an Apple Repair Center, or an Apple Authorized Service Center. The 60 euros will be credited to the credit card that was used to pay for the battery replacement service, or through other refund systems.
To get the refund, the affected people will have to wait to be contacted directly by Apple via email. The company expects to complete the communication work by July 27th. Those who do not receive an email will be able to contact Apple support starting in August and will be asked to prove that they have replaced the battery in an authorized center.
Apple's initiative is part of the program announced at the end of 2017 for the replacement at more advantageous prices than usual of the worn-out batteries of iPhones from 6 onwards, with a cost of 29 euros instead of the classic 89 euros. The reduction, in effect until the end of the year, was decided by Apple following accusations of deliberately slowing down iPhones with worn-out batteries without notifying users, who could therefore end up with temporarily slower smartphones without knowing why. The story had rekindled the widespread theories on the so-called “planned obsolescence”, the practice – widespread above all in the technological field – of determining the duration of a product in order to limit it to a predetermined period in order to induce consumers to purchase its next version. The case has cost Apple various legal initiatives and government investigations by some countries.
At the end of March, Apple also released a new update to iOS, the operating system for iPhones, which offers clearer information on the battery status of your smartphone.
