Shocking current-affairs news: Cupertino idiot-tax operation hits resistance over harsh repair policy
Apple appears to be discouraging owners of recent iPhones from having device batteries serviced by a third-party repair service, an exercise in market control that looks ill-timed amid growing scrutiny of potential anti-competitive moves by tech giants and pushback against limitations on repair rights.
According to equipment repair nerve-center iFixit and Justin Ashford, who runs The Art of Repair channel on YouTube, third-party battery replacement in an iPhone XR, XS, or XS Max running iOS 12 or iOS 13 beta leads to the presentation of a "Service" message in the Battery Health sub-menu that's part of the fondleslab's Battery settings menu.
This message urges the iPhone owner to have the newly installed battery replaced – which Apple advises should be done only through an Apple Store or authorized service provider due to potential safety issues – even if an Apple-supplied battery is installed by a third-party.
"Apple is locking batteries to their iPhones at the factory, so whenever you replace the battery yourself – even if you’re using a genuine Apple battery from another iPhone – it will still give you the 'Service' message," wrote Craig Lloyd, staff writer for iFixit.
"The only way around this is – you guessed it – paying Apple money to replace your iPhone battery for you."