Last week, it was found that if an iPhone XS, XS Max, or XR gets a battery replacement anywhere other than Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, the "Battery Health" feature in iOS will put up a warning that reads "Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery. Health information is now available for this battery." (via iFixit) This caused frustration among some who thought Apple was trying to force consumers to pay it to replace iPhone batteries, and today Apple responded to the situation.
Apple says that with the warning that iOS can't verify if a battery inside an iPhone is a genuine from Apple, it's focused on customer safety. The company explains that the info is there to protect consumers from damaged, low quality, or used batteries that could lead to safety or performance issues.
Apple goes on to say that this alert doesn't affect the person's ability to use their iPhone after the battery repair.
Here's the full statement on the situation that Apple provided to The Verge:
"We take the safety of our customers very seriously and want to make sure any battery replacement is done properly. There are now over 1,800 Apple authorized service providers across the US so our customers have even more convenient access to quality repairs.
"Last year we introduced a new feature to notify customers if we were unable to verify that a new, genuine battery was installed by a certified technician following Apple repair processes. This information is there to help protect our customers from damaged, poor quality, or used batteries which can lead to safety or performance issues. This notification does not impact the customer's ability to use the phone after an unauthorized repair."
It's said that a micro-controller inside the iPhone is what's causing the Battery Health feature to put up the warning about being unable to verify that the battery inside is a genuine Apple battery. Only authorized technicians can configure this micro-controller, so if someone who isn't an authorized tech performs a battery replacement this warning will appear, even if a genuine Apple battery is used.
The Battery Health feature inside iOS is helpful because it can help you quickly determine the maximum capacity of the battery compared to when it was new. That info can help you decide when it's time to get a replacement battery. If Battery Health won't show you the capacity of your battery, it becomes difficult to know what's going on with the battery inside your device, especially for those folks who buy a used iPhone from a third-party seller.
This Battery Health warning can be frustrating if you're the owner of an iPhone with a battery that can't be verified as genuine. At the same time, though, Apple feels that this is a serious safety issue when dealing with batteries, and so it wants users to be sure that the battery inside their phone won't harm their iPhone or any people.
Where do you stand on this issue?
