Like little soldiers all in a row, all of the major tech websites are reporting on the latest iFixit discovery about the iPhone XS, XR, and XS Max. Apparently, Apple is gimping iPhone battery repair by third-party repair services. The iPhone battery repair error appears in both iOS 12 and iOS 13 beta.
According to iFixit, if you perform an iPhone battery repair or replacement outside of Apple’s repair facilities, you will get a message stating your battery needs to be serviced. This message will appear even if you use a genuine Apple battery. If you go into your battery health settings when the service message shows up, you’ll see another message that reads:
“Important Battery Message” that reads “Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery. Health information not available for this battery.”
That all being said, performing an iPhone battery repair outside of an authorized service center doesn’t mean your iPhone will stop working. The new battery you have installed will work just fine, as will the iPhone. The problem is, you will be presented with the warnings going forward, which is annoying.
But are we really surprised that Apple would do this? The company has had a track record of discouraging users from repairing their own Apple products. They even run a certification program for Apple accessories in which they charge manufactures for certification. That cost is then passed on to the consumer and is why you find Apple accessories cost more than others.
This isn’t to say that we condone Apple’s methods, but this latest form of locking down its ecosystem comes as no surprise to us. We think users should be able to get iPhone battery repair from anyone they see fit, but Apple sees it otherwise. The company isn’t technically stopping you from replacing or repairing your battery, they’re just annoying you in hopes you’ll visit them to remove the messages.