By activating the hibernation software lock on the latest iPhones, Apple is effectively announcing a major new policy: Only Apple batteries can be installed in iPhones, and only they can.
If you replace the battery in a recent iPhone, a message will appear next to Battery Health in Settings > Battery indicating that the battery needs service. A “service” message usually indicates that the battery has degraded and needs to be replaced. However, when you put in a brand new battery, the message will still appear. The bigger problem: Our lab testing confirmed that even if you replace the original Apple battery, the phone will still display a “Service” message.
Update: Apple now pairs the screen with the iPhone logic board, too.
This is not a mistake; This is a feature Apple wants. Unless the Apple phone’s battery is verified by Apple Genius or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, the phone will never display its battery health and will always report vague, ominous issues.
Screenshot of the Service message in iPhone battery health settings.
We first saw this phenomenon in a video from The Art of Repair’s Justin, and we were able to replicate it on an iPhone XS running iOS 12 and iOS 13 beta. Replacing a new genuine Apple battery from another iPhone It said that currently this only affects iPhone XR, XS and XS Max.
In short, Apple locks the battery into the iPhone at the factory, so whenever you replace the battery yourself (even if you’re using an original Apple battery from another iPhone), it will still show you the “Service” message . The only way to fix this problem is to (you guessed it) pay Apple to replace your iPhone battery. Presumably their internal diagnostic software flips the magic bit that resets this “service” indicator. But Apple refuses to make the software available to anyone but themselves and Apple Authorized Service Providers.
Our friend Justin pointed out that the battery itself has a Texas Instruments microcontroller that provides information to the iPhone such as battery capacity, temperature, and the time it takes to fully discharge. Apple uses its own proprietary version, but nearly all smartphone batteries have some version of this chip. The chip used in the new iPhone’s battery contains an authentication feature that stores information about the battery’s pairing with the iPhone’s logic board. Simply put, if the battery does not have the unique authentication key that the iPhone’s logic board expects, you will receive a “Service” message.
Documentation for the TI microcontroller responsible for locking the iPhone battery.
This is a bad choice for usersJust because a silicon part has a certain function doesn’t mean Apple has to use it. For years, iPod audio chipsets included AM/FM functionality that Apple never used. This Service light is the equivalent of the Check Oil light, and only your Ford dealer can reset this light, even if you change the oil yourself.
Technically, it is possible to restore battery health functionality by removing the microcontroller chip from the original battery and carefully soldering it into the new battery you are replacing, but the process is not for the faint of heart, and it is Unreasonable request for any repair , let alone something as simple as replacing the battery.
Fortunately, your replacement battery will continue to work perfectly, and you’ll get all the benefits of a new battery – for example, we’ve confirmed that this won’t limit your iPhone’s performance on a healthy battery. But you won’t be able to easily see the health of your battery and know when it’s time to replace it.
Then again, this is a big problem for iPhone users, who may not be aware of this new, sneaky lock, which will undoubtedly cause confusion: they’ll replace their own batteries and notice the “Service” message, and then Starting to solve the problem is not there.
Apple is hiding your battery’s health dataTo make matters worse, starting with iOS 10, Apple has blocked third-party Apple Cell Phone batteryhealth apps from accessing most of your battery’s details, including cycle count, which is key information that tells you whether your battery is on the verge of degradation. However, you can fix this problem by plugging your iPhone into your Mac and installing a Mac app like Coconut Battery. Even if your iPhone refuses to show this information in settings, it will display battery health statistics.
This is an ongoing trend and Apple is making repairs increasingly difficult. Back in 2016, they completely bricked previously repaired iPhones, showing an opaque “Error 53” if you replaced the Touch ID home button because they were paired to the motherboard. In fact, DIY replacement of the Home button will still cause the Touch ID function to failonality completely ceasing to exist. More recently, Apple started disabling TrueTone on replacement screens, even if you’re using a genuine Apple screen. Sound familiar?
An iPhone XS showing a “Service” message when another genuine Apple battery is swapped in.This pattern of behavior proves, once again, that Apple is out to stop all repairs performed by anyone except Apple themselves. The company claims that using third-party components can compromise the integrity of an iPhone’s functionality, but when genuine Apple parts have the same problem, then clearly it’s not really about third-party components at all: it’s about preventing you from having any autonomy with a device you supposedly own.
You bought it, you own it, you should be able to fix it. It’s that simple. Pairing batteries to iPhones is a gross overreach. It’s yet another instance of purchasing a product, and not being able to fully utilize it—like leasing a car, except you’re paying full price for it.Fortunately, this is where Right to Repair legislation can step in and save the day. It’s trivial for manufacturers to lock down parts and tie them together, making it easy for them to prevent anyone repairing a device other than themselves for the sake of profits. Let’s do something about it: call your representatives and go to their town halls—state legislators are in recess and visiting their districts. They would love to talk to you.
Update! Apple has issued a response to this, in a statement given to iMore:
“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 that can lead to safety or performance issues. This notification does not impact the customer’s ability to use the phone after an unauthorized repair.”
That last sentence has us a bit perplexed. We believe that the “ability to use the phone” involves being able to see the battery’s health information so that you’ll know when it’s time to replace the Apple phone battery again. It ‘d be like driving a car without an oil dipstick—how are you supposed to know if you need to add oil?