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t0m3k

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2012
38
16
My current battery health is at 79%, but I'm slowly seeing that it's starting to drain a bit quickly. Once I charge it, I tend to put the iPhone in Lower Power Mode. I'd like to keep this model as long as I can, would it be wise to have Apple replace the battery?
Looking at their website the replacement would be $49 + tax.

Any thoughts?
 

3SQ Machine

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2019
354
203
I did it with my 6S+. It was $29 then and my battery was 81%.

It made the battery 19% better. Go figure.

In real world, it didn't "feel" much better--not like a new phone good battery life.

Within a year I upgraded to an XS Max.
 

t0m3k

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2012
38
16
I did it with my 6S+. It was $29 then and my battery was 81%.

It made the battery 19% better. Go figure.

In real world, it didn't "feel" much better--not like a new phone good battery life.

Within a year I upgraded to an XS Max.

How do you like the Xs Max, worth buying it new now?
 

3SQ Machine

macrumors 6502
Dec 8, 2019
354
203
How do you like the Xs Max, worth buying it new now?

I like it, overall, but this particular iPhone "X" line of phones (and I would lump the 11 into this since it's the same form factor) have distinct pluses and minuses so be prepared. I knew that going in, but really wanted a better camera and this one was it.

The big pluses are obviously the camera is a massive step up, the screen is so much more detailed and watching movies full screen is EXCELLENT. With the great screen + real stereo separation with the speakers, it's a massive improvement. It also records video in stereo which is cool and the thing gets LOUD if you need it to.

But I find the phone not as "user friendly" as the 6S+ for a lot of reasons. Losing touch id and the home button is a big letdown. While, I knew that going in, whatever "security" Apple claims is BS because I'm punching in my numeric code more than I ever did with touch id.

But besides that, the home button was a really useful feature for switching/exiting apps and the "gestures" are piss poor substitutes in my opinion. Hell even doing the basic hard reset on this thing is a royal PITA with the multiple "volume up/down then hold side button" crap. Only works half the time.

Now maybe you don't use this a lot in your phone workflow so it won't be a big loss and sometimes face id is good for logging into apps so you'll prefer it.

I would absolutely check one out in the store along with the 8 and maybe wait for the SE or see what might be coming with touch id again before making up your mind.
 
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nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,670
I like it, overall, but this particular iPhone "X" line of phones (and I would lump the 11 into this since it's the same form factor) have distinct pluses and minuses so be prepared. I knew that going in, but really wanted a better camera and this one was it.

The big pluses are obviously the camera is a massive step up, the screen is so much more detailed and watching movies full screen is EXCELLENT. With the great screen + real stereo separation with the speakers, it's a massive improvement. It also records video in stereo which is cool and the thing gets LOUD if you need it to.

But I find the phone not as "user friendly" as the 6S+ for a lot of reasons. Losing touch id and the home button is a big letdown. While, I knew that going in, whatever "security" Apple claims is BS because I'm punching in my numeric code more than I ever did with touch id.

But besides that, the home button was a really useful feature for switching/exiting apps and the "gestures" are piss poor substitutes in my opinion. Hell even doing the basic hard reset on this thing is a royal PITA with the multiple "volume up/down then hold side button" crap. Only works half the time.

Now maybe you don't use this a lot in your phone workflow so it won't be a big loss and sometimes face id is good for logging into apps so you'll prefer it.

I would absolutely check one out in the store along with the 8 and maybe wait for the SE or see what might be coming with touch id again before making up your mind.

I'm convinced the X gestures are supposed to "look cool" to people but are not exactly a hallmark of intuitive. I got them enabled on my home-button equipped iPad and still can't switch between open apps properly or enable the recent switcher properly. 99% the time it just takes me home. When they do work they take longer than tapping the home button and leave large nasty swipe marks on the screen. I hate looking through fingerprints.

What really sucks is my mom upgraded to a 11 Pro and they apparently disabled the back swipe to go back feature. At least in photos it just didn't work. Kept switching instead between photos in photo view or between month, for you, all photos, etc in normal view.
 

jschnee21

macrumors regular
Sep 26, 2018
166
79
It’s definitely worth replacing the battery, but on iOS 13, 6s devices still use battery pretty fast (I have two 6s’es, XSM, and 11).

We’ve replaced batteries in our 6s’es twice now over their lifetimes. One was completely replaced after they broke it (replacing the battery).

Regardless, 6s battery life will never be what it used to be under iOS 11 & 12. Reluctantly my wife has finally agreed that she needs to upgrade to something newer later this year (2020).

The Apple Store will likely try and talk you out of replacing the battery. But they will do it if your persistent.
 

nickdalzell1

macrumors 68030
Dec 8, 2019
2,787
1,670
My 6S on 13 still gets two days of battery time. Unlike most of the Android stuff which barely made 8 hours and was worse if you had no signal. My 3GS got a day and a half when new.
 

t0m3k

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2012
38
16
So, I went to the Apple store to get the battery replacement. However, during the diagnosis the tech found out that some sensor in the phone was bad, and they offered me a "NEW" iPhone. Same model, just "NEW" to me. I assume it is a refurb rather than a "Brand New."

What the best way to maintain battery health in this "New" iPhone?
 
Last edited:

tonybarnaby

macrumors 68020
Dec 3, 2017
2,385
1,741
My 6S on 13 still gets two days of battery time. Unlike most of the Android stuff which barely made 8 hours and was worse if you had no signal. My 3GS got a day and a half when new.
You sure love to bring Android into everything you post, huh? Getting 2 days on a 6s means you are an extremely light user. 6s battery was pretty weak when brand new as it is.
 
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kevink2

macrumors 68000
Nov 2, 2008
1,856
303
So, I went to the Apple store to get the battery replacement. However, during the diagnosis the tech found out that some sensor in the phone was bad, and they offered me a "NEW" iPhone. Same model, just "NEW" to me. I assume it is a refurb rather than a "Brand New."

What the best way to maintain battery health in this "New" iPhone?

Was it the same price as the battery replacement would have been?

Apple couldn't remove the battery from my X (screw apparently stripped, had to happen either at store or at factory), and they offered a replacement X for $500+ . Which I was not prepared to do for a phone that didn't even support all the bands T-Mobile uses. A couple days later I decided that I could try trading in the phone toward an 11. Cheaper this way than the replacement of the X
 

mag33

Suspended
Sep 6, 2019
290
311
Battery in my 6 was basically done and dusted at 92-94% capacity. Did Apple kill it with their OS updates? Because I don't think I damaged it and it shouldve been lasting much longer at over 90% capacity.
 

t0m3k

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 30, 2012
38
16
Was it the same price as the battery replacement would have been?

Apple couldn't remove the battery from my X (screw apparently stripped, had to happen either at store or at factory), and they offered a replacement X for $500+ . Which I was not prepared to do for a phone that didn't even support all the bands T-Mobile uses. A couple days later I decided that I could try trading in the phone toward an 11. Cheaper this way than the replacement of the X

Same price, and I also had an Apple GC for $25, applied that, final price $29.
 
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