Question about battery replacement. What are my options?

[definitive]

I don't live close to an Apple store. Sending it in would take up at least a week to two weeks, meanwhile I would be left without a spare phone. Going to an authorized repair center such as BestBuy is a no-go, because they won't service my phone due to a possibly expanded battery.

If I do send it in to Apple, then they might not service it either, because of what's mentioned above. If one of their technicians does decide to service it, then I might also have to pay an extra screen repair fee, meaning the repairs will shoot up to around $200.

What are my options here? I see that Staples offers a battery replacement service with a one year warranty, but how does that work in combination with Apple? I don't think they're authorized by Apple like BestBuy is. Would I still be able to trade my phone in for a discount towards a newer version in the future?

 

[ruslan120]

Best solution would be a backup phone in your case IMO. You can get an old SE for around $100 or a cheap android and then mail your current phone in to Apple.

Same advice has been echoed here for data as well - always a safe option to have a backup. Plus, you’ll have a backup phone for future (unforeseen) incidents as well.

Apple offers a loaner phone + “Express Service” if you have AppleCare+ via mail. I’m inferring it’s without AppleCare+ based on your message.

 

[definitive]

Best solution would be a backup phone in your case IMO. You can get an old SE for around $100 or a cheap android and then mail your current phone in to Apple.

Same advice has been echoed here for data as well - always a safe option to have a backup. Plus, you’ll have a backup phone for future (unforeseen) incidents as well.

Apple offers a loaner phone + “Express Service” if you have AppleCare+ via mail. I’m inferring it’s without AppleCare+ based on your message.

Thanks for the reply. This is probably what I'll end up doing. Gonna just try to hold out until new model is released, and then buy it, and get the current phone's battery replaced to keep it as a backup. If it breaks down before that, then I'll just get something cheap now, and swap battery and wait until next year's phones are out.