On March 1, Apple will start charging an extra $20 for battery replacements on out-of-warranty iPhones, according to an update on the AppleCare+ webpage

The new price will be $99 for the iPhone 14, and while these models are currently under warranty, they won't be after the one-year anniversary of their release in September 2023. 

At that point, the higher price point could encourage customers with broken batteries to simply buy a new phone rather than shell out nearly $100 for a replacement part. 

Apple has adjusted prices multiple times in recent years, as supply chain issues have raised production costs. Just last month, labor unrest at an iPhone supplier in China led to a production shortfall. The company struggled with similar disruptions throughout the pandemic.  

There is also a history of consumers pushing back against Apple's practices around batteries. The company in 2020 was forced to pay $113 million in fines to settle consumer fraud lawsuits around a controversy known as "batterygate," in which iPhone users discovered that Apple installed new software that made devices with older batteries operate slower. 

In addition, CEO Tim Cook in 2019 wrote in a letter to investors  that "some customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements" was partly behind a lower-than-expected iPhone sales.  

Share:
More In Technology
Google's Tapping a Psychedelic Pioneer to Create Empathetic Technology
As Google Empathy Lab founder Danielle Krettek explained, in order to create technology that appropriately serves humanity, designers must first understand who it is they are creating for. Enter author, psychologist, and psychedelic enthusiast Dr. Richard Alpert. Known best by his moniker, Ram Dass.
As Snap Fights for Ad Dollars, Content Creators Reckon With ROI
Snapchat's parent company Snap is having its comeback moment, with shares up more than 200 percent year-to-date. But, as it attempts to grow its advertising revenue to achieve profitability, it has faced pushback from some of the third-party media companies it relies on to create content.
Qualcomm Announces $3 Billion Acquisition to Grow 5G
The U.S. semiconductor and telecom giant revealed it's acquiring the remaining portion of RF360, its joint venture with Japanese electronics giant TDK corporation, expecting the deal to aid in the development of efficient 5G devices.
Load More