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.
Tuesday was supposed to be a day to show off an iconic American company doubling down on its domestic manufacturing. Instead, it became another flash point in America's new culture wars.
Gabe Hoffman of Accipiter Capital Management doesn't believe Tesla can right the ship even if Elon Musk delivers on some of the numbers he promised.
Apple’s long-time chief design officer Jony Ive, the mind behind products like the iMac, the iPod, and the iPhone, is leaving the Cupertino-based tech giant to start his own independent design firm, LoveFrom.
*From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.*
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Friday, June 28, 2019.
According to marketing agency Merkle, Google accounted for 91% of U.S. site visits produced by mobile searches. Lorraine Lilley, owner of Let’s Start Design, shares how to get your business found online, and other essential pages to include on your site.
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Thursday, June 27, 2019.
Israel-based Check Point is sounding the alarm bell for the video game industry about improving user protections after gaming giant EA recently addressed a flaw that left 300 million gamers vulnerable to hackers.
Cambium Networks, a company that builds wireless broadband networks for companies, governments, and other internet service providers, plans to focus on its customers and will "let the markets play out long term."
These are the headlines you Need 2 Know for Wednesday, June 29, 2019.
