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APPLE HAS ADMITTED that a “very small percentage” of iPhone 5 devices were sold with defective batteries and will need to be replaced.
In a statement issued by the company, it said that the devices affected by this problem may “suddenly experience shorter battery life or need to be charged more frequently.”
The devices in question were sold between September 2012 and January 2013 and fall within a limited serial number range.
Those devices affected will be able to avail of a free replacement scheme which will solve the issue.
The company says that all devices will be examined first before a possible replacement and users can check if they’re eligible for a replacement by entering in their serial number checker (to find your serial number, go into Settings -> General -> About and scroll down to see it).
The replacement process is already available in the US and China, while other countries will have availability from 29 August.
It’s recommended that users back up their data to iTunes or iCloud, turn off Find my Phone and erase their data in settings before they go through the battery replacement process.
Apple is expected to unveil the latest addition to the iPhone range on 9 September, according to media reports.
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iPhone batteries are just terrible in general. If a company can make a decent smart phone with a good battery life, they’d make a killing!
Have a oneplus one phone and the battery is superior to any other battery in any phone I’ve had by miles
Can u invite me to that please, was waiting for someone who had a one plus one !!!
Have not got the invites yet but when I do if I remember I’ll will
Well I hope so, they impossible to get a hold of them phones
There was a lad on the oneplus forums that got an invite after one day.
Well I still waiting !!!
I have always purchased extra battery cases with all my mobiles.
Another invite would be appreciated too. In exchange, I would green thumb every one of your comments from here to the end of time.
It really is a phenomenal phone. I’ve been dying to get one since they first announced it.
I’m one of the unfortunates that experienced the battery problem with a new iPhone 5 in January 2014.
The phone used to overheat to boiling pitch and then would lose from full power , over about three hours to fully empty.
I had to go through a huge amount of 5th degree with Apple on my home phone , before after the third elongated phone call and online checking , they finally conceded , that they would supply a new one – but no warranty with the new one unfortunately , which I felt was rather mean of them in the circumstances !
What’s a one plus one phone?
It’s about time they made an iPhone with a removable back and options to change batteries easily as well as an SD card slot…
Wouldn’t fit well with their mantra of making everything streamlined and their obsession with the phone getting thinner and thinner, unfortunately. I do wish it was easier to replace the battery because they deteriorate over time no matter how well you look after them.
Well look at the chargers. Those things are made to break after a certain amount of time. Very flimsy wiring and a plug that it impossible to put out so you damage the port when pulling it up. I won’t even get started on their headphones…if you could replace the battery yourself they wouldn’t be able to charge you that lovely extra service charge. Also it took them over a year to admit these batteries were faulty
“Wouldn’t fit well with their mantra of making everything streamlined and their obsession with the phone getting thinner and thinner,”
I’d say the fact that they can charge a hundred Euro more for 64Gb memory has a lot to do with it. Adding an Micro SD would allow owners add on another 32Gb for less than a tenner, and we wouldn’t want that, would we.
The charger problem drove me spare.
Got through several in a year. So I got a plug pull so at least I can’t damage it that way anymore
I’ve bought 3 charging cables over the past 18months and yesterday I had to buy number 4. €20 a pop and they don’t last more than 4-6 months. Also had to fork out €80 for a new MacBook charger recently. It’s gone beyond a joke at this stage
“I’ve bought 3 charging cables over the past 18months and yesterday I had to buy number 4. €20 a pop and they don’t last more than 4-6 months.”
This is why I love the wireless charging on my Nexus 5
Buy them online from china for around €4-5 inc delivery, they work too!!!
@CPM not saying I agree with it by any means but that’s how it is. I was talking specifically about the battery, not the SD card and yeah, I agree, I’m sure the main reason the phones lack an SD port is to make you pay for more storage.
It is actually easy to remove the 2 screws are down where the charger is. You need a special screwdriver for them. Once they’re out it just slides off. Battery is attached with more screws if I remember correctly. It’s not hard it’s just extremely, extremely awkward
1.49 in deals for the wire
The cheap cables don’t work
Bwahahahahaha. That’s what you get for buying inferior apple devices.
They wouldn’t be the worlds richest company if they sold inferior products, Apple have found a problem are dealing with it, happens to most companies from time to time
Defective, like Apple.
Very insightful comment.
From reading comments on here young man, one is not to far off the mark me thinks. Proud owner of nexus 5, Battery goes all day.
They way people proudly take sides, you’d think this was an article about football, rather than portable telephones.
It took Apple 2 years to realise their batteries where faulty, everyone at Apple must be using Samsung phones then.
This isn’t a new problem with iPhones. My iPhone 3s started switching itself off despite having full or half battery and this just so happened to occur about a week after they released the iPhone 4! Coincidence???
The iPhone 4S isn’t much better … The battery drains even when the phone is switched off for a few days – painful as I just use it as an iPod these days.
iPhone 5 battery heats up so much I’m surprised they haven’t all exploded by now. I think the apple phones did great things for the smartphone market but have had their day in terms of ingenuity now.
Also if your Sleep/wake button has stopped working on an iPhone 5 – There is a replacement program for that too
Thanks for that! Mine’s eligible for both, had a few quid set aside for the iPhone 6 but I can hold off for a few more months now :)
I already replaced that too cos fecking apple said it wasn’t their fault. Raging now.
Jeez Jake, Miss your pills this morning ?
*Start comment* 100% – This is great news can’t wait to get a new… 1% *switches off*
I already replaced my battery at cost to myself because Apple and meteor were so unhelpful. I was told it was out of warranty but now is eligible for a battery replacement. Cheers Apple. Can I have my money back now please.
Apple website says that you can claim a refund.
Yeah I get a new battery!
You will probably get a refurbished phone.
Astonishing that at last apple have admitted to this problem, then again, it wouldn’t take a genius to work out why and only after 9 months, they removed it from the market. I also wonder how customers will go about chasing up a new battery as Apple only offer a 1 year warranty and not a single authorized repair center will touch an iphone over a year old. I wonder when Samsung will own up to the appalling debacle that was their S4 batteries, estimates range from 20 to 40% of early batch devices had to have the battery replaced.
I got my phone in November 2012 which falls into that dateline and my battery is screwed but when I put the serial number into the website it says I’m not legible for a replacement
Can’t belive this as only got new one for my iPhone 5 last week cost me 50 euro
I read somewhere recently that your memory and battery go haywire just before a new launch of new iphone?..if true it’s very mean,forcing people to upgrade!..sales pitch it ain’t..
Mine hasn’t and it’s been through 2 launches.
Bought iPhone 5 in states when it came out… Had some problems with the battery and volume buttons. Apple customer service told me that I have to send it back to us.
Local shop wanted to carve me €80 for changing battery and volume button flex cable… Went on eBay got parts for around €20 and used iFixIt website.
Phone works ok now but the power button does act funny…
I don’t find iPhone 5 to be as reliable as my old 4s that still works very well.
There is a reason why the stopped selling them year after the announcement ;-)
have your say