Thanks Apple, the new iPhone 16 Pro battery was almost useful

Apple revealed the new price structure for battery replacements via the official iPhone repair and service page, following the beginning of iPhone 16 pre-orders. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like the brand has increased the price of any other repair services, with cracked screens and back glass damage repairs costing the same as they do for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. It’s also worth noting that this year’s iPhone 16 and 16 Plus battery replacements aren’t any more expensive than last year’s models, staying at $99.

Of course, you can pay for AppleCare+ and get a free battery replacement when you need it. There is a caveat, though. You’re only viable for a replacement if your battery capacity is below 80%. That means your battery could lose up to 20% of its capacity before you’re entitled to a new one, and you’d either have to pay the full price, wait for things to get worse, or take your chances with an unofficial repair shop. Alternatively, you could just pick up one of the best Android phones instead, as brands like Xiaomi and Samsung offer much more affordable repairs.

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Unfortunately, we don’t have any specific reason from Apple explaining why the iPhone 16 Pro’s battery is now more expensive to replace. If we’re being cynical, we could suggest that the higher price is a way for Apple to push users towards AppleCare+. However, it’s also possible that the new battery costs more to produce, or that a new internal design makes the replacement procedure more complex. We won’t know for sure until we see the first iPhone 16 Pro teardowns, which should pop up following the September 20 release date.

Admittedly, it’s not a massive surprise to see Apple raise the price of battery replacements for its best gaming iPhones given that there’s such demand for them, especially the iPhone 16 Pro Max. While iPhone 16 first-weekend sales might be down across the board this year, the Pro Max is still the most popular option, shifting over 17 million units in the first weekend of sales alone. When all these phones go out of warranty a year from now, Apple can continue to benefit by raking in cash from expensive repairs such as battery replacements.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Apple raise the price of iPhone battery replacement. With the release of the iPhone 14 series, the tech giant increased the cost from $69 to $99. However, with consumers already hesitant to pick up the iPhone 16 Pro, could this be a misguided move from Apple? The lack of AI features on launch and few meaningful hardware upgrades means that more expensive repairs could simply add insult to injury for consumers. We’ll have to wait for more iPhone 16 sales data over the next few months to see if these potentially controversial decisions ultimately make an impact.

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