Update: Apple has denied a report that it might launch a battery-replacement program to cover its iPhone 6 handsets.
The exact reason for the supposed battery-exchange initiative wasn’t revealed in Makotakara’s post, which was short on details. But the now-debunked rumor made it sound like Apple might expand the battery-replacement program in place for certain iPhone 6s handsets due to a fault that causes the units to randomly shut down.
“We constantly evaluate service statistics,” an anonymous Apple source told Apple Insider. “There are no plans or grounds for a wide iPhone 6 battery exchange program at this time.”
When the random shutdown issue came to light last year, Apple said the problem related to only a small quantity of iPhone 6s units produced between September and October 2015. The company committed to replacing those phones for any customers who had experienced the fault.
Apple later acknowledged that a “small number of customers outside of the affected range have also reported an unexpected shutdown,” without releasing details. The company also issued an iOS update containing an additional diagnostic capability for tracking down the root of the problem.
To its credit, Apple has never been sniffy about sorting out problems related to its products, even when these emerge later — and the devices are therefore out of warranty. In the meantime, though, we’ll wait and see whether Makotakara’s report turns out to have any validity to it.
Has your iPhone exhibited this random shutdown behavior? Leave a comment below. We’ve also reached out to Apple to ask about a possible expansion of their battery replacement program.
