Looks like my next phone will be a Motorola! I'm tired of "upgrading" phones every couple of years because the battery wears out.
They're not made to be just popped in/out, sure, but it's entirely possible to get more years out of a phone this way. I'd be more concerned with software updates than battery.
Apple does seem to be doing a better job than most of the Android OEMs at ensuring longevity.
You can presumably get a non-OEM replacement for less, but you can also get a used iPhone 8 with original glass for less than $600.
Except you would have no way to verify if the glass is original until you take it to Apple and they refuse to service it.
Unfortunately I then called Samsung support and was told because I hadn't bought the "Australian model".
Nevermind that there's only one glass/screen/digitiser combo worldwide for the S8+.
https://support.apple.com/iphone/repair/battery-power
It looks like on some issues, we still have market power.
At most you can say they where trying to fix a hardware issue with software which is never a clean solution.
Take it to an Apple store, call Apple support, or take it to any one of your friendly neighborhood repair shops?
> ludicrously high amount
Battery replacement costs:
Google Phones: $79
Apple Phones: $79
Samsung Phones: Nothing 1st party, $50 was the cheapest 3rd party I could find.
This honestly doesn't even seem like that much when the battery itself retails for $25 before shipping. That plus an hour of skilled labor to do the replacement puts us right around $80-$100. And when a new battery extends the life of your $800 phone for another 2 years its hard to say the value isn't there.
That said I don't think 79 USD every two years is ridiculous for a 700+ USD device. It better not take an hour, though!
Then after what could only be described as a media shitstorm Apple responded to the criticism by putting the decision in the user's hands and offered battery replacements for around material cost. I mean $30 is ridiculously cheap when just the battery for my Android phone is $24 before shipping and labor. I'm honestly jealous.
What engineer thought that slowing down devices would be 'transparent'?
Apple engineers slowed the CPU in the phone, in order to keep battery life reasonable, and prevent the phone from restarting when worn batteries couldn't deliver power. Windows does this with laptops.
Apple's mistake was not disclosing it. There an argument for user experience that advocates making the best choice for the user and not over burdening them with options.
Instead, they pushed their users to buy new phones, or pricey fixes for a manufacturing mistake
They did, technically, in the release notes for the update that introduced it. That said, it could (and should?) have been more prominent.
"free" battery costs at least $130 for Applecare and it's rarely worth it. Without Applecare, it only costs $30 to replace.
The last one was a Z2 Play. The USB-C port broke and I couldn't charge the device anymore, 6 months after purchase. When I contacted Motorola Mexico they asked me send the phone so they could determine if this would be covered by warranty or not. Of course I had to pay for all shipping myself and be without a phone for a couple of weeks. Yeah no thanks.
Instead of wasting money on shipping I invested that money into a new Mi A1 which does everything I need from a phone and cost me half of the Z2 Play. It also comes with Android One.
Not as bad as most Samsung phones, I got no update at all to Samsung S4 and S4 mini and these were the last Samsungs I bought. I have Moto G4 now and a few weeks ago I got patches for last BT and WiFi KRACK attacks, better late then never I guess? My next phone will be Motorola too, it's bloat free, runs fast after 2 years, and now it will be easier to fix.
My advice is to focus your next Android phone purchase on devices which are on the Android One or Android Enterprise Recommended lists. They'll get 3+ years of timely security updates.
Oreo is so visually ugly that I'd rather keep my phone on an old version than upgrade.
I bought a Motorola Z2 Play because now all phone seems to no longer have user replaceable battery but with the "mod" if the battery goes bad I can always add one. They also doesn't sell batteries for it on ifixit.