Apple Sued Over iPhone Battery Replacement Practices (Again)

[Edward Kirk]

<img src="http://www.iphonealley.com/images/storyimages/september07/battery.jpg" align="right" />

Apple has been hit with with the next (and surely not the last) of what has been a long line of complaints in regard to the Apple's iPhone battery replacement practices. For those counting, this is the fourth complaint filed against Apple about their iPhone. The complaint filed this past Wednesday in California's northern district accuses Apple and AT&T of knowingly withholding information about the iPhone's true battery replacement costs until after the June 29th launch, misleading some customers into buying the device who would otherwise not have.<!--break-->

Just like all of the other complaints, this one is based on un-verified statements that the iPhone's battery will cease to function after completing 300 charge cycles, which is exactly what plaintiffs Mr. and Mrs. Stiener claim. They state that after this time, they would be forced to pay $115 to replace the battery.

They claim that by not warning them sufficiently with labels on the packaging or the like before they purchased the device, Apple and AT&T are guilty of breaching both good faith and the California Commercial Code, which demands that manufacturers in the state honestly reflect how their products will perform in real-world conditions.

Written by the law firms Hoffman & Lazear as well as Folkenflik & McGerity, both of which were responsible for a similar suit in mid-August, the nine-page argument is considered a class action suit and would have Apple and AT&T pay restitution to any affected customer in California.

[via <a href="http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/09/04/apple_hit_with_video_encoding_and_iphone_battery_l awsuits.html" target="_blank">AppleInsider</a>]

[Hans]

well what is the real cost? i figured it would eventually be expensive seeing how its part of the phone...

[Pepper]

well what is the real cost? i figured it would eventually be expensive seeing how its part of the phone...

i think its like 60 bucks and you send it into apple to get it replaced. I did see some other companies that have already annouced their own replacement batteries for something like 30.

[san]

It's like $80 for the battery, I think, a little more than the iPod battery + $30 for renting an iPhone while yours is out, if you wish to rent -- rental is not required. That's where they get the roughly $115 charge. But you can't really complain about the wait if you're including the rental in the charge. Also these types of batteries don't last so much last 300 cycles before they have problems holding a decent charge. It's more like 500 cycles. And it's *full* cycles. Simply put, run your iPhone battery until it's stone dead and recharge it all the way: that's a full cycle. Use a quarter of the battery life every day and then each night for four days let it charge to full: those four charges are *one* cycle.

Also, the first year's warranty cover's the battery. The AppleCare plan for $80 will cover everything and the battery for an additional year. And you can buy the AppleCare any time within the first year of ownership.

Voice phone use being the biggest battery drain, if you need your iPhone battery replaced every year, your battery bill for the year, with rental: $120; your mobile phone bill for the year: $137,452.12. I think you can afford the battery.