This may be somewhat obvious advice but it makes a huge difference. If your iPhone says the battery is degraded (under 80% battery health) then take it to a repair center and replace the battery. Even if your phone says it’s at “Peak Performance” despite the battery health.
For context, my iPhone 13 mini (purchased at launch in 2021) was at 74% battery health and the battery menu said it was degraded and to seek service despite also saying “Peak Performance Capability”. I could tell because my phone would become hotter than the surface of the sun if I used it for more than 10 minutes. It would also become so slow if trying to use the internet as it struggled to load all the JavaScript and ads and such when loading websites.
I decided to get the battery replaced at the Apple Store (and they decided to replace the screen as well for no additional charge) for a total of $89 before tax. It runs like it is brand new and I could totally see me getting another 3 years out of it.
If anyone is considering buying a new device or just repairing their existing device, I can’t recommend replacing the battery enough. It really made an impact in my experience
Yeah, about that: I have a horror story.
Tl;dr Apple Store repair techs are crap, right to repair all the way.
I had an iPhone XS that was behaving weird. It was about 84% on the battery scale, which we all know is bullshit. I did all the usual stuff you can do before bringing it in (soft reset, hard reset, various settings, deleting apps, wiping and starting over, etc.). I was hoping their diagnostics would say something but would just as well get a new battery for a fee. They said it was perfectly fine, so they took it back to do a regular non-warranty swap. They said maybe an hour.
One hour later, “come back in 15 minutes.”
30 minutes later, “we’re still working on it.”
30 minutes later still, someone comes out and tells me that while they did replace the battery, they broke two screens trying to get it back on, and for liability reasons, couldn’t try again. They’d send me a refurbished phone. But they needed my fucking phone number so Apple support could call and set it up. This was said dead-faced, broken phone still in the employee’s hand.
They also needed a $1,000 hold on my card for a then-6 year old refurbished phone to be shipped to guarantee a return, and it would be 2-3 days.
Don’t get it done at the Apple Store unless you can afford the risk. Go support your local repair person who isn’t a fucking klutz.
Sorry about your experience but one bad expert doesn’t mean they’re all bad. Mine has always been awesome.
Sorry that happened to you. I haven’t had any bad experiences but the right to repair is tantamount so that way you can still repair phones long beyond the time frame the manufacturer arbitrarily decides to support