Apple raises prices of battery replacements in iPhones and Mac computers

Apple Inc will raise the price of battery replacements for most iPhones by about 30 percent from March 1, Shanghai Daily found on Apple's official website.

The price hike, covering most older iPhones, iPads and Mac computers, raised criticism among netizens.

The iPhone X/11/12/13 battery replacement now costs 519 yuan (US$75.2). But it will be 688 yuan from March, with an increase of 169 yuan, a 32 percent hike, according to Apple China's device repair webpage.

"The current out-of-warranty battery service fee will apply until the end of February 2023," says Apple. "Effective March 1, 2023, the out-of-warranty battery service fee will be increased by 169 yuan for all iPhone models prior to iPhone 14."

The notice is displayed in small text under Apple's price estimators on the webpage.

The iPhone 14 battery replacement price is 748 yuan in China, even higher than the price after the hike.

On Weibo, China's equivalent of Twitter, "Apple battery" is a hot topic with 2,960 debates and 1.47 million views recently.

A Weibo influencer Digital Geek (数码IT君), with 2.73 million followers, called the price "ridiculously expensive" in a related post. The post attracted many Likes and comments, saying Apple is "good at making money."

The new increase does not affect users with AppleCare+, or ones whose iPhones are still under warranty.

Even for those who pay for AppleCare+, the free iPhone battery replacement is only for the product's battery holding less than 80 percent of its original capacity, according to Apple's policies.

The price hike of battery replacements as of March, also covers MacBooks with an increase of 480 yuan, and iPads with an increase of 149 yuan.