In 2017, consumers were shocked to discover that Apple had been slowing down iPhone devices with overused batteries. As a result, a series of legal suits began, and Apple introduced a $29 battery replacement program. We at You Exec investigated the nature of this program and our findings lead us to consider it to be a "hokey" solution aimed at selling more devices. As we investigated, it became apparent this program had a dual purpose.

Much can be learned from Apple's smart PR and workstream to convert iPhone users seeking a $29 battery replacement into an $800 purchase of a new iPhone 8 or X. Here is how Apple does it:

The program as advertised

Apple advertised a $29 no-questions-asked battery replacement program. If you call their support phone line or go to an Apple store, you will be led to believe that they will replace your battery within thirty minutes. As a result, Apple users were delighted when the program was announced and flocked to get their old iPhone batteries replaced. Likewise, the PR and media communications of this program were nothing but positive.

However, we at You Exec began to receive many complaints from our readers, and so we decided to investigate further to figure out exactly how the battery replacement works and to try and identify Apple's ultimate goal. The following article is our experience of replacing the battery of an iPhone 6. All the statements below are our opinion only.

One-week wait for an appointment

One of our writers, who will remain anonymous, had an old iPhone 6 that performed slowly, so we decided to take up Apple's new battery replacement offer with his phone. For the purposes of this article, let's call the writer Brian.

Brian walked into the Apple store located in Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade and was greeted by a sales representative, who requested Brian schedule a Genius Bar appointment first—the next available date was one week out. While at the store, Brian was encouraged to look at other devices for a possible upgrade.

Two-week wait for the part

One week later, Brian went back to the same Apple store only to be told that the spare battery needed for the replacement was not in stock and that he needs to wait two weeks for the part to be available. This news was shared with him after the one-hour battery diagnostic test he had to run at the store to ensure that his phone's battery was, in fact, the problem. The test had to show that Brian's battery was at fault, otherwise Apple would not replace the battery. The tests indeed revealed the battery was at fault.

At the Apple store, the sales representative noticed that Brian's iPhone screen had a small hairline crack on the upper left corner—and he was advised that the battery replacement might not work because of the tiny crack.

Brian was offered the opportunity to get the cracked screen fixed at the store if he wished to continue with the battery replacement when the spare battery arrived. Disgruntled, Brian walked away despite being encouraged again to look at the new iPhone models.

The next day, Brian was pleased to receive an email that the spare part had arrived earlier than expected at the Apple store and he could now just walk in and finally get his phone repaired. Now, let’s remember that Apple is a company focused on operations and supply-chain management, which is really the crux of any hardware business. It thus seems somewhat bizarre that our writer was told that the spare part would take two weeks to arrive when he was at the store—causing him to feel despair for a new phone—yet, the part actually arrived the next day! Smelling something fishy, Brian walked to the Genius Bar the next day with a bit of skepticism.

Much to his surprise, he was greeted by a very happy Genius Bar technician who took his phone off him and promised him a new battery in less than two hours. This was again at the Santa Monica, Third Street Promenade Apple store. Despite the two-hour wait to get the replacement done, Brian cherished the opportunity to be phone-free while walking around in the sunny Los Angeles weather.

Every thirty minutes Brian checked with the Apple store to nail down how long they would take to replace the battery. However, what just started out as a $29 battery replacement, now included a $120 screen replacement as well, and went from being a simple thirty-minute swatch to a week-long event.

Screen cracks

From Brian's test, and as can be seen in the photo below, changing the iPhone 6's battery does not require a crack-free screen. This is because the screen's platform can be separated from the phone's body without removing the screen or its protective glass cover.