When Apple launched a free battery replacement program for iPhone 6s units experiencing unexpected shutdowns, some iPhone 6 owners reported that they had experienced the same symptoms. Now an unconfirmed report from Japanese site Macotakara suggests that Apple may be preparing a similar program for the iPhone 6 …

The often-reliable site describes it as simply a rumor for now, and has no additional detail on what may behind it if it is true.

When Apple announced the 6s program, it said that only a ‘very small number’ of 6s units were affected, all of which were manufactured during a two-month period, making it seem unlikely on the face of it that the same issue could affect an earlier model.

While the 6s battery program provided a free replacement, Apple came under fire when it decided to charge $149 for fixes to a separate iPhone 6 Plus ‘Touch Disease‘ issue which it said was caused by repeated impact damage.

The company does have a generally good track-record for free out-of-warranty fixes for manufacturing defects, even if these come to light years later. One example was a GPU problem that afflicted a number of 2011-2013 MacBook Pros, covered by a free repair program in 2016.

We’ve reached out to Apple and sources in the know but haven’t yet heard back.

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