The IT Nerd

For those of you who wanted to get the battery replaced on your iPhone 6 or newer because it was affected by #BatteryGate related issues, you should hurry. The program that allows you to replace the battery for $35 CDN runs out at the end of the year. After that, you will have to pay between $99 to $105 CAD to replace their smartphone’s battery at an Apple Store. By doing so you’ll not only be able to stretch out the life of your phone, but you may see a speed increase as batteries that are in really bad shape will cause the phone’s processor to throttle itself.

To take advantage of this program, you should either take your phone to a Genius Bar appointment in an Apple Store or send it in to Apple for repair. And here’s a top tip, based on the experience that my wife had when she did this, you may have to be persistent about getting the battery replace as the Apple Genius Bar employees may try to talk you out of doing so.

Reports have been coming in over the last few hours of Apple users finding that they are locked out of their iCloud accounts. The only way back in is to do a password reset. Now Apple will lock accounts when someone attempts to access an ID by entering their incorrect password too many times. So it is possible that what might be going on is some sort of brute force attack on iCloud accounts on a scale not previously seen. Or Apple could be having some sort of technical issue. At this point the cause isn’t clear as Apple isn’t really commenting as is typical for them.

How do you know if you are affected? iOS will present an alert in settings that says some Apple ID settings must be updated. Also, you may lose access to services like iMessage, iCloud and Apple Music if you do not verify your identity. If you find that your account is locked, you should follow the instructions here to unlock it. Also, you might want to strongly consider using two factor verification for your iCloud account whether you are affected or not.

How many users are affected? A lot if you go by social media. But an exact number is hard to come by. We’ll have to wait and see if there’s any clarity on that front via a comment from Apple or from some other source.

Last week I had a very interesting exchange on Twitter with author Sueanne Pacheco about the pricing strategy of iPhones after I posted my review of the iPhone XS.

The iPhone XR is compelling. Agree with @The_IT_Nerd price point a concern. Does this mean Apple is pricing out customers for a target niche who can?

— SPacheco (@PachecoSueanne) November 1, 2018

By the way, you should buy her book Mrs. Langlois House which is a really great read. But I am digressing. At the time I pointed her towards this AppleInsider article which indicated that Apple was relying on higher selling prices to make money. Which pretty much confirmed what she was saying. As well as my feelings on this subject:

Yes seeing as Apple sold 216 million iPhones in 2017 alone. The sub $1000 CDN market is clearly one that they are ignoring. https://t.co/EwOoS0GNiA

— The IT Nerd (@The_IT_Nerd) November 1, 2018

However, this strategy seems to be backfiring on Apple as VentureBeat is indicating that Apple is cutting back on iPhone XR production in favor of iPhone 8 production for this reason:

Just before Apple’s September launch of the iPhone XS, pundits recommended that potential customers wait until the iPhone XR arrived in October to pick a phone — a suggestion that could have boosted sales of the less expensive model. But a new Nikkei Asian Review report suggests the XR is instead seeing “disappointing demand,” leading Apple to scuttle plans to increase XR production. The surprising reason: Users are gravitating toward the more affordable iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus.

And there is precedent to this:

Apple reportedly made last-minute rush orders for iPhone 7 devices after the iPhone 8 and iPhone X launched at higher price points, suggesting that some consumers aren’t as concerned with the latest technology as they are with more reasonable pricing. The size of that price-sensitive customer base could impair Apple’s ability to keep raising the average selling price of its devices, a strategy it appears to be testing with the more expensive iPhones, iPads, and Macs introduced this fall.

I should also note that Apple stock dropped on the news which took its market cap out of trillion dollar territory. Plus Apple when they reported their quarterly numbers announced that they would not be reporting on the number of iPhones and iPads that they sold anymore. Someone out there will say that Samsung doesn’t do that either, and that’s true. But you have to admit that the timing of that announcement relative to this news is curious.

Now when I reviewed the iPhone XS, I said that my main criticism was price. According to my wife, it costs more than my monthly mortgage payment. Even the XR is insanely expensive despite being the best value for iPhone users who want a new iDevice. Pricing phones at those lofty levels is a risk and you had to figure that this strategy would hit a brick wall at some point because it simply isn’t sustainable over the long term. But I don’t think that the brain trust at Apple Park envisioned that it would hit a brick wall this quickly. Now I get that they are a company that is out to make money. But with the iPhone XS, XS Max, and XR, they have created the impression that they are simply out to extract as much cash as they possibly can any way that they can. And based on this report, it’s starting to fail them. Thus I would suggest that they need to do a very quick rethink of their pricing strategy. As in right now.

After last weeks incident where some Apple Watch owners had their Apple Watch bricked by watchOS 5.1, which led to Apple pulling the update, Apple has taken a lot of heat for what happened. Consequently, there has been a lot if anticipation to see how Apple was going to address this. In the last few minutes, Apple has released watchOS 5.1.1 which says this in the release notes:

There’s not much there. Thus I guess the bricking of really expensive smart watches is a bug. In any case, I am downloading and installing this as I type this. After all it’s better I rather than you brick their really expensive smart watch in the event Apple goes 0-2 here. Update to come.

Oh, by the way, bricked Apple Watches require servicing from Apple and this software update doesn’t do anything to change that. Sorry.

UPDATE: My Apple Watch is now on watchOS 5.1.1 with no issues.

For reasons that nobody fully understands, Apple includes a 5W charger in the box of every iPhone that they sell. The problem with that is that is that if you have an iPhone 8 or later, you can actually “fast charge” your iPhone. Meaning that you can get 50% of a charge in 30 minutes according to Apple. And about 90 minutes to get a phone fully charged. Because a fast charger doesn’t come in the box, owners of those super expensive iPhones are forced to buy a fast charger from Apple. And they aren’t cheap. Just see what it costs for an Apple 29W, 30W, 61W, or 87W USB-C Power Adapter and associated USB-C to Lightning cable in your neck of the woods.

Now why is that a big deal? Pretty much every flagship phone on the Android side of the fence comes with a fast charger in the box. Not to mention substantially downmarket Android phones costing as little as $300 come with fast chargers. So Apple has really dropped the ball here. Doubly so now that Apple now sells phones that are so expensive.

So if you want to fast charge your iPhone, and you don’t want to be nickeled and dimed by Apple, here’s your choices:

1. Get a 7.5W Qi compatible wireless charger. I personally use this one and it works quickly to get either a quick top up, or to charge my phone completely. But any Qi compatible wireless charger will work just as well. Just make sure you are running iOS 11.2 or higher and you’re good to go. One thing that I should point out is that this isn’t as fast as fast charging with a cable. But it is way better than using the dinky 5W charger in the box of your iPhone.
2. Use a wall charger such as this one from Anker. It has great reviews on Amazon and is far cheaper than anything Apple offers. Just use the official Apple USB-C to Lightning cable and you’re good to go. Now you’re likely wondering why I am recommending a USB-C charger and a USB-C to Lighting cable. Fast charging is based around USB-C. Thus you do need USB-C devices to make this happen. And for the record, fast charging an iPhone requires at least a 15W USB-C charger. Top Tip: Try to stay away from chargers that lack Apple’s “Made for iOS” (MFi) certification because they may easily damage your iPhone battery or the phone itself. Now Anker is a quality brand that I have never had issues with. But not all brands are like that.
3. If you have a USB-C MacBook or MacBook Pro, you can use the USB-C charger that came with it to charge your iPhone. Just use the official Apple USB-C to Lightning cable and you’re good to go.

The bottom line is this. If you have a newer iPhone, you should at least consider leveraging fast charging as that will help to keep your phone alive and working with minimal effort. The options that I have outlined should cover the use case that works best for you.

Last Thursday night I was using my 2015 MacBook Pro when I noted that the battery was switching between “Service Now” and “Normal” on the menu bar via iStat Menus. That was a clear sign to me that the battery was about to go as I’ve written about this situation in the past. It is a three year old laptop so that made sense. It was also out of AppleCare so I knew that I had to cough up some bucks to fix it. But unlike my wife’s 2012 MacBook Pro which had a battery that was easy to replace, I had a bit of a challenge. The battery in my MacBook Pro is a pain in the backside to replace as it is literally glued into the notebook. Here’s a YouTube video that illustrates how difficult it is to replace it. It’s also a tad bit dangerous to replace. I’ve heard of people puncturing batteries which starts one hell of a fire seeing as these are lithium polymer batteries. So there was no way I was buying the battery and doing it myself. Also going to the Apple Store was going to be expensive and not any faster. Thus I phoned around to repair shops that I trust to see if I could get it addressed the same day.

That lead to two challenges for me. The first being that not a lot of places had the battery in stock as it appears that they are popular at the moment. The second was that I would be without my MacBook for the day or longer. That was kind of unpalatable to me, but I was resigned to that until I came across a company called TechKnowSpace in central Mississauga. They had the battery in stock, an Apple OEM one at that, and they said that they could swap it in 45 minutes or so. So I handed out my MacBook Pro and went to the Bier Market next door and consumed a Mad Tom IPA while watching Novak Djokovic play tennis on one of their big screen TVs.

About 45 minutes later I got a text message from TechKnowSpace saying that my MacBook was ready. I powered it on, found a new battery installed when I booted things up. So I paid up and went home. I ran a battery rundown test of running videos from YouTube and got just over 7 hours. The notebook is rated for 9 under less taxing activities so that meant I was good to go. Gripes? A minor one. There are two very tiny dents in the top case where your palm is supposed to go. The only reason why I noted them was that I am insanely detail oriented about my stuff. My guess is that they got there when they removed the old battery as you have to do some scraping and prying to get it out. I was able to smooth them out so they are less noticeable. But in no way was this a dealbreaker.

So, the total cost of this battery replacement was $149 CDN plus tax. To put that in perspective, Apple charges $259 plus tax. And for the most part I found very little to complain about. Now with a new battery installed, I can continue to use this notebook until Apple comes out with a MacBook Pro that I feel comfortable buying. Because I have to admit that #KeyboardGate as well as their processor throttling issues (though they did fix that) have made me sit on the sidelines when it comes to buying a new MacBook which is something that I do every 2 to 3 years. While I am sure that Apple doesn’t care about that, I am happy that I have a reliable notebook to use. Though I have to get the screen replaced under Apple’s #StainGate program at some point in the near future.

That’s the question based on the fact that iOS 12.1 which was released by Apple earlier this week has given the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X the same battery management features that showed up in the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus after the #BatteryGate scandal broke. In fact Apple says as much in its official release notes and on its Battery and Performance website. But Apple also claims that performance management may be less noticeable due to the newer iPhones’ more advanced hardware and software.

I found that to be weird because I remember Apple saying that the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X were not affected by #BatteryGate. In fact to confirm that I wasn’t smoking something, I found this article that confirmed what I was thinking:

“iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models include hardware updates that allow a more advanced performance management system that more precisely allows iOS to anticipate and avoid an unexpected shutdown,” Apple public policy VP Cynthia Hogan wrote in a letter to the US Senate. The iPhone 8 and 8 Plus were introduced in September; the iPhone X in November.

So, what’s up with Apple bringing these features to phones that are supposedly not affected by #BatteryGate? I can think of two reasons:

• The most likely reason is that Apple is covering itself by rolling these features out to every iPhone regardless of whether it needs it or not. For example my iPhone XS has these battery management features, and from what I was able to gather, so does the XS Max and XR. So they in effect are giving every user the same user experience when it comes to potential battery issues. That on the surface makes total sense. It also could be that getting slapped by Italy over #BatteryGate was a factor in this as well.
• If you’re into conspiracy theories, you could argue that Apple is doing this because this is a more widespread problem than they are admitting to. Thus they need to do this in order to make #BatteryGate go away. Or at least stay somewhere under the surface. Now iPhone 8 and X models haven’t been around long enough to say if that is the case or not. But perhaps there might be an issue that they have seen in their labs and are now trying to get in front of?

The bottom line is that there is no clear answer. And Apple sure isn’t going to tell us because they aren’t really a company that is known for transparency. But one thing is certain. This isn’t going to make #BatteryGate go away anytime soon.

As I type this Apple has pulled the watchOS 5.1 update that was released earlier today after reports of the update bricking devices started to pop up on  Reddit, Twitter, and other places. The symptoms that people are seeing are that after installing the watchOS 5.1 update, users getting stuck on the Apple logo. Restarting the Apple Watch and paired iPhone doesn’t seem to fix the issue and some users have been waiting several hours with no change in behavior. The only fix that seems to be out there is a full Apple Watch replacement.

How many Apple Watches are affected by this? That isn’t clear. It is clear that not everyone who owns an Apple Watch is affected as I was able to update just fine for example shortly after the update was released. But whatever the issue is, it brings back memories of Apple pulling iOS 8.0.1 when it killed cellular service for iPhone users and watchOS 3.1.1 being pulled by Apple after it bricked devices.

Today was a really good PR day for Apple having released a ton of new hardware that was well received. Too bad that this day ended on a major downer for them. I hope for their sakes that they can get this sorted and quickly, and if they are smart they should bundle in a public apology too for this PR disaster.