AirPods battery service - Apple changed their minds

[Sheza]

The service page as it appeared on 14th December 2016:

The service page as it appears today:

What's happened is Apple have increased the cost of replacing the batteries out of warranty from $49 to $147. They had uploaded one thing, and then the next day they changed it to treble the cost. This is hugely disappointing because I was very happy when the original version was posted. I'm much more concerned about having the battery wear out than I am about losing my AirPods.

Given that Apple is selling a device that clearly does not have a replaceable battery, and clearly has the ability to get through multiple battery cycles a day, this is very annoying. You basically have to pay the cost of an entire new pair to get the battery capacity back to where it is usable!

 

[EDH667]

More than likely by the time one needs to replace the battery, Apple will be on generation 3 or 4 and the value of the original AirPods will not be worth having batteries replaced.

 

[ANTAWNM26]

The service page as it appeared on 14th December 2016:

The service page as it appears today:

What's happened is Apple have increased the cost of replacing the batteries out of warranty from $49 to $147. They had uploaded one thing, and then the next day they changed it to treble the cost. This is hugely disappointing because I was very happy when the original version was posted. I'm much more concerned about having the battery wear out than I am about losing my AirPods.

Given that Apple is selling a device that clearly does not have a replaceable battery, and clearly has the ability to get through multiple battery cycles a day, this is very annoying. You basically have to pay the cost of an entire new pair to get the battery capacity back to where it is usable!

 

[EDH667]

What other company even offers battery service or lost replacements after the warranty period for bluetooth headphones? After the one year warranty, if you batteries fail on bluetooth headphones you are usually out of luck.

 

[The Game 161]

What other company even offers battery service or lost replacements after the warranty period for bluetooth headphones? After the one year warranty, if you batteries fail on bluetooth headphones you are usually out of luck.

Even worse if you buy things from amazon for example.

 

[Sheza]

More than likely by the time one needs to replace the battery, Apple will be on generation 3 or 4 and the value of the original AirPods will not be worth having batteries replaced.

Well let's take an Apple Watch battery - retains 80% capacity for 1000 cycles. That's a best-case scenario, so let's match that with a more-than-average use scenario. Take a worker who wants to listen to music the whole time he works, as well as on his way too and from work an a bit after that too. Let's say he discharges his AirPods twice throughout the day, i.e. 10 hours of use, 2 cycles.

The AirPods would retain less than 80% of their capacity after around 1.4 years. That's not very long, but unfortunately for you, it's just outside their free replacement.

What other company even offers battery service or lost replacements after the warranty period for bluetooth headphones? After the one year warranty, if you batteries fail on bluetooth headphones you are usually out of luck.

That's true, but with the MacBook Apple manages to replace the battery or service the laptop for much less than it costs to buy, when we all know that they can't actually repair the thing due to its thinness, so they just replace it with a new laptop.

 

[EDH667]

Well let's take an Apple Watch battery - retains 80% capacity for 1000 cycles. That's a best-case scenario, so let's match that with a more-than-average use scenario. Take a worker who wants to listen to music the whole time he works, as well as on his way too and from work an a bit after that too. Let's say he discharges his AirPods twice throughout the day, i.e. 10 hours of use, 2 cycles.

The AirPods would retain less than 80% of their capacity after around 1.4 years. That's not very long, but unfortunately for you, it's just outside their free replacement.

No, if I were to use them on that extreme scenario I would still be covered by the 2 year extended warranty since I purchased them with my American Express card.

 

[Sheza]

No, if I were to use them on that extreme scenario I would still be covered by the 2 year extended warranty since I purchased them with my American Express card.

Alright for some - American Express is not really offered here in the UK.

 

[Picapau21]

Alright for some - American Express is not really offered here in the UK.

Yeah it is! I have one and so do many others I know. Just go to their website and order a card.

 

[Ma2k5]

The service page as it appeared on 14th December 2016:

The service page as it appears today:

What's happened is Apple have increased the cost of replacing the batteries out of warranty from $49 to $147. They had uploaded one thing, and then the next day they changed it to treble the cost. This is hugely disappointing because I was very happy when the original version was posted. I'm much more concerned about having the battery wear out than I am about losing my AirPods.

Given that Apple is selling a device that clearly does not have a replaceable battery, and clearly has the ability to get through multiple battery cycles a day, this is very annoying. You basically have to pay the cost of an entire new pair to get the battery capacity back to where it is usable!

It's the same price? Nothing indicated that the $49 was for servicing two air pods and the charging case - so they changed this in case people thought it was $49 for all 3.

I don't believe Apple ever planned for $49 to cover all 3.

It wouldn't have made sense anyway as you have 3 individual batteries which all will perform differently and have different lifespan. One of your Airpods could need service month 16, the other might need it month 20, so do you think they'd make you pay $49 and then cover you for future ones? Or perhaps you thought they'd replace all 3 batteries when one stops working!

 

[Sheza]

Yeah it is! I have one and so do many others I know. Just go to their website and order a card.

It's not accepted by many places though, due to the processing fees. Doesn't really make sense to get one. Plus it has a fee? I don't know much about American Express, but I just wanted to point out that that his solution of 2 years' insurance was not really available to everyone.
[doublepost=1481925913][/doublepost]

It's the same price? Nothing indicated that the $49 was for servicing two air pods and the charging case - so they changed this in case people thought it was $49 for all 3.

I don't believe Apple ever planned for $49 to cover all 3.

It wouldn't have made sense anyway as you have 3 individual batteries which all will perform differently and have different lifespan. One of your Airpods could need service month 16, the other might need it month 20, so do you think they'd make you pay $49 and then cover you for future ones? Or perhaps you thought they'd replace all 3 batteries when one stops working!

It didn't say each - so my first thought would have been that it replaces all three. How is a customer supposed to know the health status of all three pieces anyway?

 

[Dee2001]

It's the same price? Nothing indicated that the $49 was for servicing two air pods and the charging case - so they changed this in case people thought it was $49 for all 3.

I don't believe Apple ever planned for $49 to cover all 3.

It wouldn't have made sense anyway as you have 3 individual batteries which all will perform differently and have different lifespan. One of your Airpods could need service month 16, the other might need it month 20, so do you think they'd make you pay $49 and then cover you for future ones? Or perhaps you thought they'd replace all 3 batteries when one stops working!

When I first read it I took it as $49 per AirPod battery.

 

[Picapau21]

It's not accepted by many places though, due to the processing fees. Doesn't really make sense to get one. Plus it has a fee? I don't know much about American Express, but I just wanted to point out that that his solution of 2 years' insurance was not really available to everyone.
[doublepost=1481925913][/doublepost]
It didn't say each - so my first thought would have been that it replaces all three. How is a customer supposed to know the health status of all three pieces anyway?

Fair point about not being accepted everywhere but I've found that about 90% of places including apple now accept it. Only really the smaller retailers don't accept it cause of the higher fees Amex charge the retailer. You're also right about the yearly fee. It's £140 for the gold card but if you use it regularly you will make it back in points.

A related but separate point is buying from John Lewis who offer 2 year warranty as standard on most products.

 

[Ma2k5]

It's not accepted by many places though, due to the processing fees. Doesn't really make sense to get one. Plus it has a fee? I don't know much about American Express, but I just wanted to point out that that his solution of 2 years' insurance was not really available to everyone.
[doublepost=1481925913][/doublepost]
It didn't say each - so my first thought would have been that it replaces all three. How is a customer supposed to know the health status of all three pieces anyway?

Apple would be able to test battery capacity before repairing. Also the customer would notice which piece(s) is "misbehaving" otherwise they wouldn't have reported it in the first place.

It was always each, just didn't state it - they have changed the wording so people don't get confused and think it's for all. They were never going to charge $49 to replace all 3, so the OP is incorrect in saying that they have tripled the cost. You can complain that the wording was ambiguous at first but then you can't since they fixed the ambiguity.

You should edit your OP to remove the statement that Apple have tripled the cost, their is no evidence nor any logical basis for your claim. They changed the wording for clarity, the cost remained the same. Just because it was cheaper in your interpretation of the wording before does not mean Apples pricing has changed.