Apple to raise battery replacement prices in Taiwan

蘋果提高台灣電池更換價格

Taipei-area Genius Bar reservations fully booked for battery replacement


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — On a recent weekday afternoon, a half dozen people stood in line for Apple’s Genius Bar service at Apple’s Xinyi A13 location.

The line was longer than normal ahead of a March 1st price hike announced for iPhone battery replacements. According to a Yahoo report, an NT$800 increase is expected. This will be approximately a 30% jump over the current NT$2,050 charge for replacing batteries on models ranging from iPhoneX to iPhone13.

A Genius Bar attendant said news of the price hike is causing big crowds to book the service online with most reservations throughout the Taipei area fully booked for the upcoming week (Jan 9-13).

Battery replacement service appointments can be accessed through the Apple website, or, according to this particular attendant, through the Apple Care app, which can be downloaded on your phone.

“It’s much quicker and easier to use the app, and you can book by just typing in your phone number,” said the attendant.

Use of the Apple Support app also allows one to book a battery replacement appointment should someone cancel. This occasionally happens and iPhone users are encouraged to continually check availability.

She added that a complete iPhone system check and battery replacement can be done in a few hours at the earliest, though late-arriving individuals (6 p.m. or later) may need to wait till the following day to pick up their phones.

And before sending phones in for repair, precautions should be undertaken, such as backing up all data on the phone and deleting sensitive data.

Apple deems a battery ready for replacement if dropping below 80% prompts the following warning: “Your battery’s health is significantly degraded. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery to restore full performance and capacity.”

In 2018, Apple lowered the price of battery replacement from around NT$2,000 to NT$1,000 to account for charges that it intentionally slowed the performance of older iPhones to prevent sudden battery shutdowns.

The upcoming price hike for batteries in March is expected to account for supply chain issues and inflationary pressure. The price hike for batteries may be an incentive for many to trade-in their old iPhones and purchase newer models.