With iPhone Battery Software Lock, Apple Tries To Stop Third-Party Repairs

The Apple iPhone will now come with a battery software lock to ensure that customers do not go for third-party repairs.

A report that surfaced Wednesday revealed that Apple activated a feature that disables unauthorized access to battery health data. The feature, called the dormant software lock, ensures that only Apple or an authorized service provider will have access to new iPhone models’ battery replacement and repair.

The iPhone dormant software lock works by giving the users a “service” response whenever they will try to replace their iPhone batteries by themselves. The “service” message is then followed by and “Important Battery” and “unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple battery” messages, that leave the customer with no choice but to seek for an authorized Apple service. Or even waste their time troubleshooting their phones for trouble that isn’t even there.

The “service” message normally appears on iPhones whenever the battery needs replacement. In the case of newer iPhone models, the battery will repeatedly show indications of irregularity once the originally installed battery is removed.

IPhone battery software lock works through the Texas Instruments microcontroller chip that every smartphone battery has. In this case, Apple’s battery chip is equipped with an authentication code that links to the logic board of the specific iPhone where the battery was installed.

The process begins at factory state wherein Apple locks the iPhone batteries to the device, making them irreplaceable even using a genuine iPhone battery. This means that even switching batteries between two genuine Apple devices will be impossible -- unless done through an authorized service center.

As of the moment, the iPhone battery software lock only affects XR, XS and XS Max.

On the other hand, some users were able to find a way to have their batteries replaced even with the iPhone battery software lock around. They found out that the microcontroller chip can be removed from the original iPhone battery and can be soldered carefully to their replacement battery. Since the iPhone logic board is able to detect its matching battery chip, the “service” response will not pop out after the replacement.

However, the process is what Apple customers will have to do at their own risk. Although the iPhone will work normally after the installation, users will not have any indication if their batteries need to be replaced.