iPhone 5c Battery Fail

[Tina_Thud_Bump]

I've had my 5c since March 2014. It's been a habit (probably a bad one I don't know) to charge it up overnight & because I use my phone a fair bit during the day for work etc that's been almost every night.

Last Friday my phone inexplicably plunged from 100% charge to 20% & then off completely in a matter of 5 minutes! I was lucky enough to get an appointment straight away at my local Apple Store & their Genius did a diagnostic check on my phone via his laptop & told me my battery was nearly at the end of its life & would need hence the erratic behaviour & so would need replacing (£60 charge from them, £160 from Vodafone - OUCH!).

My question is to check whether this has happened to any of you with your 5c & if it does sound like the battery is failing & not something more serious? Phone works fine but now finding in this last week it's needing to be on charge to use it & even when 3G etc turned off to preserve the battery, it's turning off after just taking a couple of photos

Just don't want to pay out for a new battery installation (which I have found cheaper from a trusted, independent shop - bad luck for trying to rip me off Voda / Apple) if it might be something else.

Thoughts please?

Thanks so much as always

Tina xx

[drey_p]

Hi Tina_Thud_Bump

I'm afraid that, from what you have described, I am inclined to agree with the diagnosis - your battery has been exhausted from being charged too much. Batteries only have a finite amount of charges in them and leaving them on charge can cause them to wear out quite quickly.  A sure sign of a worn out battery is the charge suddenly dropping or the phone not holding charge at all. 

Please be aware that having the battery replaced by an independent shop may well void your warranty.  So, if you have issues in the future, you may have problems getting the device repaired under warranty.  I personally, would only deal with Apple on this.

I hope that other customers who read this may reconsider leaving the device on charge overnight on a regular basis. 

[BandOfBrothers]

Hi

I've used iPhones since the iPhone 4 and am now using the iPhone 6 Plus and have charged mine overnight all the time from day 1. This charging pattern does not have a deteremental effect on the battery as the iPhone only draws from the power source what it needs. Once 100% charged it then changes to basically a trickle charge.

 link regarding Battery https://www.apple.com/uk/batteries/maximizing-performance/

I would suggest you speak to  via a https://www.apple.com/uk/retail/geniusbar/ and they will run a diagnostic on the iPhone for you. The iPhone comes with a 12 month warranty.

Please reconsider having the battery replaced independently if you wish to preserve any remaining warranty.

 also provide an out of warranty phone replacement or a cost for battery replacement.

[Tina_Thud_Bump]

Thank both for your reply. You contradict each other on battery use, so I'l glean that advice elsewhere I think, but at least you do both agree it's a battery issue.

As my post indicates, the phone is over a year old & so out of warranty anyway now (I did not take out Apple Care or any other extended plans as my iPhone 4 still works well on its original battery & with no advice to the contrary from Vodafone at the time I upgraded I didn't feel it necessary). Therefore I will be getting the battery replaced by the cheaper independent shop, especially as it was recommended to me by my local Vodafone shop as well as several other people.

Thanks again for your input.

Tina

[drey_p]

On a slightly more technical level leaving the phone on charge can cause damage to the battery.  Whilst it is smart enough to stop charging when it is full and only top up as needed, it does get hot whilst constantly doing this.  It is the heat that causes damage to the battery and this is worsened if you have a case on the device as the heat can't easily escape.  I didn't want to get into a technical explanation of what was wrong with leaving the phone on charge which is why I left is as a general "leaving them on charge can cause them to wear out quite quickly"

The other thing is that Lithium Ion batteries, which is what you have in your phone, only have a finite number of charging cycles in them.  If you are constantly running your battery down and charging it up, you are going to run out of them. It is better to top them up regularly rather than run them down completely.  I'd always recommend trying to never let your phone battery get below 20% and ideally charging it when it reaches 30% or 40%

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@Tina_Thud_Bump wrote:
the phone is over a year old & so out of warranty anyway now

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You may want to check that.  In the UK the phone is covered by a 24 month warranty despite what Apple may say.  Although this doesn't cover consumable items such as batteries which usually have a seperate warranty typically about 6 months or so. 

[kids]

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@Tina_Thud_Bump wrote:
 Therefore I will be getting the battery replaced by the cheaper independent shop, especially as it was recommended to me by my local Vodafone shop as well as several other people.

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The only problem with having your phone repaired by an independant repair shop is that although you will get a battery it will not be an Apple approved battery.

Apple do not supply batteries to anyone other than one of their authorised dealers.

The cost quoted by Apple will not only get you a genuine battery they will simply swap out the phone for a refurbished unit which in 99% of cases are as good as new.

[BandOfBrothers]

No problem.

If you have household content insurance or some bank accounts give cover too check use. T&C and excess fees need to be looked at.

Take care.

[BandOfBrothers]

The information I have is from the official chat online system where you ask to an  specialist.

[drey_p]

Ask them about the affect of heat on Lithium Ion batteries - that is the killer.

Also, I'd take what those guys have to say with a pinch of salt - they have told people a whole lot of nonsense before.

[Tina_Thud_Bump]

"The cost quoted by Apple will not only get you a genuine battery they will simply swap out the phone for a refurbished unit which in 99% of cases are as good as new."

What do you mean by "swap out" the phone? If you mean loan me one while they take the hour to replace the battery in mine, that's not an issue for me. The independent shop will also do that in the same timeframe. As for the origin of the battery, I have several friends who have had the same work carried out by this independent & not one has had an issue. I like those odds so I'm happy to go with them as a local business to me. I begrudge paying Apple even more for such an quick battery fail when the battery on my iPhone 4 is still perfectly holding charge!

And yes, I did of course check prior to posting - Vodafone only give 1 year warranty on their Apple devices (2 years for all other makes) & Apple Store said same but as battery not included (if you'll pardon the pun) that point is somewhat moot

Thanks all, sorted now