Apple iPhone 6S Still Plagued With Battery Problem, to Receive an iOS Update

Dec 07, 2016 09:01 AM EST

Apple does not seem to overcome the iPhone 6S unexpected battery shutdown. Though the tech company has already launched a battery replacement program for affected users, the initial "small number" of iPhone 6S owners now turned out to be more than they thought. Apple has written a new message on their Chinese website and made an update of the situation that includes an "additional diagnostic capability" in the upcoming iOS 10.2.

Apple previously said that there is only "a small number" of iPhone 6S phones that are covered by this issue. They even specified that these devices were manufactured from September and October 2015 and are within a limited serial range. However, the company is changing its tunes in their recent post. Apparently, there a few customers outside the given range by Apple who are also affected by unexpected shutdown. Though they still maintained that the cause of the problem is the prolonged exposure of these batteries to "controlled ambient air" during manufacturing, according to Mac Rumors.

For this reason, the tech giant decided to roll out an additional diagnostic capability in the upcoming iOS 10.2 software update. The said new tool that will become available next week will be used to gather more information on the affected phone. This will in turn help Apple to "improve the algorithms used" to manage the phone's battery performance and shutdowns. If the diagnostic tool does becomes effective in addressing the issue, it will be "delivered in future software updates".

It had been reported that a Chinese consumer protection group had sent a letter to Apple regarding this issue after they have received complaints from iPhone 6S users. Their iPhone 6 phones are unexpectedly shutting down even if the battery life is still over 50 percent. The affected owners also tried to get the recent iOS 10 update to fix the problem but it still persisted.

Apple responded with a battery replacement program. Consumers were advised to visit an Apple Retail Store or any authorized service provider. The phone has to be examined to verify that it is indeed eligible and get a free battery replacement. Those who have already bought a battery can get a refund. According to Macworld, the new battery has to be ordered. It will take seven days at most for the battery to arrive. iPhone 6S users have to back up the data on their iPhone and turn off the Find My iPhone function before the battery is replaced.