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Apple bumps the iPhone 14 Pro Max battery replacement price by 45%

By Daniel Petrov

Published: Sep 13, 2022, 3:23 AM

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Apple

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The days of free or $29 iPhone battery replacements that Apple initiated after the "planned obsolescence" brouhaha are long gone, and it will now cost you quite a bit more to replace an iPhone 14 series battery compared to their iPhone 13 brethren.

iPhone 14 Pro Max battery replacement price

For some reason, Apple is charging $129 for swapping the battery of the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, whereas it lists an $89 battery replacement price for the iPhone 13 models.

This is a 45% iPhone 14 battery repair price increase, even though some of the models, like the iPhone 14 Pro Max, actually have slightly smaller battery capacity than their predecessor.

Of course, if you sign up to AppleCare+ at $13.50 a month for the iPhone 14 Pro Max, you will have unlimited repairs when the year of warranty expires, whereas until recently you only had the right for two annual repairs.

AT&T iPhone 14 Pro Max can be had for just $99, or $1000 off

Get the iPhone 14 Pro Max on AT&T for $1000 off when trading in an eligible smartphone, on a qualifying installment and a qualifying Unlimited plan (basically every unlimited plan other than the Unlimited Value Plus plan).

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Save with Verizon's iPhone 14 Pro Max One Unlimited iPhone plan offer

Verizon has a new and exclusive One Unlimited for iPhone plan bundle with the 14 Pro Max and will give you $1000 towards its purchase for any iPhone 11 Pro and up, even with cracked screen damage. Get Apple One (Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, and iCloud+) in one plan, with Verizon 5G Ultra Wideband to boot. Switchers get $200 extra in the form of a Verizon gift card.

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This sum also brings loss and theft protection, but, in the case of batteries at least, it may not be necessary as they are now produced to last at least 800 full cycles before battery degradation starts to creep in.

That's quite a bit of years and the phone will be good as new for a $129 battery swap then, so the $40 increase in price can be chalked off to Apple's moving in mysterious ways to protect its profit margins.

Granted, Chinese brands like Oppo or OnePlus are already placing batteries in their phones that are capable of being charged from zero to full in about 20 minutes while at the same time being rated as good for at least 1600 cycles. Even midrangers like the OnePlus 10T that T-Mobile sells carry 5000mAh batteries that our tests against the iPhone 13 showed can be fully charged in 23 minutes from a completely depleted state.

Apple, as we know, takes baby steps in all upgrade directions, though, as it rightfully concludes that putting all of the latest technologies in the latest iPhones would give little reasons for its fans to upgrade in two years or so as they see how the already prolonged upgrade cycle is wreaking havoc in Android phone makers' profit margins.

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Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena since 2010, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.