Apple to Raise Battery Replacement Fee by 30,000 Won Starting March

iPhone Repair Fees to Increase by $20 Starting March
Device Part Costs Rise Due to Inflation
Some View It as a Strategy to Encourage New Purchases

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Apple has announced that starting from March, it will raise the battery replacement costs for older iPhone models released before last year. This measure is to respond to the rising costs of parts and labor due to inflation.

On the 3rd, Apple stated on its official website that from March 1, the battery replacement fee for older iPhones released before 2022 will increase by $20. Accordingly, the battery replacement cost for iPhone 13 users will rise from the previous $69 to $89. In South Korea, the repair cost for older iPhone batteries, which was 79,200 KRW, will increase to 109,800 KRW starting in March.

Apple will also raise battery replacement costs for MacBooks and iPads starting in March. For iPads, the cost will increase by $20, while MacBook Air and MacBook Pro models will see increases of $30 and $50 respectively. In South Korea, the battery replacement fees have been raised by 53,000 KRW for iPads, and by 50,000 KRW and 80,000 KRW for MacBook Air and MacBook Pro respectively. However, this price increase does not apply to AppleCare subscribers.

The main reason Apple has significantly raised replacement costs is the recent sharp increase in labor and parts expenses. The U.S. economic media outlet CNBC reported, "Due to the effects of inflation, Apple suffered significant losses in its business last year," and added, "As a result, the company decided to raise the price of the iPhone 14 in the global market."

Additionally, it appears that there is a strategy to encourage users to purchase new iPhones. As battery replacement costs rise, consumers are more likely to choose buying a new iPhone rather than repairing their existing models.

In fact, after Apple was embroiled in controversy in 2017 for allegedly deliberately slowing down product performance to extend battery life, it drastically reduced the battery replacement price from $79 to $29 as a crisis response. This led to a surge in cases where consumers intentionally degraded the performance of older models and then replaced the battery with a new one instead of purchasing new models.

This resulted in sluggish iPhone sales. Apple significantly lowered its earnings forecast for the first quarter of 2019, citing poor iPhone sales due to the reduced battery replacement costs as a cause. At that time, Apple CEO Tim Cook explained in a letter to investors that the inexpensive battery replacement program had impacted Apple's profits.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.