iPhone battery replacement in India goes live starting at Rs 2K

After apologizing for slowing down performance of older iPhones like iPhone 6, 6s, SE and the iPhone 7, Apple announced a new battery replacement program slashing the price of replacement batteries from $79 to $29.

The programme is now available in India and other parts of the world, about a month earlier than expected. Apple will now charge Rs 2,000 (plus taxes) for any user with an iPhone 6 or later, whose battery needs to be replaced. The price has been dropped from approximately Rs 6,000 (plus taxes) the partner service centers charged earlier.

"We've always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible. Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 - from $79 to $29. We expected to need more time to be ready, but we are happy to offer our customers the lower pricing right away. Initial supplies of some replacement batteries may be limited," Apple said in a statement.

The iPhone maker had been facing criticism and several lawsuits from customers after the company had admitted it was managing peak performance on older iPhones. Apple had said it was doing this to avoid shutdowns on older iPhones with decaying batteries, which were unable to handle the load of peak performance.

In the US, Apple reduced the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 -- from $79 to $29. The Cupertino, California-headquartered company initially said that the batteries would be available at the discounted price from late January through December 2018.