Apple’s Letter Reveals ‘Strong Demand’ for Replacement iPhone Batteries

Apple wrote a letter to the U.S. lawmakers on Feb. 2 which has been made public today by the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, revealing it has seen “strong demand” for replacement iPhone batteries and may offer rebates for consumers who paid full price for new batteries, Reuters is reporting.

In the letter released Tuesday, amid nagging allegations that it slowed down phones with older batteries as a way to push people into buying new phones, the company said it was considering issuing rebates to consumers who paid full price for replacement batteries.

The letter also said Apple provided a phone-slowing software update in January 2017 but did not disclose it until a month later. 

Apple also mentioned in the letter that it had known about battery problems caused by a manufacturing defect as early as fall 2016. “Consumers rely on clear and transparent disclosures from manufacturers to understand why their device may experience performance changes”, said Senator John Thune, a Republican who chairs the committee. He added that Apple has acknowledged that its initial disclosures came up short.

So far, some 50 proposed class action lawsuits have been filed over Apple’s latest iPhone software update, which they allege caused unexpected shutdowns and hampered the performance of iPhone models of the SE, 6 and 7 lines.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission also said they were investigating whether Apple violated securities laws concerning its disclosures that it slowed older iPhones.