Our sources say they got a report from iFixit which states that the iPhones XS, XR, and XS Max will be displaying a prompt which says that batteries in the phones require servicing if Apple does not replace the battery. This prompt will be displayed in the iOS 12 as well as the iOS 13 beta and it doesn’t matter whether a genuine Apple battery was put in the phone or not what matters is that either Apple or any one of its Authorized Service Providers were the ones that installed the replacement.
If you head to your iPhone’s “Battery Health” menu where the “Service” message appears, you will then see an “Important Battery Message” which reads “Unable to verify this iPhone has a genuine Apple Battery. Health information not available for this battery.” The message will replace the usual percentage indicator which reveals the health of the battery that is installed in the phone.
Even though iFixit has noted that the messages do not necessarily have any effects on the functionality of the battery, it does however create a difficulty for the owner in the sense that they wouldn’t be able to know if a battery requires replacement or not. The battery may be a new one or it may be one that is close to failing totally, but the phone will just tell you that the battery needs servicing. On this note, our sources reached out to Apple for any comments but they didn’t get any.
Our sources also gathered that the source of the message (prompt) is a Texas Instruments microcontroller that is installed on the battery which usually is what gives information regarding the capacity of the battery and the temperature to the device. Is not a new thing to find microcontrollers on batteries because most batteries have them, however with Apple, the microcontrollers on their batteries have an authentication feature which locks battery replacements down to only repair technicians authorized by Apple.
The idea behind this is that you can’t take your iPhone battery to just any place to have it replaced because doing so will undoubtedly risk your battery’s ability to function. That means that you can’t employ the services of iFixit repair kits or any other third-party shop where phones are fixed. Although as reports point out, Apple has giving its technicians permission to fix phones with third-party batteries but the disadvantage is that if your residence is far from the authorized service providers of the company, you can’t get your battery fixed.
