It’s a good idea to keep a spare or older standby phone. Not every problem can be fixed the same day, I think.

That is a good option too. Buy a new phone for yourself and send the old one for battery replacement. Then later the old one becomes your spare or standby, after batt has been changed.

It all depends on the original battery’s status. If it wasn’t in a degraded condition prior to replacement, performance wouldn’t have been throttled by the os.

I’m running 11b6 on my ip6 and the battery health status is 100% according to the os. Nevertheless, 11.3 does feel a bit snappier than 11.2. Maybe due to improvements in the os and really nothing to do with the battery

Can say the same about Apple store diagnosis too, no?

I’ll probably change batt before the end of the year anyway. RM129 is cheap considering Apple’s normal pricing.

LTE and 4G are the same, no?

I took my old ip6 to the Switch service center (Tanjung Tokong, Penang) last weekend. Had them take a look at it and they told me that the battery was indeed bloated and the top shell of the phone was pushed out of the frame.

Was informed that it'll cost RM480 for me to get a replacement unit.

30 mins later, things went downhill. The tech discovered that the back metal shell was bent a bit (i.e. phone wasn't flat) and this made me ineligible for the RM480 offer.

Oh well. Will take the phone to a 3rd party repairer this evening.

Will decide later whether to go ahead with repair or to just buy a new phone for my son.

My ip6 was replacement unit from Switch, I think I got this unit in 2017.

The back is bent a bit already. Wasn't offered any RM199 replacement.

Switch has 2 or 3 official Apple service centers in Penang. Don't think there's any other unless I come down to Klang Valley.

Got my ip6 battery replaced at third party center. Took about 30 mins, RM180 with 90 day warranty and iOS 12.1 is happily running fine on the phone now.

Where am I supposed to see this option?

Doesn’t apply to ip6, at least that’s what the changelog stated.

Not at an Apple authorised service center. Switch rejected my claim/request.

Switch service center at Fettes Park is open on Saturdays.

I dunno about you but I am very uncomfortable with my phone having all my data in the hands of someone else.

I would do a full backup to iTunes on PC then wipe the phone first.