BEIJING, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Apple Inc will release a new iPhone operating software with additional battery diagnostic features next week, after offering free battery replacement for "a small number of iPhone 6s" consumers but still receiving more reports from users outside of the affected range.
The latest announcement of Apple, posted on Apple China's website, is regarded as a response to the China Consumers Association asking it to offer free battery replacement for more iPhones besides faulty iPhone 6s models.
With the new iOS software upgrade next week, users are expected to analyze their own iPhones online easily and quickly for battery problems it they exist.
It includes additional diagnostic capability, which allows Apple to gather information over the coming weeks may potentially help it improve the algorithms used to manage battery performance and shutdown. If such improvements can be made, they will be delivered in future software updates, Apple said in the latest statement.
The China consumer association, the country's top consumer rights protection organization, asked Apple China to replace the batteries on all iPhones experiencing unexpected power-off problems, including the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus models. It received "lots of calls and reports" complaining of similar power-off problems on the 6s and other models, the association said in a statement published last week with more than 25,000 clicks and widely spread on social websites.
Apple should take responsibility and offer free battery replacement for all iPhones involved and make it easier for purchasers to avail themselves of the service, it said.
Apple emphasized again that "it's not a safety issue", though it agreed to replace batteries of some iPhone 6s models made in September and October 2015 in China and globally.
The shutdown problems occur because "a battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been, before being assembled into battery packs". (ecns.cn)
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