Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
arstechnica.com
Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
1–10 of 55 posts
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#2If only there were a way to quickly swap out defective, used batteries for new, safe batteries without needing to return a critical device to the manufacturer.
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#3If only there were a way to quickly swap out defective, used batteries for new, safe batteries without needing to return a critical device to the manufacturer.
Someone needs to first make replacement batteries in the right dimensions, voltage, etc...
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#4If only there were a way to quickly swap out defective, used batteries for new, safe batteries without needing to return a critical device to the manufacturer.
Someone needs to first make replacement batteries in the right dimensions, voltage, etc...
It takes about five seconds after a new phone is released for Chinese factories to design and start selling all sorts of accessories, including batteries. High quality ones too.
The average consumer needs to be able to swap it without doing deep surgery on the phone, and that's on the phone's manufacturer.
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#5Reminds me of the iPhone throttling battery fiasco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batterygate
What happened was:
1. Battery defects caused some of them to underperform, leading the battery management subsystem to shut down the phone due to voltage drop when too much current was drawn.
2. To work around the shutdown issue (very bad), Apple implemented throttling (IMHO less bad) in a new version of iOS, to prevent too much current from being drawn. They figured the throttling would be so light as to be unnoticeable to users, except...
3. Benchmarkers noticed the throttling, and all hell broke loose.
Battery defects are unfortunate, but the decision to make them not user-serviceable leads to a host of bad downstream decisions.
(Of course, making them user-serviceable also leads to a host of other difficult decisions, and I'm not just talking about opening the case. What happens to system design when you can no longer trust the battery's specs?)
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#6If only there were a way to quickly swap out defective, used batteries for new, safe batteries without needing to return a critical device to the manufacturer.
Pretty much any phone repair store swaps them out in store. I've done exactly a Pixel 6 recently.
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Someone needs to first make replacement batteries in the right dimensions, voltage, etc...
It takes about five seconds after a new phone is released for Chinese factories to design and start selling all sorts of accessories, including batteries. High quality ones too. The average consumer needs to be able to swap it without doing deep surgery on the phone, and that's on the phone's manufacturer.
The same factories that made the current battery that is a fire risk. yes. or maybe different ones, with no vetting for how dangerous their batteries are.
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#8If only there were a way to quickly swap out defective, used batteries for new, safe batteries without needing to return a critical device to the manufacturer.
I think it's sad and funny that most of the replies to this assume the difficulty of the non-replaceable battery. For years, it was the way things worked. Smaller battery, maybe a spare in your pocket. Then the iPhone:(
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#9First 4a, now 6a. At least they're giving 100 USD this time and 6a batteries not total dogshit like 4a and it won't turn into landline.
Annoying 150 USD store credit can't go towards something like Youtube Premium. Or multiple 6a credits can't be stacked on 1 device. Cause I'm never touching a pixel again.
Re: Google nerfs Pixel 6a batteries following fire hazard
#10Reminds me of the iPhone throttling battery fiasco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batterygate What happened was: 1. Battery defects caused some of them to underperform, leading the battery management subsystem to shut down the phone due to voltage drop when too much current was drawn. 2. To work around the shutdown issue (very bad), Apple implemented throttling (IMHO less bad) in a new version of iOS, to prevent too m…
My recollection is different. The batteries were not defective. They simply got old in terms of cycle life and once they were old enough, they could not support the peak current needed by the phones causing crashes. Apple shipped an iOS update that throttled the CPU frequencies of phones with old batteries and called it a stability update without explaining anything. Phones stopped crashing, but started to become slower. Then 12-18 months later, people realized how the update worked and there was outrage because of how Apple handled it. Then Apple shipped an update to give customers visibility into this, published documentation and offered to replace batteries that were below 80% capacity for $29 for a year.