Some iPhone 6 Plus owners may be upgraded to an iPhone 6s Plus for free

Chris Smith

If you own a relatively old iPhone 6 or 6 Plus model, you can restore it to former glory via a simple battery replacement. Many of the iPhone 6 units still in use likely have chemically aged batteries, which trigger iPhone slowdowns. For $29, you can have your battery replaced at an Apple store, instead of the previous $79 repair fee.

In an interesting turn of events, however, it looks like iPhone 6 Plus owners may qualify for an even better deal: a free upgrade to iPhone 6s Plus.

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An internal Apple document distributed to Apple Authorized Service Providers on Friday, and seen by MacRumors explains the new policy. Apparently there’s not enough iPhone 6 Plus stock to go around for whole-device replacements, and a previously leaked document confirmed that Apple doesn’t manufacture the iPhone 6 Plus anymore. Apple isn’t selling any iPhone 6 version in its stores, though some carriers still do.

“Orders for whole unit service inventory of some iPhone 6 Plus models may be substituted to an iPhone 6s Plus until the end of March 2018,” the memo says.

Apple does not explain what would make an iPhone 6 Plus eligible for a whole-device upgrade. But MacRumors points out that the move may be linked to the iPhone 6 Plus battery shortage that was reported recently. A report said a few days ago that replacement batteries won’t be available for the iPhone 6 Plus model again until March or April.

MacRumors notes that Apple can replace the display, battery, speakers, rear camera, or Taptic Engine in stores. Other repairs, however, may need whole-device replacements. Will Apple stores upgrade your iPhone 6 Plus just because you don’t want to wait until March or April for a new battery? You can always schedule a Genius Bar appointment to find out.

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See the original version of this article on BGR.com