Fanbois are accustomed to their new iDevices having problems. As we’ve already seen, previous faulty devices have been plagued with a yellowish tint on the screen, WiFi connectivity issues, camera problems, and even battery problems, but those usually go away when a new software update rolls out, or when the adhesive used on the screen completely dries, in the case of the yellowish screens.

The new iPhone 5s was supposed to have a much better battery life compared to older iPhone models, but some users have bee experiencing battery drain at an alarming rate – not at all in accordance with Apple’s promises. Some users might have thought this is just a bug, or that they have too many apps running in the background, but now Apple has owned up to the fact that in some iPhones, the battery may be defective.

What that means is, no software update or tinkering with the device’s settings will fix the issue.

Defective batteries

According to a report from The New York Times, a manufacturing defect has caused the batteries in some iPhone 5s devices to drain quickly, and also to charge at a much slower rate than advertised.

Apple is aware of the issue and has released a statement to address the concerns of affected consumers.

“We recently discovered a manufacturing issue affecting a very limited number of iPhone 5S devices that could cause the battery to take longer to charge or result in reduced battery life. We are reaching out to customers with affected phones and will provide them with a replacement phone.”

Manufacturing defects are different from defective batteries. In this case, the batteries themselves are the problem, while in ‘normal’ manufacturing defects, a component or several components is usually held to blame.

Apple’s buying time

Apple has yet to identify what’s causing some batteries to be defective, nor does it know how many new iPhone 5s’ are affected, but it was implied that there could be “a few thousand phones” experiencing the problem.

If you are affected by this, head to the nearest Apple Store to have your iPhone’s battery replaced free of charge.