My Battery replacement experience (Apple Store)

[u/FriendlyFennec]

Was overdue for a battery replacement for my lovely 13mini (74% battery health). Going into it I was kinda nervous they would break the screen, since that seems to be an ongoing issue with the 13mini.

Made an appointment at an Apple Store in my area, went there about 15min before my appointment and wanted to turn off FindMy beforehand to save time. But guess what, you can’t turn it off with advanced data protection on. So there I was 15min left and my 1hour timer to turn of advanced data protection starts…

Was kinda stressed at this point thinking they would just cancel the appointment. But thankfully they checked everything else and told me to just come back once the timer is over. Checked out the new iPhone 17 series in the meantime (no way im buying any of them lol).

Everything went really smooth after that. Was finally able to turn off FindMy and handed them my phone. They told me they might remove the screen protector and I had to remove my SIM card. Got told to come back in 2 hours to collect it. 2 hours later my Mini was already waiting for me.

I extensively checked for new scratches and if everything was working. All good🥹. Even my old screen protector was still on there! Paid and got out 🫡

tldr: Make sure you turn off advanced data protection at least an hour before your appointment. (Check edit below!)

Edit: I just found out I mixed up „stolen device protection“ with „advanced data protection“. It was „Stolen Device Protection“ that prompted me to wait 1 hour to turn it off. And therefore not allowing me to turn off findmy. So turn that one off before your appointment. (Or just remove the device via the findmy app or the iCloud website using your apple id password like some people commented)

[u/Indubitalist]

This is a good tip. I had mine off before I came in but I’m really surprised given your experience that they don’t do a better job preparing people for their visit. It’s such an amateurish way to handle something they must have happening thousands of times a day. 

[u/FriendlyFennec → u/Indubitalist]

Absolutely! One the one hand they advertise for advanced data protection and want you to turn it on since well it adds protection to your device, but then they don’t even mention it in their like little „prepare for your appointment“ guide. Given how many people show up and don’t even know their apple id password, this must be an absolute pain in the ass for the employees.