How I Used a Credit Card Perk to Replace My iPhone Battery Without AppleCare

I’ve been using my iPhone 12 Pro Max for just over three years, and it’s still a great device for my needs. But after that much time, it’s clear that its battery no longer holds the charge it used to. For some people, this might be a reason to trade in their phone to get a new one, especially now that Apple’s iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro phones include a more powerful processor and better cameras.
But my iPhone still works quite well in every other respect.
Despite being released almost four years ago in 2020, I’m still quite happy with my iPhone’s 6.7-inch OLED display and the quality of the 12-megapixel camera system, and I’m content that my phone runs nearly every app in the App Store, apart from the more intensive games that exclusively run on the iPhone 15 Pro, 15 Pro Max and iPhone 16 phones. The iPhone 16 Pro Max does have a much-improved camera, USB-C support and access to the Apple Intelligence feature suite, but I’m not craving these features right now. I especially don’t want to pay over $1,000 for a new phone, nor do I want to trade in my device for a subsidy in exchange for having to commit to T-Mobile service for another two years.
Making the decision to swap out the battery, a repair that any Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider can do, was easy since it’s much cheaper than buying a new phone. Doing this will prolong the life of my device at a much smaller investment than buying a whole other phone and will help my phone last a full day again by running on a fresh new battery. The only issue with this choice is that I don’t have an AppleCare plan or a traditional phone insurance plan attached to my iPhone. This could mean I have to eat the full $89 pre-tax price that Apple charges for a battery service with this iPhone model.
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In place of AppleCare, I instead was able to get partially reimbursed for my battery service through my credit card’s cell phone insurance perk. This feature, which is available on several credit cards, allows you to file a claim when your phone is broken and get reimbursed, minus a deductible. To qualify, you have to use your eligible credit card to pay for your cell phone bill every month and collect a variety of documents during the repair process that will need to be submitted when making a claim.
The exact rules will vary depending on your credit card, but here I’ll talk about how I made use of the perk using my Chase Freedom Flex®* card. This card counts as a World Elite Mastercard, and as such, the steps will be similar for any other credit card that bears the same designation. Some World Elite Mastercards do have an annual fee, but the Freedom Flex does not. This makes it a more passive method of phone insurance, without having to set up a recurring payment with either Apple for AppleCare or with a wireless carrier for phone insurance.
Your iPhone’s Battery Health and Charging page needs to show this message for the battery service to count as a repair. Mike Sorrentino/CNET
The crucial first step to filing a claim
The first step for using this process involved a bit of intentional waiting for my iPhone’s battery capacity to degrade under 80% of its maximum capacity. That’s because to qualify as a repair, my iPhone needed to declare that the battery needed service. This is a bit frustrating, as I certainly noticed my phone having less battery life when I was down to 85% and less. Yet until the battery depleted under 80%, the phone was not considered in need of repair.
You can check the status of your battery’s health by tapping Settings, then Battery and then going to Battery Health & Charging. On this page, your iPhone will show its current Maximum Capacity. Once my battery’s capacity fell below 80%, this page displayed a message stating that my battery’s health was