Rogue fake battery status microchips are tricking thousands into purchasing flawed used iPhones

Thousands of unsuspecting buyers of used iPhones across the world have been sold devices containing a concealed microchip that deceptively hides the true status of battery health.

In reality, these batteries may be significantly worn down or even near depletion, misleading customers about their device’s true condition.

The microchips, which cost as little as £1.50, enable refurbishers to deliver phones to traders without incurring the cost of replacing a battery which may be out of spec. These chips are inserted into recycled iPhones by rogue refurbishers, mainly operating out of China but also globally. Until now they have been undetectable by industry-standard quality control processes unless the phones are opened up.

The tiny chip is embedded among the phone’s components and connect to the battery, manipulating it to display a false state of excellent health—even when the true health reading may be 80 percent or lower.

Most insurance companies and network buyers will only purchase iPhones that still maintain at least 85 per cent of battery capacity. Typically, an iPhone will alert its owner with a pop-up notification if battery health is degraded, recommending repair. However, the rogue microchip suppresses this message, leading the second owner to believe their iPhone has a battery up to specification.

When an iPhone undergoes refurbishment, companies face two choices: they can replace the battery at an estimated cost of around £65, or they can leave the unhealthy battery in place and insert the £1.50 component between the battery and the motherboard. As a result, both the iPhone and digital quality control tools “think” the battery is fully healthy, allowing it to pass industry-standard quality tests.

Previously, the only way to detect the rogue chip was to dismantle the phone and physically remove it. However, independent quality assurance and configuration company BlankIT has now developed a solution to identify iPhones with these rogue chips without dismantling the device.

“The highest percentage of returns in the circular market is due to power or no-power faults. Now we know why. These third-party chips hide the true battery health, giving consumers a poor experience when buying secondary devices,” said BlankIT founder Paul Schofield.

“The market is increasingly competitive, with everyone looking for an edge. For top-tier buyers, such as networks and retailers, refurbished devices are primarily a cost-effective revenue stream. But if the iPhones are not fully verified, how would the buyer know if they’ve been tampered with?”

“We have been working closely with two major retailers who share our concern. In response to their concerns, we developed a solution to check if their stock has been compromised without opening the devices. This solution has been running in the background during our standard processing, and we were shocked by the volume of stock hiding these chips.”

Schofield estimates that a shockingly large volume of refurbished iPhones may contain these £1.50 chips, installed by rogue companies. On further investigation he suspects claims the fraudulent practise has been ongoing for about two years, enabling hundreds of thousands of iPhones to be sold without the need to install new batteries.

“Inserting these tags into devices is shortsighted. The consumer receives a device that doesn’t perform as it should, making them less likely to purchase a used device again. This practice also disrupts the supply chain. If a buyer detects contaminated stock, they will cancel the order, return the delivery, and seek a new, untampered supply,” Schofield added.

Ricky Panesar, CEO of Apple prouducts repair specialists iCorrect, explained:

“Tag-on” flexes came about because Apple encrypted the microchip in its battery management system, storing battery health data on a read-only memory chip programmed at the factory. This change started with the iPhone 11, and by the iPhone 12, tag-on flexes began appearing, though the early versions weren’t great.

“In a perfect world,. with Right to Repair in mind) we’d just replace the old battery cell, move over the battery management system and let the iPhone recalibrate itself, thus no need for a tag-on flex.

“But these flexes instead trick the iPhone into thinking the battery is always at 100 per cent, even if the battery cell hasn’t been replaced. We actually saw similar tech back with the iPhone 6s, where aftermarket batteries would still read 100 per cent after a year, even if the battery was struggling.

“The best way to use these tag-on flexes was as a temporary tool after swapping a battery cell. We’d leave it attached for about 20-30 minutes while the iPhone charged, letting the phone read the “new battery data.” After that, the flex could be removed, and the health would display accurately, depleting somewhat normally. We shared these insights with other repair firms, but most didn’t adopt this method since it added extra repair time.

“The biggest issue we found was that leaving these tags attached could cause the iPhone to fail, as Paul Schofield confirms It’s a huge problem as, when the flex fails as it shorts to ground mimicking a failed logic board.

“The iPhone was never designed to have an additional flex attached, especially within the power circuit via the battery. I couldn’t even imagine how many iPhones have been sold with these attached inside. Apple’s recent iOS 18.1 update should address many of these issues by allowing battery health visibility even with aftermarket batteries”.