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Siri on my Apple Watch Told Me I Overate

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How was your Thanksgiving weekend? Hope you ate and shop well. I must have eaten very well based on what AI-entity Siri told me via my first generation Apple Watch. Simply put, I overstuffed myself and my watch.

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See the face of the Apple Watch separating from the body? Yup, a sure sign of overstuffing. Or perhaps yet another of my Apple devices boycots Thanksgiving?

But really, there is a known issue with swollen batteries for the first generation Apple Watches as I have learned. Amazingly, I text chatted with an Apple support rep on Thanksgiving day and was authorized a return to a service center. A FedEx box arrived on Saturday to ship out the working-but-separated watch. I shipped out on Monday and unbelievably by Wednesday, I had a replacement (first generation) Apple Watch on my wrist.

Thanks Apple! And Siri, I’ll try to cut back my eating during Christmas and New Years.

iPhone Battery Replacement Update

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Update 1/5/2018: Battery changed out after making a return “appointment.” Servicing took about 90 minutes. Store is full of customers wanting to check out their iPhone battery condition. iPhone 6 feels noticeably faster with the battery replacement.

Update 1/4/2018: Battery has arrived in store and need to schedule an appointment when to bring the phone in. I also got an email stating stop by anything (within 7 days), but it’s better to call back and actually set a time for the repair (1 to 2 hours).

After hearing that Apple updated its iPhone battery replacement program to begin immediately rather than late January, I made an appointment for Sunday, December 31, 2017. Unfortunately, the Kahala Apple Store Genius Bar had already exhausted its supply of in-house batteries on Saturday.

The Genius did run through a hardware diagnostic as a formality but didn’t find anything wrong with the iPhone 6 or its battery. He did say that we could change the battery for $30 regardless of the battery condition. We now have to wait about three to five days for a battery shipment then return to the Apple Store when notified.

From that point, it’s a one-hour service to swap out the battery. Not bad for $30.

And while you’re at the Apple Store, don’t look at different bands for the Apple Watch. Otherwise you might give in and get something like this deceiptively multi-colored “black” Sport Loop. Although described as black, the band has iridescent qualities showing off red, blue, green, and even more colors. It’s super nice and actually very comfortable!