We received a question from one of our readers earlier this week that made me cringe, cower in fear, and heavily debate posting the answer. He had just been to the Genius Bar and they had replaced his under-warranty iPhone for a hardware issue. He then asked us what the quality of said iPhone would be; is it new or refurbished, and will it be a problem in the future?

Having spent time working behind the Genius Bar, as a technician at an Apple Authorized Service Provider, and now as the owner of my own repair shop in Denver... I know the history of the replacement parts and where they come from. If you have been involved with Apple repairs, you will probably know what I'm reluctant to tell you. If you are merely a consumer, prepare to be disappointed.

The vast majority of parts that Apple ships to repair centers are what they consider "re-manufactured." As a Genius, I was coached to explain that process when we were asked where the parts came from. Customers would always respond with, "Wait, so you're giving me a refurbished iPhone?"

I was told to say no, and to follow it by saying, "re-manufactured parts or products are different than refurbished. Someone may have used your device before you if it's a refurbished product... but in the re-manufacturing process, Apple uses known-good parts and builds new units out of them." So, they added a fake, nonsensical name to pretend that their parts or products weren't refurbished.

What does this mean? The iPhone that you just received looks new on the outside because it has new glass, a new case, new battery... but the rest of the device is fair game for refurbished parts. The logic board, audio assembly, LCD, pretty much anything else on the inside that isn't visible from the exterior could be from another person's iPhone. I'm not saying that every part is used, every time... they'll use new parts if that's what they have in stock. But if they have working used parts, they won't hesitate to put them in your replacement iPhone. There is usually one scenario that will allot for a new replacement: if you purchased your device less than 14 days ago. In that case, they have the ability to do a POS (Point of Sale) swap instead of a repair. Any swap outside of 14 days needs a very good explanation and a manager's approval.

This doesn't just apply to iPhones and iPods; it actually applies to any part they put into your Apple product. The logic board they put into your MacBook Pro: refurbished. The optical drive they put into your iMac: refurbished. The DC-In Board they put into your PowerBook G4: refurbished. There are many, many parts out there that Apple will happily replace for you, but beware -- it's probably not new. Re-manufactured is no different than refurbished.

If you look at it from the environmental aspect, I have to give Apple some respect for repairing broken parts instead of just tossing them in the dump. Still, that doesn't mean that I -- as a consumer -- want someone's "fixed" two-year-old logic board going into my computer. At this point, though, I don't have much of a choice.

ifoAppleStore is reporting that Apple has instituted a new policy that will let iPhone owners swap their liquid-damaged iPhones for replacements. For $199US, customers can swap their defunct phones for a refurb unit, provided that it succumbed to an out-of-warranty encounter with liquid. Here's the catch: Said swap renews your 2-year contract with AT&T -- so it's pretty much like buying a new phone, except if you were to do that out of contract it would cost you $499 for a 16GB unit.*

Of course, this could also be another way to clear current iPhone inventory in preparation for a new model.

We couldn't determine if sweat-induced failures are covered by this program, but we'll let you know if we find out.

*Update: Apple has told us that a replacement under out-of-warranty service would not renew a customer's contract. We apologize for the error.

Apple posted details about how much it will cost to replace the battery in the new 17-inch MacBook Pro notebooks announced at last week's Macworld Expo.

The cost works out as follows:

• United States: $179
• Canada: C$219
• Europe: €179 (including VAT)
• United Kingdom: £139 (including VAT)
• Japan: ¥19,800 (including tax)
• Australia: A$299 (including VAT)
• China: 1498 RMB (including VAT)

Apple says batteries can be replaced and your laptop returned to you the same day if you make an appointment at an Apple retail store. Otherwise, mail-in replacement will take three to four business days after the unit arrives at depot.

Apple also says that battery replacement services may be available at your local Apple Authorized Service Provider, but the prices may vary from those listed on Apple's website.

Note that Apple claims these batteries will last three times as long as conventional laptop batteries (up to five years or 1,000 cycles), and any defects in the first year of ownership are covered under the existing warranty. It's not clear whether AppleCare would cover battery replacement during the extended warranty period if it wears out, since the battery is considered a consumable item. Jared points out in the comments below that AppleCare currently does cover batteries that wear our prematurely (before the rated number of charge cycles). Just FYI, you can check the cycle count of your battery via Apple System Profiler / "More Info" in About This Mac, by viewing the Power section.

According to a Knowledge Base article posted last week, Apple is now replacing (free of charge) frayed, discolored and deformed MagSafe power adapters for MacBook and MacBook Pro.

But -- and there's always a but -- they will only replace it if there's no sign of "abuse." So if you've been doing the right thing and holding the hard plastic connector to disconnect the cable, you might not have to pay another $80 for a new power adapter.

If your connector looks like the one pictured, and has been babied its entire life, then take it back to an Apple-Authorized Service Provider or an Apple retail store for an evaluation and replacement. It doesn't matter if the warranty has expired.

Also -- bonus points for the greeked copy at the bottom of Knowledge Base article page. I'm sure that counts for a shot in some obscure Apple website drinking game.

Thanks, Jeff!

Pomoto is basically a replacement for iPhoto's .Mac web albums, designed to take your iPhoto collection and put it on the web with as little trouble as possible. Like FlickrExport (although this is a separate app, of course, not a plugin), it looks like a pretty smooth way to get all the cool stuff in iPhoto out where everyone else can see it.

The latest version, 1.0.1, includes support for iPhoto 7 Smart Albums and Events, better "privatization" of private Albums, and "more robust photo loading," which I'll leave up to you to decide. Since Pomoto publishes your photos for you, it's really an app tagged into a subscription service, so it costs either $3 a month or $30 a year. If you really like the .Mac photo publishing features, but don't need all of .Mac, it's definitely worth checking out.

No, not exploding batteries. I'm talking about 12-18 months from now, when thousands upon thousands of iPhone batteries, completely sealed from consumers, will begin to lose their juice. Sheldon Liber, on our sister site Blogging Stocks, suggests that in about a year, Apple is going to be dealing with a lot of unhappy campers who will have to surrender their iPhones for a bit while a new battery is transplanted into their tiny tech wonders.

Of course, we now have warranty info, which means you really shouldn't worry until next July, right? Something Sheldon misses is the fact that, for another $30 or so, they'll give you a loaner. That should put a stop to the whining-- mostly. It will certainly ease the sting of a 3-day turnaround. But when you can get a replacement BlackBerry battery for less than $10 in many cases, once again users may complain about the "Apple tax."

Randall from Wireless Info sent us the news that Apple has acknowledged the iPhone battery issue is in fact a bug that will be fixed in a future software update. A few days ago, WI noticed that even after sitting in the charger for 12 hours, their iPhone battery gauges didn't show a full charge. After conducting an informal survey, they found that the problem was widespread, and now Apple has confirmed the bug.

And since Apple says it's just a firmware problem, then the batteries should all be OK (although WI also says Apple is replacing faulty batteries anyway, so chances are that if you want to replace your iPhone, you can still do that). At first, WI said that the non-charge-showing phones were operating on a shorter battery life, but after a few cycles apparently they're running just as well.

So that's one fix Apple can throw in the iPhone's first big patch. What's next?

Do you feel lucky? Got an iPod with a dead, undersized or otherwise less-than-peachy hard drive? Well, pilgrim, surf your way over to Command-Tab for a detailed, delightful rundown on iPod hard drive replacement. They've got the scoop on every drive that will fit in full-size current and past model players, plus detailed replacement instructions and tool info (careful with that razor blade, Sparky!) for the do-it-yourselfer behind those white earbuds. Now, my inventory of dead iPods includes one Mini that could use new storage; for that I might have to go with this series of tips on upgrading to 4, 8 or 16 GB of Flash RAM.

[via Digg]

Remember Karl, the frustrated iMac customer from Dublin who was going to prove he could walk his sick iMac 156 miles into service for replacement faster than Apple could pick it up? As it turns out, he apparently never hit the road; Infinite Loop at Ars Technica is reporting that Apple Ireland received word of this much-publicized stunt not long after it hit the media (perhaps they use the digg widget?) and promptly sent a brand new replacement straight to his door about ninety minutes later.

Score one for the little guy, but I'm wondering how many more frustrated service customers are going to attempt such a stunt. Maybe, as Jeff at Infinite Loop suggests, next time Apple will have to wait for the customer to actually get a couple miles into the walk before they fire off any more replacement units.

Everyone's favorite duck-icon sporting graphic designer is more than a pretty icon of a face, he helps make the rest of your programs look good too. Adam Betts regularly posts modifications or add-ons to various pieces of Mac software to his blog, and although each one is cool enough to warrant a post of its own, I thought I'd be nice to you all and compile some of my favorites into one mega-post.

First off we have a simple interface tweak that goes a long way to unifying the look of your system. Adam's new QuickTime Plugin Controller replaces the old icky Aqua bubble quicktime plugin interface with a sleek platinum/unified/post-brushed metal look.

Next are two replacement icons; one for a certain flammable fox, the other for a Preview alternative. The Firefox icon touchup fixes dock weight issues (how close it is to the other icons) as well as making the whole package a bit smoother.

The Xee replacement set actually contains replacements for both the actual application icon as well as the status bar. Xee is a replacement for Preview and available for free download.

Finally, we have the 9.3% complete interface-lift for Google Earth. This package will replace the application icon as well as modify certain UI elements such as toolbar icons and the sidebar to make them more Mac-like.

The saga of the NYC cube continues. For the uninitiated, the cube in question is the huge, 5 story glass cube that will adorn the upcoming Manhattan Apple Store. Steve Jobs designed the cube, and is very much in love with it. According to a report at ifoAppleStore, the titanium pieces that hold the massive glass panels in place were recently replaced with a different material, at the request of Mr. Jobs who felt that the titanium pieces were ruining the aesthetic of the cube. Who knows how much of an extra expense this last-minute adjustment was.

Steve really, really likes his cube.

Path Finder, the powerful file browser/manager (pseudo-Finder) from Cocoatech, has been updated to version 4.1. Along with Universal Binary status and the typical round of bug fixes, this update also includes:

• Improved Go To Folder with autocomplete
• Smart Folders – Path Finder can now read Finder-created Smart Folders
• New Size Browser for quickly viewing total file sizes of folders, bundles, etc.
• Added rotate buttons to the integrated PDF viewer
• Path Finder can now preview PDF bundles (often found on OS X install disks)
• Added preview support for Help Viewer bundles
• Path Finder now displays if an application is PPC, Intel, or Universal Binary in the info panel
• Path Finder can now previews NEF files
• Added preliminary “email to” support for Microsoft Entourage and Eudora
• Updated Chinese, Japanese, Russian, French, and German localizations

Check out Cocoatech's changelog for the full list of improvements and fixes, and scroll to the bottom of Path Finder's product page to download the new version. A 21-day demo is available, while a full license costs $34.95.

Or at least that's what it seems to be turning into. Two vendors this week announced major iPod battery initiatives.

First, the people at FastMac publicly announced their TruePower batteries for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gen iPods. TruePower promises charges that last two to three times as long, and a battery that lasts through nearly seven times as many charging cycles, as the OEM iPod LiON battery. If the TruePower claims are true, or even half true, this is great news for iPod owners, especially starting at $29.95. Mini, 4th gen, and iPod Photo batteries coming soon.

The folks at TechRestore have taken a different tack. Their iPod Battery Freedom lifetime battery replacement service offers 24 hour turnaround battery replacement for as long as you own your iPod for a one time fee of $99 plus $12.99 S&H on subsequent replacements. You don't even have to get up from the computer to ship them your 'Pod; for an additional $19.99, they'll schedule overnight pickup anywhere in the U.S. It will take a couple of replacements for this to pay for itself, but you can't beat the convenience.

For those interested in the full range of available iPod battery options, the iPod Battery FAQ has a nice rundown.