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Apple Confirms iPhone With Older Batteries Will Take Hits On Performance (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: Reddit users have noticed that Apple appears to be slowing down old iPhones that have low-capacity batteries. While many iPhone users have experienced perceived slowdowns due to iOS updates over the years, it appears that there's now proof Apple is throttling processor speeds when a battery capacity deteriorates over time. Geekbench developer John Poole has mapped out performance for the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 over time, and has come to the conclusion that Apple's iOS 10.2.1 and 11.2.0 updates introduce this throttling for different devices. iOS 10.2.1 is particularly relevant, as this update was designed to reduce random shutdown issues for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S. Apple's fix appears to be throttling the CPU to prevent the phone from randomly shutting down. Geekbench reports that iOS 11.2.0 introduces similar throttling for low iPhone 7 low-capacity batteries.
When reached for comment, Apple basically confirmed the findings to The Verge, but disputes the assumed intention: "Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components. Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future."
When reached for comment, Apple basically confirmed the findings to The Verge, but disputes the assumed intention: "Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components. Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future."
Seems like Apple could have avoided some of this by making the battery a commodity item and easily replaceable.
If Apple is so concerned about the impact of old batteries, then why don't they make the batteries user-replaceable?
that they denied and lied about this all the way up until someone definitely proved it. What else that they're currently denying, or have been denying in the past, is not true?
But not thinking about things is what gets people to buy apple stuff in the first place.
They deliberately designed the system to degrade. Customers are being hurt by their actions. Lawyers can smell the money from a mile away.
(Really, Apple could have saved everyone a headache by creating the option to improve performance or save battery life, just like on Windows or Android.)
If only it said in TFA.... it's based on the voltage output level of the battery which decreases with age. New battery would restore the voltage levels and hence stop the throttling.
This just goes to show how people's expectations and tolerances get more and more demanding (and forgetful) over time as technology improves.
Before Apple and others made this move to maximize battery space by removing the capability to user-replace, everyone complained about battery life.
Now, despite battery life being hours more than before, we forget how much benefit the capacity benefit has brought, and move on to the next complaint about how the battery isn't user replaceable and eats into performance when it gets old (mind you, performing and delivering usable hours far beyond what was possible before).
So users, which is it? Is this not the nightmare of technology developers, when people keep on demanding the next thing, and you no longer get acknowledgement / it's just table stakes for the achievements you've made so far.