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."

Comments

Easily replaceable battery?

[Anonymous Coward]

Seems like Apple could have avoided some of this by making the battery a commodity item and easily replaceable.

Re:Easily replaceable battery?

[Woldscum]

I just replaced my 4s which is 7 years old. Because my CC company, Bank and Broker killed app support for ios9. So no more 2FA. I went with a Moto e4 for $130 unlocked, removable battery and up to 128GB SD card slot. You can buy a new sub $150 phone every year and still save $ over flagships and OS/hardware planned obsolescence.

Re:Easily replaceable battery?

[JBMcB]

Actually what shortens an iPhone life, is the fact the OS no longer supports devices after 4 years.

Five years for me. My iPhone 5 just got it's last OS update, though I've had security and bugfix releases on my old 3GS after the final OS release.

Still quite a bit better than most Android devices (my Asus tablet shipped with an old OS, and eventually was updated to a slightly less old OS, and they are still selling it as a current device) Except for Nexus/Pixel gear which is rather good.

Re:Easily replaceable battery?

[omnichad]

It's really easy. Just buy a new phone! Yes, I know even Apple offers battery replacement for less than the cost of a new phone - but Apple apparently doesn't want you to know that's why your phone is slow. They want you to think it's slow because it's just not capable of it.

Re: Easily replaceable battery?

[MachineShedFred]

If it was "as quickly as possible" we wouldn't see further updates after a new model ships. And, by the way, that would still be better than some Android OEMs who ship with old software with known vulnerabilities and never update it.

Bitching about Apple's support lifetime on their phones is going to ring hollow with anyone that is actually paying attention - they are far better than practically any one else.

Re:Easily replaceable battery?

[magzteel]

They cost about $20-$30 from Amazon and I can replace one in about ten minutes. I imagine an actual tech who does it regularly could do it in under 5.

I remember I bought an extra battery for a Nokia 6180 way back. It was something like $60. In the 90s.

Given the fire potential are you ever concerned about the quality of the replacement batteries on Amazon? There are lots of counterfeit products there.

Re:Easily replaceable battery?

[AmiMoJo]

It's it better to have 4 years of OS updates, or pay half as much and upgrade to a new phone every couple of years?

The latter seems like a better option. You have a spare phone just in case, new battery, new features and upgraded hardware...

If Apple is so concerned

[JohnFen]

If Apple is so concerned about the impact of old batteries, then why don't they make the batteries user-replaceable?

Re:If Apple is so concerned

[SuricouRaven]

The quest for thinness. Customers love thin, light phones. A replaceable battery adds extra thickness for the battery enclosure over just using a bare cell inside the phone. That extra milimeter really matters when selling phones. It's not just an Apple thing: Phones with easily replacable batteries are the exception now, not the norm.

It is possible-ish to replace the battery in an iPhone. Exactly how hard depends upon the model, but it isn't something your typical phone user, with no experience in electronics repair, could pull off without a risk of destroying the phone.

Why are people complaining?

[msauve]

It's not like Apple hid what they were doing. This was all spelled out clearly in Apple's release notes: "Bug fixes and feature enhancements."

Next time you praise Apple, remember

[Anonymous Coward]

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?

When connected to a charger

[ark1]

Are those devices performing without slowdowns when connected to a charger?

Re:When connected to a charger

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:When connected to a charger

[Anonymous Coward]

According to the original story on Reddit, you'll still see throttling when the phone is plugged in.

Re:It is easily replaceable

[Anonymous Coward]

But not thinking about things is what gets people to buy apple stuff in the first place.

yeah, thanks a lot for nothing

[supernova87a]

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.

Re:It just works

[Mal-2]

It's not just battery life, it's the fact that due to internal resistance, older batteries can't deliver as much current even when they are adequately charged. This causes the phone to crash and restart, even if the battery is at 40% charge, because it has enough power but cannot deliver it fast enough.

While it would be nice to get a warning about the battery condition harming performance, there really isn't a better technical way to deal with the problem of mediocre battery condition (other than replacement of course).