HTC, Motorola Say They Don't Slow Old Phones Like Apple Does (theverge.com)

After Apple confirmed last week that it reduces the performance of older iPhones to improve battery life, it has left many wondering whether or not other smartphone manufacturers do the same. HTC and Motorola are the two most recent OEMs to say they don't throttle their phones' processor speeds as their batteries age. The Verge reports: In emails to The Verge, both companies said they do not employ similar practices with their smartphones. An HTC spokesperson said that designing phones to slow down their processor as their battery ages "is not something we do." A Motorola spokesperson said, "We do not throttle CPU performance based on older batteries." The Verge also reached out to Google, Samsung, LG, and Sony for comment on whether their phone processors are throttled in response to aging batteries. A Sony spokesperson said a response would be delayed by the holidays, and a Samsung spokesperson said the company was looking into it. The responses begin to clarify whether or not throttling processor speeds is typical behavior in smartphones -- as of last week, we knew that Apple was doing it, but not whether it was common practice among competitors. HTC and Motorola's responses start to suggest that it's not.

Comments

So they let phone battery life suffer more?

[SuperKendall]

The whole reason Apple does what they do, is because as a battery ages they want people to get as much phone on time as possible in a day.

I guess what this means is if you want your phone to still last a solid day in a year or two, better not buy Motorola!

Wrong.

[david_thornley]

After Apple confirmed last week that it reduces the performance of older iPhones to improve battery life

This is incorrect. It has nothing to do with battery life, and nothing to do with older iPhones per se. Put a new battery into an old iPhone and the slowing will go away. It's a matter of the battery degrading over time (which they do), and limiting the maximum power drawn from it. This means that the phone can't operate at top performance, since it can't get the power. The alternative was to risk the phone crashing at such times, not to let the battery drain faster.

Apple had the choice between limiting current draw, allowing the phone to crash, or changing the laws of physics.

Apple just posted an update

[juancn]

TLDR: apologies, update with battery state coming, next year, battery change is $29 (instead of $79) https://www.apple.com/iphone-battery-and-performance/

Anyone can replace an iPhone battery

[SuperKendall]

If you are non-technical, you simply go to an Apple Store. I've only had to do this once, for a three year old phone. It doesn't cost much more than a standalone battery and lasts longer (in all respects).

If you are technical you can simply buy a replacement battery and enjoy many more years of service than I ever got from the replaceable batteries I had to buy quite often for my old flip phones. I hate replaceable batteries, as they represent space wasted on casing that could have held a larger battery.