iOS 12.1 Extends Controversial Processor Throttling Feature To the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X (mashable.com)

With iOS 12.1, Apple introduced a bunch of new features like Group FaceTime and dozens of new emoji. But the company also elected to add a controversial new performance management feature to the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X. From a report: For the uninitiated, back in December 2017, Apple confirmed that it would sometimes slow down older iPhones through a software update in order to prevent unexpected shutdowns. The result was that certain models -- iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, and 7 Plus -- would often perform poorly after being updated to the newest version of iOS. Users had long suspected Apple was throttling older iPhones, but it wasn't until Geekbench published an expose that the company publicly admitted it was, indeed, slowing down older iPhones -- albeit, for a good reason. Apple said in its explanation of the throttling issue that its goal was "to deliver the best experience for customers" and essentially argued the practice of throttling was a feature -- not a bug as it had been reported. Apple's solution was to give iPhone owners some extra control over the feature and offer a reduced cost for battery replacements.

Comments

It's optional now.

[Guspaz]

Don't like it? Turn it off. If your battery is old and has trouble providing current, Apple gives you the choice between throttling or unexpected shutdowns. I'm not sure what more people could want them to do on this subject.

Re:It's optional now.

[dgatwood]

Because prior to the next model release, every device from the previous generation is under warranty, give or take a couple of weeks, so battery replacements would be free.

During the warranty period, if a device exhibits sudden shutdowns, it is better for the customer if that device prematurely shuts down repeatedly, because that encourages the customer to get his or her battery replaced rather than continue to suffer from a bad battery that could have been fixed for free.

Re:Got to give it to apple

[DamnOregonian]

I have an iPhone X, currently, and a Samsung J7 Prime.
I've had an iPhone for work, and an Android for personal use since the iPhone 3G, and the HTC G1 (the original).
So I'm really not a "fan" of either. I use both regularly.

The random shutdowns on my previous iPhone (6s) were very real, and pretty obviously related to some kind of poor battery handling on the iPhone's part. It randomly shut down at as high as 50% all the time if you did something that you'd imagine was CPU intensive, refused to turn back on until you plug it in, let it charge for 20 seconds, and boom. Starts right up with 60%.

I can also attest though, that no Android I've owned has ever done this.

That *also* being said, my Samsung laptop definitely did this when its battery got really bad.

I do believe they do this to handle their battery issue. I also however believe that it's a problem they've made themselves by either poor battery power statistics (not reporting that battery health at being like 5% when it should be), or poor quality batteries.