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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.
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.
I'm not sure what more people could want them to do on this subject.
What people want is for Apple to be up front and transparent about this sort of "feature". Apple basically hid the fact they were doing this from everyone despite strong suspicions that something like it was happening. This makes it look (true or not) like Apple was up to something shady and/or coersive. Their explanation of trying to save the battery isn't implausible but by hiding the fact they were doing it it looks strongly like they were degrading performance to force upgrade sales. Had Apple been transparent about it from day one it would have been a non-issue.
Like the 10 XR, XS and XS Max? Whoops, that didn't happen.
Apple's algorithm was stupid and their UI was uninformative. That's why it was controversial - nobody wants their phone shutting off unexpectedly.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Which bullshit? That running a degraded battery at full performance can cause an unexpected shutdown?
Do you have some objective evidence to back up the notion that this is made up, or are you assuming that because they weren't up front about it right away, that this must necessarily be a lie?
Do you similarly believe it is impossible for a person who may have been caught in a lie to later tell the truth? There may be cause to doubt what they say, but there is no objectively valid reason to conclude that everything that they say is necessarily false before it has even been fact-checked.
Oh, and their claim is verifiable anyways... so there's that too.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
personally - I'd like them to offer a phone that is maybe a few mills thicker but has swap-able batteries.
It's not just you but I think there is a better option because some people like the thinner phones and that's just as valid a viewpoint. What I think they should do is make an interface that you can attach a battery case (or other equipment) so that people who want a bigger battery can have it without the bulky kludge of doing a pass through off the lightning/usb port. Think about it for a second. Virtually everyone puts their phone in a case anyway. Why not make it easy for the case to be the mechanism to add hardware features like a bigger battery or a better camera or a headphone jack? Then people can customize the hardware to suit their particular preferences and Apple (or other smartphone makers) don't have to compromise on the core product design. Win/win and it's fairly cheap to do.
Show me all the Android phones that need to degrade performance when they're a year old or they'll spontaneously reboot.
Go ahead. Show me.
This is an Apple-only issue, and a BS one at that. Batteries don't magically become incapable of powering a phone just because they're old. Their maximum capacity lessens, but that's about it.
This is a made-up issue that Apple invented to provide an excuse for why they intentionally slow older phones to force people to upgrade them.
The battery in modern smartphones isn't soldered in. Not on iPhones, or Android or anything else. Glued maybe, but that's to save size and money, not to prevent people from being able to replace the battery. That's not at all iPhone specific though; every modern Android phone is in the same boat. Neither Samsung, Google, nor any others seem to offer user-replaceable batteries.
The market has spoken. People prefer thin light phones with bigger batteries over fat heavy ones with short battery lives that they can replace themselves.
- Vincit qui patitur.
It's fine to be critical of them for not being transparent about it in the first place, but if they were actually doing this, then slowdown wouldn't generally be tied to the degradation of the battery, but to the device itself.
Take an older device that has not been used much, and compare it to a newer device that you artificially wear down the battery performance to the same levels through many charge and discharge cycles, and differences in processing speed notwithstanding, you should find virtually identical levels of slowdown. The slowdown is clearly tied to how much the battery has worn out, and their claim that spontaneous shutdowns may happen without being throttled as the battery degrades is not only feasible, but actually verifiable.
Like most conspiracy theories, yours lacks evidence. The evidence you try and cite begs the question, and doesn't actually prove anything.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Do you have proof for the accusation they are lying that doesn't presuppose that the fact that however much they may want sales is actually a sufficient incentive for them to do so in regards to this, particularly when the claim is not only feasible, but also verifiable?
If they were making an unverifiable statement, it might be fair to doubt it, especially given that they weren't up front about it originally, but that's not the case here.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I'm happy they helped kill the floppy drive and made USB more ubiquitous.
Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
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.
Albeit for a good reason.
Sure, sure. Inflating I-phone sales is a good reason. According to Apple.
When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
Happened to my friends LG G4. When the battery only last half a day and the phone starts spontaneously rebooting with an increasing frequency it's time for a new battery yet again.
I've also seen it happen with an Acer laptop.
When the battery is old a high power drain can cause sudden failure, it's simply how these batteries work.
I am having unexpected shutdowns all the time, with "40% battery left".
Would really appreciate a sligtly slower phone for better reliability.
The market has spoken. People prefer thin light phones with bigger batteries over fat heavy ones with short battery lives that they can replace themselves.
What makes you think that the market has spoken? Perhaps it is spy agencies that have spoken and they want a battery to always be there so they can signal the microphone or camera to turn on even when the phone is explicitly off?
For myself, I know of NOBODY who has asked for, or wanted, unremovable batteries.
"Someone needs to talk to the tree of liberty about its ghoulish drinking problem." by ohnocitizen