Apple Says It Slows Older iPhones to Save Their Battery Life

Post by IBM » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 6:36 PM UTC

unreal37 wrote: post #63

IBM wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does say in iOS that your battery needs to be replaced [1]. Everyone keeps saying they never told anyone about this but they basically announced it to the press with a statement (as well as the notice in iOS) when iOS 10.2.1 was released [2]. [1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT207453 [2] https://techcrunch.com/2017/02/23/apple-says-ios-10-2-1-has-...

My wife's iPhone has been running slow ever since she upgraded to iOS 11. Literally the day she upgraded, she's regretted. I'll run the speed test later to confirm. But there is absolutely NO warning in iOS that I can see that says it's been put into low-speed mode.

Post by frogpelt » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 6:36 PM UTC

bluetidepro wrote: post #60

invisiblea wrote: post #49

Had the battery in my iPhone SE replaced about an hour ago to test this out Geekbench 4 benchmark before https://twitter.com/invisiblea/status/943439761066397696 And after https://twitter.com/invisiblea/status/943891561661812736

What app or site are you using to test that?

Post by jtbayly » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 6:37 PM UTC

jlmorton wrote: post #67

roc wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The whole problem is that the batteries can't deliver that performance. They can throttle the chip to what the battery can deliver or it will crash. Maybe Apple's more conservative on the throttling, and some amount of performance could still be achieved without a crash, but there's zero chance Apple's putting a "make my phone unstable" switch in Settings.

That doesn't pass the sniff test. The available voltage from a lithium ion battery will decrease as it is discharged. When your phone turns off, that does not mean there is no more energy in the battery. It means there is no longer enough voltage to power the phone. Over the course of many discharge cycles, the battery will lose capacity, and the point when the voltage is no longer sufficient to power the phone will…

Post by chrisseaton » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 6:38 PM UTC

jhiska wrote: post #62

IBM wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is replaceable (by Apple, authorized and unauthorized third parties). User replaceable batteries could increase waste by being less reliable overall. I know every TV remote I've owned with a battery door eventually ends up with a rubber band around it, and I think that's pretty much a universal experience. Also we've had this debate for years already when Apple went to unibody Macbooks. The reliability and battery…

It is not easily replaceable as with any other phone. The issue is not creating waste, but wasting one's money on middle-men for replacing one's phone batteries. >I know every TV remote I've owned with a battery door eventually ends up with a rubber band around it, and I think that's pretty much a universal experience. You're relating a supposedly personal story to make your spin claims more relatable. Maybe you're l…

Post by jsilence » Thu, Dec 21, 2017, 6:39 PM UTC

basseq wrote: post #29

djrogers wrote: post #3

It's not only to make them run longer - they're reducing the peak demand on the batteries to avoid spontaneous shutdown when the aged battery can't handle the load. This seems like a good idea, and it appears to be well executed (ie it's not apparently based just on age or milage like a crappy car maintenance reminder), but Apple should probably have something in iOS that tells people their phone is running slow beca…

This comment deserves more attention. And, in fact, means the headline is wrong. Apple is not slowing down devices to extend battery life. Apple is slowing down devices to prevent the thing from crapping out entirely ("unexpectedly shutting down"). Arguably, this does more to prevent obsolescence than plan it. Agreed with @djrogers suggestion to alert the user to the situation. It should not be a user choice. "Last y…