Apple Addresses Alleged Throttling of iPhones With Degraded Batteries

[Analog Kid]

I find this whole string of complaints hilarious. Sure, there's a few points that come up that are valid: Apple should be willing to replace anyone's battery who's willing to pay for it, and there appears to be some fraction of battery problems that they aren't catching in their diagnostics. I'd like some documented cases from a reputable source on this though, rather than just anecdotes (and the inevitable YouTube videos).

Also, whatever TechCrunch says, this spreading operations over more cycles is the definition of throttling.

Beyond that though, this is all a ton of nonsense. Basically Apple is always giving the best performance possible for the current battery state, yet somehow it's being read as Apple secretly stealing performance. The alternative would be to throttle it from day one and leave you with a year of lower performance than the device is capable of and operate like it's always too cold.

Nothing here is out of line.

• Apple never promises performance levels, they only give relative performance to earlier generations. With all generations throttled, then the claims remain valid.
• Apple isn't avoiding battery replacements because the battery metric of 80% health after 500 cycles is unchanged.
• They aren't trying to force upgrades, because they're making the phone more usable that it would be without this change:
  • Don't throttle it and people would have to choose between replacing the failing battery in their 2 year old phone and replacing the phone.
  • Throttle it and people still have functional phones and can put the decision off until later.

For the vast majority of people, this approach is in their favor. For the subset that pushes their device to the limits or care about benchmarks, this means they get better performance for a year and then may want to consider a battery replacement.

If I remember right though, most of the news after the iPhone 8/X released was that the benchmarks were higher but user experience didn't change much-- so most of us aren't going to notice a degradation in benchmark scores.

 

[adamski23]

This is another nonsense “scandal” that the nerdosphere is trying to make into a big deal because it’s Apple. Apple is not trying to force you to upgrade; they’re trying to make your battery more usable and reliable so that your older device can keep functioning. Apple cares about user experience more than they care about you upgrading your phone every year. If your user experience is that your battery unexpectedly shuts down because it can’t keep up anymore, you’re never going to upgrade anyway--you’ll just get angry and switch to something else.

And no, a toggle doesn’t make sense, not when the consequence is your phone shutting down at random. This is precisely the sort of decision not to leave in the hands of the individual consumer.

You tout reliability and user experience as if those don’t suffer when the phone is throttled causing slowdowns.

If a phone shuts down unexpectedly with the battery at 40% most users will question battery integrity. If a phone is very slow, laggy, and unresponsive most users will assume the phone is getting old.

If given the choice I bet most consumers would opt for the cheaper alternative if they knew a battery replacement would drastically improve their phone’s performance - if informed that is.

These phones are powerful enough to run the current version of iOS without hiccups, yet Apple chooses to throttle the cpu which is deceitful in this aspect.

 

[Abazigal]

You tout reliability and user experience as if those don’t suffer when the phone is throttled causing slowdowns.

Of course they do when the phone is throttled. It’s just the lesser of two evils here.

 

[DanGoh]

Shout out to everyone still running 10.3.3.

 

[alphaod]

Makes sense.

 

[Act3]

No one is complaining about battery degradation. People are upset because Apple is hiding the battery problems by cutting performance in half. No warning. Then not replacing the battery. Even at the customers offer the pay for it.

it could be poor design choices though

 

[PickUrPoison]

I think this has been happening to the plus models too right? So bigger batteries wouldn't solve it?

Correct, bigger batteries wouldn’t necessarily solve the issue; they still degrade with use, and the voltage they’re capable of delivering drops, as with smaller batteries. (If in fact lower battery voltage is the problem in the first place.)

 

[blackdogaudio]

You tout reliability and user experience as if those don’t suffer when the phone is throttled causing slowdowns.

If a phone shuts down unexpectedly with the battery at 40% most users will question battery integrity. If a phone is very slow, laggy, and unresponsive most users will assume the phone is getting old.

If given the choice I bet most consumers would opt for the cheaper alternative if they knew a battery replacement would drastically improve their phone’s performance - if informed that is.

These phones are powerful enough to run the current version of iOS without hiccups, yet Apple chooses to throttle the cpu which is deceitful in this aspect.

I wouldn't call it deceitful, rather a poor choice. I could see why they made their choice considering they'd be burned at the stake if they opted for nagging popups alerting users their batteries are failing however. The inflammatory remarks would simply be different.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't" and all...

 

[Act3]

Shout out to everyone still running 10.3.3.

should be a shout out to those still on 10.2

10.2.1 clamped the 6, 6s and SE
[doublepost=1513818865][/doublepost]

Correct, bigger batteries wouldn’t necessarily solve the issue; they still degrade with use, and the voltage they’re capable of delivering drops, as with smaller batteries. (If in fact lower battery voltage is the problem in the first place.)

true that all batteries will degrade with use but larger capacity batteries will be able to maintain required voltage for longer period of time... its about storing the energy

 

[Mal Blackadder]

Apple's only mistake in my opinion is opting for slowing down an iPhone when its battery fails to output a safe voltage to keep the processor working within operating parameters vs a script popping up warning the owner its battery needed to be replaced to restore original performance.

This thread is evidence however there would have been hell to pay no matter which route they chose.

I don't think there would be too much fuss if a warning came up saying the worn out battery was causing the phone to slow down and that battery should be replaced. Most people know that batteries are consumables and only have a finite life and after a while degrade. But a lot of consumers would not know that a worn out battery would slow their phone, so when their phone starts to slow some will buy a newer phone instead, when they could have just bought a new battery to restore their phone to original speed, Apple should have been forthcoming with this information so the consumer can make the choice that suits them. But I guess Apple wouldn't make as much profit by selling the consumer a new battery and fitting it for them compared to what they make by selling them a new phone. In fact the small print at bottom of the webpages for the tech specs of the phones even state "All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors; actual results will vary. Battery has limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by an Apple service provider. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/uk/batteries and www.apple.com/uk/iphone/battery.html for more information.'"

 

[Altis]

How is Apple telling people their battery is healthy while also throttling? They make no indication of battery health.

Take it to the Apple store. They'll tell you if it needs replacing. In this case, people's phones are being heavily throttled while being told their battery is healthy.

 

[blackdogaudio]

I don't think there would be too much fuss if a warning came up saying the worn out battery was causing the phone to slow down and that battery should be replaced. Most people know that batteries are consumables and only have a finite life and after a while degrade. But a lot of consumers would not know that a worn out battery would slow their phone, so when their phone starts to slow some will by a newer phone instead, when they could have just bought a new battery to restore their phone to original speed, Apple should have been forthcoming with this information so the consumer can make the choice that suits them. But i guess Apple wouldnt make as much profit by selling the consumer a new battery and fitting it for them compared to what they make by selling them a new phone. In fact the small print at bottom of the webpages for the tech specs of the phones even state "All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors; actual results will vary. Battery has limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by an Apple service provider. Battery life and charge cycles vary by use and settings. See www.apple.com/uk/batteries and www.apple.com/uk/iphone/battery.html for more information.'"

I'd rather have a failing battery pop up warning as well and I think most people would also. The fringe would consider either a personal offense regardless but that's expected.

 

[C DM]

I guess they need to change what they say next year at their keynotes or whatever the term is for them. Just have to add the words " up to XX times the performance of last years A11"

Well that information is based on essentially laboratory type of benchmarks with new devices that don't have batteries that have been degraded.

 

[Count Blah]

Of course they do when the phone is throttled. It’s just the lesser of two evils here.

But an Apple evil is treated as an ‘Atta boy’ by Apple apologists.

You don’t see a problem with that?

 

[jinnyman]

I don’t care how Apple decided to fix a battery degradation issue. However it’s shame in Apple’s ass that they eventually made it look like they were scamming customers by hiding the true reason of slow down. They actually forced customers to replace a whole phone although a simple battery fix could have been suffice. What the hell Apple?

 

[opfreak]

I don't think you understand how batteries work.

I do. In this case its a full failure of the whole phone design. But you keep brownnosing for a company that lied to its users like its your job.

 

[Dranix]

Well, as I said earlier, I am not sure how Apple could have handled this without people reporting it in a negative light anyways.

I guess it all boils down to whether you trust Apple to do the right thing at the end of the day. I (still) do.

NO company on this planet can be trusted.

 

[Analog Kid]

I don't think there would be too much fuss if a warning came up saying the worn out battery was causing the phone to slow down and that battery should be replaced.

I take the opposing view on which approach would lead to more new phone purchases, but I agree with you here. There are a lot of statistics that Apple keeps on how much data and power each app consumes, they could show how often that app is being throttled.

Wouldn't be surprised if they do after this hub-bub.

 

[adamski23]

I wouldn't call it deceitful, rather a poor choice. I could see why they made their choice considering they'd be burned at the stake if they opted for nagging popups alerting users their batteries are failing however. The inflammatory remarks would simply be different.

"Damned if you do, damned if you don't" and all...

Maybe deceitful was a poor choice in words, as I can see the reasoning as well from their perspective. However, can’t Apple come up with an Applesque solution that informs the user of a bad battery without being annoying? How about a different coloured battery indicator - instead of green change it to a different colour. Simple yet gets the message across.

 

[Act3]

Well that information is based on essentially laboratory type of benchmarks with new devices that don't have batteries that have been degraded.

i agree and just like the fast talker, at the end of a car lease commercial on the radio, apple should have to disclaim that in their advertising

 

[opfreak]

I'd recommend a bit of research on how modern phone batteries work.

So your ok with your phone working at 50% its speed after a year?

Again, its the full phone that's designed badly. If after a year you can no longer use it at its original speed.

 

[Altis]

So on your own volition you decided that you wanted to upgrade your phone?

Apple slowed their device without explaining that they had done so, why, or how to resolve it.

You sound like you would support a scam artist because at the end of the day, it's all the victim's fault.

 

[^^BIGMac]

The part about "Apple offers battery replacement in stores" is not really true. I've gone twice to an Apple store to have them assess my battery. They refused to let me pay them to replace the battery because their diagnostics passed.

I'm in the situation where Apple won't even let me pay to replace my battery even though I have random shut downs and blatant CPU throttling when below 50%.

Conversely instead of replacing my three year old battery they just gave me a new phone for the price of the battery.

 

[Speechless]

Oh ****. This is not a good look - at all.

 

[Act3]

NO company on this planet can be trusted.

other than the company of loved ones