Apple Addresses Alleged Throttling of iPhones With Degraded Batteries

[BigMcGuire]

So are you OK with a year old phone no longer able to run at full speed?

I'm not - that's why I'm posting my displeasure and saying how Apple isn't helping themselves by treating their customers this way. They should have replaced the batteries for free. They were in the wrong here imo. I had AppleCare+ and had to spend $80 to fix their bad battery on a 1.3 year old phone.

 

[Mildredop]

There is power management on the Macs, but there is a difference between a smartphone and computer. I doubt this is a lie if they added something for power management in these older phones.

If an iPhone isn't a computer, what is it?

 

[Steve121178]

Planned obsolescence. Nothing more & nothing less.

I still have my older 6s and it runs like a pig with iOS 11. It has nothing to do with the age of the device or battery, it's running like crap by design.

This is shameful and cannot be defended.

 

[Arty6]

Please tell us what a reasoned response is.

Are you OK with phones no longer being able to run at full speed after a year? That's what this 'fix' does.

Please tell us how its reasonable to expect that your phones CPU will be limited by 25-50% a year after it was purchased. Whats a reasonable response to that?

Then get in your time machine and go to the future to find a portable power source that doesn't degrade over time. That's the solution. Then you'll have a battery that won't slow down your phone or die in the middle of something years after you buy it. Also, you'll be able to keep the same outdated model 5 years later because no one ever wants to upgrade their phones because theirs no reason to if they battery life doesn't change right?

 

[I7guy]

So are you OK with a year old phone no longer able to run at full speed?

Since the question was asked in a pejorative way, the short answer is yes as long as there is a legitimate reason to do so. (legitimate from apples perspective)

 

[Abazigal]

Please tell us what a reasoned response is.

Are you OK with phones no longer being able to run at full speed after a year? That's what this 'fix' does.

Please tell us how its reasonable to expect that your phones CPU will be limited by 25-50% a year after it was purchased. Whats a reasonable response to that?

As opposed to my phone shutting down randomly? Guess that’s still the lesser of two evils.

The post by daring fireball I linked to earlier.

https://daringfireball.net/2017/12/iphone_battery_throttling

I reiterate my stance from earlier before - yes it looks bad on Apple’s part, but I honestly don’t detect any malice on Apple’s part. In hindsight, Apple could and should have been more open about this, but that’s a separate issue altogether.

 

[CoolSpot]

The real issue that is getting glossed over is that Apple continues to prioritize thinner devices at the expense of battery capacity which leads to the problems we're seeing now.

Charge -> discharge -> recharge cycles are what degrade the battery over time, but Apple continues to target a "use for one day, charge at night" capacity for their devices (dropping from 1810mah to 1715 when going from 6 to 6s). As a result, your device is burning through hundreds of cycles every year.

A bigger battery would allow your phone to be cycled fewer times in a given interval and would probably lead to better longevity.

Probably not worth it though if it makes your phone 0.1mm thicker.

 

[I7guy]

The real issue that is getting glossed over is that Apple continues to prioritize thinner devices at the expense of battery capacity which leads to the problems we're seeing now.

Charge -> discharge -> recharge cycles are what degrade the battery over time, but Apple continues to target a "use for one day, charge at night" capacity for their devices (dropping from 1810mah to 1715 when going from 6 to 6s). As a result, your device is burning through hundreds of cycles every year.

A bigger battery would allow your phone to be cycled fewer times in a given interval and would probably lead to better longevity.

Probably not worth it though if it makes your phone 0.1mm thicker.

Apple does have a standard as to the wear and tear vs the number of charge cycles. But some batteries are also heat abused, some may be slightly defective. Apples benchmark is about 10 hours of daily use, according to their website. Even car batteries have to be replaced every few years.

 

[BigMcGuire]

The real issue that is getting glossed over is that Apple continues to prioritize thinner devices at the expense of battery capacity which leads to the problems we're seeing now.

Charge -> discharge -> recharge cycles are what degrade the battery over time, but Apple continues to target a "use for one day, charge at night" capacity for their devices (dropping from 1810mah to 1715 when going from 6 to 6s). As a result, your device is burning through hundreds of cycles every year.

A bigger battery would allow your phone to be cycled fewer times in a given interval and would probably lead to better longevity.

Probably not worth it though if it makes your phone 0.1mm thicker.

Agreed though most of Apple's iPhones since the 4s days do 500 cycles with guaranteed 80% of design capacity after these cycles. My 6+ had 270? cycles when I sold it after almost 2 years. My 6s+ had 240? cycles when I traded it up for an 8+ after 1.7 years. My wife had about 150 more cycles on her phones but she uses her phones quite a bit more. So they do last quite a bit even though they've been shrinking in size significantly - the 500 cycles guarantee stays the same.

The battery problem reported here started happening to my wife's iPhone 6s+ within 6 months of ownership and progressively got worse and worse until we replaced it.

 

[Fugitivo8]

I don't even think Apple have done this knowingly. I think it's a by-product of sloppy codding to address the 6S problem.

 

[Aydy]

They’re going to get away with this aren’t they? The apologists are out in force, here there and everywhere to explain this away and make it all good for Apple. They’r fans are the best, it’s a shame Apple s*** all over them too. Some people live to be treated badly. Apple and They’r fans have such a dysfunctional relationship.

 

[617660]

Could it be that the software updates degrades battery condition and subsequently throttles CPU speed?

Hence what lots of people have been experiencing: Crappy battery life + slow device.

Slowing down my 6s+ has not yielded a better battery life.

 

[Fugitivo8]

Would be interesting to know if the JB guys could undo this throttling as it seems to be caused by software.

 

[Delgibbons]

Could it be that the software updates degrades battery condition and subsequently throttles CPU speed?

Hence what lots of people have been experiencing: Crappy battery life + slow device.

Slowing down my 6s+ has not yielded a better battery life.

With the number of iOS updates recently to fix bugs it wouldn't surprise me

 

[617660]

The real issue that is getting glossed over is that Apple continues to prioritize PROFIT at the expense of CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE which leads to the problems we're seeing now.

Charge -> discharge -> recharge cycles are what degrade the battery over time, but Apple continues to target a "use for one day, charge at night" capacity for their devices (dropping from 1810mah to 1715 when going from 6 to 6s). As a result, your device is burning through hundreds of cycles every year.

A bigger battery would allow your phone to be cycled fewer times in a given interval and would probably lead to better longevity.

Probably not worth it though if it makes your phone 0.1mm thicker.

Fixed for you.

 

[chrfr]

I don't even think Apple have done this knowingly. I think it's a by-product of sloppy codding to address the 6S problem.

Apple said that they did this intentionally and that it also applies to the 6, SE, and 7 series phones.

 

[RainbowHurrican]

So in other words: they are selling devices that after a couple of weeks deliver app. 50% of the promised power and call that a feature...

The real question is who at Apple knew about this change and who Approved it?

Finding that out is what separates real journalists from tech journalists.

 

[I7guy]

They’re going to get away with this aren’t they? The apologists are out in force, here there and everywhere to explain this away and make it all good for Apple. They’r fans are the best, it’s a shame Apple s*** all over them too. Some people live to be treated badly. Apple and They’r fans have such a dysfunctional relationship.

What’s your point except to say some people agree it’s a reasonable action by Apple while others do not and opinion is divided.

 

[RickInHouston]

So I guess this proves why Apple is so proud of it's adoption rate to the latest iOS version.

You have been assimilated!

 

[opfreak]

Since the question was asked in a pejorative way, the short answer is yes as long as there is a legitimate reason to do so. (legitimate from apples perspective)

And your OK with apple not telling you this when you bought your phone?

If the box had a warning on it that said "Warning after 1 year phone will run 20-50% slower because the battery is old" would you buy it?

 

[Abazigal]

The real question is who at Apple knew about this change and who Approved it?

Finding that out is what separates real journalists from tech journalists.

If it’s iOS, everything ultimately falls under Craig Federighi. And every software engineer at Apple likely is aware of this. It’s not like some rogue programmer snuck the code into the OS without the knowledge of everyone else, and it’s absurd to think that nobody else would have found it.

 

[opfreak]

As opposed to my phone shutting down randomly? Guess that’s still the lesser of two evils.

The post by daring fireball I linked to earlier.

https://daringfireball.net/2017/12/iphone_battery_throttling

I reiterate my stance from earlier before - yes it looks bad on Apple’s part, but I honestly don’t detect any malice on Apple’s part. In hindsight, Apple could and should have been more open about this, but that’s a separate issue altogether.

Why are you so binary, is the answer only "Phone shuts off, or Phone runs 20-50% slower"?
how about make a phone that can run at the same speed for at least a year. iphones are still a premium device right?

Some blogger writing something? So what? He sounds like all other apologists for apple, one that is OK with phones running 20%+ slower after a year.

 

[I7guy]

And your OK with apple not telling you this when you bought your phone?

If the box had a warning on it that said "Warning after 1 year phone will run 20-50% slower because the battery is old" would you buy it?

No I wouldn’t but if my car had a stickler that said the next 5 years cost is: $7000 above the purchase price would you buy a car?

 

[opfreak]

No I wouldn’t but if my car had a stickler that said the next 5 years cost is: $7000 above the purchase price would you buy a car?

So you wouldn't buy that phone, but that's the phone apple sold you, and you are defending apple.


I really do not understand your car question, please clarify.

 

[spacemnspiff]

how do you know?.

Are you ok with buying a 2000mhz phone that can only run at 800mhz a year later?

Another analogy, when we use the wrong octane rating gasoline in a car, the engine will retard the ignition timing and protect the engine by preventing detonation. The downside of this is the engine cannot produce full power, but can still function. Until proper fuel is used for the car, the engine won't operate at full capability. In case of the phone, the analog to gasoline is the battery health and capability.

Apple decided for the users that if the battery deteriorates, by implementing the power management solution, Apple was able to keep the phone functional and not shut down during usage. A few users would prefer an opposite implementation with information about the battery health, but that is not how Apple operates. That to me is a completely fair implementation.