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Apple Addresses Alleged Throttling of iPhones With Degraded Batteries

I have to think...replace a battery for $80 (or less at a kiosk shop) or hold out 1-1.5 more years for a new phone.
i still might upgrade at that point but then the money spent will give me some more relief. I have the phone shutting down or feeling sluggish all the time.

I have an iPhone 6
...not 6S
 
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This design decision from Apple makes sense for the vast majority of users. The constraint isn't Apple, its the industry-wide use of a technology (Lithium batteries) which degrade with time and intensity of use. The more you use, the sooner the wear out.

This has changed my behaviour: if I'm at my desk or near my laptop, I'll leave the phone plugged in. I guess it'll be far easier for those with wireless charging.
 
VulchR said:
Has it been confirmed that Android phones don't do something like this? Has anybody checked?
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It is irrelevant what what android phones do, this discussion is not about android phones, this is about Apple throttling the performance of phones without telling anyone, when what Apple could have done is to put a notice on a screen saying the phone has been throttled and the cause of that is a battery that is wearing out, if they did this then people would go and pay for Apple to fit a new battery, but by Apple keeping quiet about this some people will think its time to upgrade their phone and shell out on a new phone when really they could have fixed their phone for the cost of a $79 replacement battery.
 
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An amazing solution to the whole problem: user swappable batteries.

179375-main-xlarge-removable-or-non-removable-battery.png
 
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Apple never publicly releases the frequency of their processors, but they do advertise how much faster they are than the previous generation and also use demos to show off high-FPS games, etc.

The fact that they're now saying they reduce the frequency of the processor indicates that the advertised performance gain is not a static feature over the life of the product. To me that seems to open them up to a case of fraudulent advertising.

And if this is a normal consequence of battery degradation, why are they introducing the software updates as problems arise rather than baked into the OS? And why wouldn't they have done this then for every iPhone before iPhone 6?

I have to wonder if it's related to Apple's meteoric rise of the fastest ARM-chip manufacturer. Maybe they've been producing chips too advanced for current battery technology?
 
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Mal Blackadder said:
It is irrelevant what what android phones do, this discussion is not about android phones, this is about Apple throttling the performance of phones without telling anyone, when what Apple could have done is to put a notice on a screen saying the phone has been throttled and the cause of that is a battery that is wearing out, if they did this then people would go and pay for Apple to fit a new battery, but by Apple keeping quiet about this some people will think its time to upgrade their phone and shell out on a new phone when really they could have fixed their phone for the cost of a $79 replacement battery.
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I think that is a little harsh, but I agree Apple should have been upfront about this and they should commit to providing replacement batteries (as well as making easier to replace batteries)..
 
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ArneK said:
That is not true. No other iPhone than the 6/6s had this issue. Also the 7 seems not to be affected. Sounds more like a rather specific technical issue with the batteries in these. But instead of fixing the hardware issue Apple chose to hide it with software by basically not delivering the promised specs. It sure sounds a lot like what Volkswagen did. You want to have a clean but also efficient car? Thats what they promised, turns out they choose efficiency over cleanliness. Later they "fixed" it with a software update reducing the efficiency. However thats not what they sold. Hence, the huge fine.

If Apple would have sold these iPhones as 800mHz chip phones and I bought it like that ok; however I paid them a lot of money for an almost 2GHz phone. Would you also find it ok if you pay $100/month for your DSL with advertised 50mbits and 100% availability but then the company tells you that they can only give you half of that if you want to keep the 100% availability? Obviously, you wouldn't get a discount because you bought the contract already...
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The 7 is a newer phone than 6 and 6s.
 
swingerofbirch said:
Apple never publicly releases the frequency of their processors, but they do advertise how much faster they are than the previous generation and also use demos to show off high-FPS games, etc.

The fact that they're now saying they reduce the frequency of the processor indicates that the advertised performance gain is not a static feature over the life of the product. To me that seems to open them up to a case of fraudulent advertising.

And if this is a normal consequence of battery degradation, why are they introducing the software updates as problems arise rather than baked into the OS? And why wouldn't they have done this then for every iPhone before iPhone 6?

I have to wonder if it's related to Apple's meteoric rise of the fastest ARM-chip manufacturer. Maybe they've been producing chips too advanced for current battery technology?
Click to expand...
You make a very good point about their claimed speed compared to older models, I hadn't thought of that.
 
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itguy06 said:
If #1 happens I buy the new battery and fix it and keep using it. You really can't get mad at battery replacement. Having a constant slow phone in less than 2 years (like my ex 6+) makes you furious.



I'll lend you my throttled 6+ and see how you think it's an "artificially triggers a throttle down" in normal use.



So you replace the battery and it will be solved. I call BS on the no update statement though. Even my lowly Galazy S5 got an OS update and plenty of minor updates in it's days. And it still performs the same as it did when I took it out of service for the 6+.
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I just don't believe all the 6/6+ phones are slow. I know several people who own them that are always talking about how they "don't need to upgrade" because they are happy with their phone. It's anecdotal, but I just don't think it's as big of an issue as it appears on a forum (like any enthusiast forum).

I have a BMW and you'd think they were there worst cars ever made if you watched the forums.

It's not BS dude. Literally, no software updates during my entire ownership experience. I think they released marshmallow when I already ordered my iPhone X and I didn't update it. Samsung is TRASH.
 
ani4ani said:
Oh come on, Apple are not keeping your phone going as long as possible, they are keeping you from making a warranty claim as long as possible, that is, until you can’t
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So you don’t believe that these power management updates will extend the useful runnning life of the phone independent of any potential warranty service?
 
pat500000 said:
You mentioned basic needs. Point being: apple gives you an opportunity to replace...so that’s fine, but is moaning requires? Just do it.
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Not necessarily. They say it requires less than 80% according to their own tests. Others posted here they have been denied opportunities to pay for the service.
 
VulchR said:
I think that is a little harsh, but I agree Apple should have been upfront about this and they should commit to providing replacement batteries (as well as making easier to replace batteries)..
Click to expand...
I'm sorry if that sounded harsh, I did not mean it to be, I guess sometimes typing and reading on a forum can sound harsher than the same statement spoken as part of a face to face conversation.
 
In my experience, iOS 11 is a nightmare for my 7+ battery and it didn't bring any new features that would explain the heavy drain. I could see how after installing iOS 11 I had to charge twice a day.

I agree that batteries degrade over time, but I think that they accelerate this process. I believe this is their strategy:

1. Convince people to update to the latest iOS version.
2. Artificially reduce battery life with software
3. This will make people charge their phones more often which reduces battery cycles
4. This will degrade the battery faster
5. Reduce performance because of degraded battery with a lousy explanation
6. People will buy new phones because the "old" ones are slow
7. Repeat
 
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nviz22 said:
Not necessarily. They say it requires less than 80% according to their own tests. Others posted here they have been denied opportunities to pay for the service.
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I just saw some comments about that saying they passed some diagnostic teat.
 
Complete bs. It’s my device and if I want full speed with 2 hours battery life, it’s my choice. Apple has no business crippling MY hardware. If my phone after two years started having problems, no problem, I fully expect it. No big deal. Just tell me I need replacing. But throttling my phone is not a decision Apple should be making with my property.

Clearly an attempt to avoid a recall and push users toward upgrading. Tim Cook, a businessman vs the visionary Jobs was. Cook will ruin Apple with his greedy ways. Already started with the $1000 iPhone. Next up $1200 for the plus model. Easy choice cause your iPhone 7 will throttled and run like **** by release date.
 
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