Apple Explains Why Power Management Features Were Introduced in January 2017 But Not Disclosed Until February 2017

[MacRumors]

iOS 10.2.1, introduced on January 23, 2017, has become one of Apple's most infamous iOS updates as it marked the introduction of power management features that slow down older iPhones with degraded batteries.

Apple introduced the update, and designed the power management features, to fix unexpected shutdowns that were impacting iPhone 6 and 6s devices.

When iOS 10.2.1 was first released in January of 2017, Apple made no mention that it addressed unexpected shutdowns, and the company did not bring up the issue again until a month later, in February of 2017. On February 23, Apple explained that the iOS 10.2.1 introduced "improvements to reduce occurrences of unexpected shutdowns."

In a recent inquiry, Senator John Thune, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, asked Apple why there was a discrepancy between the time that the update was introduced and the time when Apple explained what was in the update, a question Apple answered today.

Apple says that iOS users were not immediately informed about the power management features in iOS 10.2.1 because it first needed to confirm that the update successfully solved the problem causing unexpected shutdowns. From Reuters' Stephen Nellis:

After gathering and analyzing data, we issued the iOS 10.2.1 software update in January 2017, for iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE.

Then we looked at the diagnostic data made available by the update, and it indicated that the rate of unexpected shutdowns was greatly reduced for iPhone 6 and 6s owners. In February 2017, we updated our iOS 10.2.1 Read Me notes to let customers know the update "improves power management during peak workloads to avoid unexpected shutdowns." We also provided a statement to several press outlets and said that we were seeing positive results from the software update.

Even after Apple provided details on iOS 10.2.1, customers did not know the full extent of how the power management features worked until December of 2017, which is why Apple has landed in hot water with customers and government officials around the world.

In addition to the inquiry from Senator Thule, Apple is also being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether Apple violated security laws "concerning its disclosures" when it launched the iOS 10.2.1 update.

Apple is facing dozens of lawsuits over the issue, and the company is also dealing with inquiries in countries that include China, Italy, South Korea, France, and Brazil.

Article Link: Apple Explains Why Power Management Features Were Introduced in January 2017 But Not Disclosed Until February 2017

 

[corebeliefs]

I don't own an iPhone currently. Is the way this was handled a big issue for current owners, or is it a blip of a problem that's being overblown?

 

[MrX8503]

I don't own an iPhone currently. Is the way this was handled a big issue for current owners, or is it a blip of a problem that's being overblown?

Somewhat overblown. Every phone has the issue of unexpected shutdowns so this isn't unique to iPhones. How the issue was handled is what people are/should be complaining about, which is Apple not being transparent enough.

I wholeheartedly believe people would rather have a slow phone than a phone that shuts down unexpectedly, but people need to know why this is happening. They also need to know that replacing the battery will bring performance back to normal levels.

 

[KENESS]

I don't own an iPhone currently. Is the way this was handled a big issue for current owners, or is it a blip of a problem that's being overblown?

IMO overblown. Batteries age, that's not an Apple thing. Apple's solution IMPROVED the lifespan of the affected devices, by preventing unexpected shutdowns.

Could they have said more about it at the time? Sure. But there was no nefarious intent, and by and large they have a "keep it simple" philosophy for all their updates and "technical" stuff, and this was no different.

People like to cry wolf. I don't want to be anywhere near those same people when a real wolf shows up.

 

[jav6454]

This whole debacle has been way overblown.

 

[44267547]

This whole debacle has been way overblown.

Agreed. And yet, there were those who believe and think that Apple should be brought down and their reputation should be entirely ruined because of a battery related feature.

 

[ghostface147]

Well if took them one month for their analytics to show their fix was working, then they could have said in the release notes in January that there was a beta feature that addresses unexpected shutdowns. They have no issue labeling other things beta (Siri, portrait mode), so why not this? And then also state that it may reduce performance to not shutdown.

 

[cmwade77]

Somewhat overblown. Every phone has the issue of unexpected shutdowns so this isn't unique to iPhones. How the issue was handled is what people are/should be complaining about, which is Apple not being transparent enough.

I wholeheartedly believe people would rather have a slow phone than a phone that shuts down unexpectedly, but people need to know why this is happening. They also need to know that replacing the battery will bring performance back to normal levels.

I wouldn't say every phone, I haven't had this with any Android phone I have owned, so I disagree that every phone has this issue.

I also wouldn't say it is overblown, it isn't so much that they slowed the phone down, it is that they didn't notify the user and give them the choice.

As for battery replacements, if they would just make it easy to replace the battery, then it wouldn't be as much of an issue.
[doublepost=1517946571][/doublepost]

Agreed. And yet, there were those who believe and think that Apple should be brought down and their reputation should be entirely ruined because of a battery related feature.

Actually, it isn't that the slowed the phone down, it is how poorly they handled this whole situation and Apple has been doing a lot of similar things as of late, they need to realize that they aren't invincible and that if this continues they will lose a lot of customers.
[doublepost=1517946633][/doublepost]

Well if took them one month for their analytics to show their fix was working, then they could have said in the release notes in January that there was a beta feature that addresses unexpected shutdowns. They have no issue labeling other things beta (Siri, portrait mode), so why not this? And then also state that it may reduce performance to not shutdown.

Exactly, transparency goes a long ways and they should have given the feature an off switch from day one, let the user decide.

 

[44267547]

Actually, it isn't that the slowed the phone down, it is how poorly they handled this whole situation and Apple has been doing a lot of similar things as of late, they need to realize that they aren't invincible and that if this continues they will lose a lot of customers.

I was speaking strictly about how it's been Exacerbated that they slowed down the iPhone, but I do agree that they could have been more transparent, which even Tim Cook himself admitted. And I think Apple will learn to be more open with their customers and not assecretive with specifics about their iPhone such as this specific instance.

 

[iModFrenzy]

Apple has made batteries 29$ for repair no matter the circumstance and is going to allow you to turn this helpful feature off in 11.3. Apple has owned up to it, and they are dealing with the problem in a good way.

Its just way too overblown at this point.

Also the amount of people I have had to explain what this feature is for is ridiculous. YouTubers and News outlets could quit using “APPLE IS SLOWING DOWN YOUR IPHONE” as a title. Shame on Apple for trying to prevent your iPhone from shutting down randomly!

 

[Rudy69]

The funny thing is that this "fix" did absolutely nothing for my wife's iPhone 6S and she had to get the battery replaced anyways.

 

[now i see it]

Perhaps millions of people were encouraged/coerced (by Apple employees) to buy a new $850+ phone that would function normally instead of just replace the old battery. Far from being overblown- there's plenty of pissed off folks who got taken. Probably too many to count.

 

[robjulo]

Cook is paid enough that he shouldn’t be making mistakes with transparency.

I was speaking strictly about how it's been Exacerbated that they slowed down the iPhone, but I do agree that they could have been more transparent, which even Tim Cook himself admitted. And I think Apple will learn to be more open with their customers and not assecretive with specifics about their iPhone such as this specific instance.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Anyone who owned an old iPhone can recall how awesome the unexpected shutdowns were. I'd take a slower phone (which most didn't even notice the slowdown in until this news broke) over a phone that'd randomly shut down and take several minutes to turn back on.

 

[corebeliefs]

I can see the argument that Apple was subtly trying to get people to abandon older phones by introducing this power management update without explaining that it's slowed phones down. However, since the cat's out of the bag, Apple has gone so far the other direction, offering low-cost batteries, allowing a toggle switch, that it seems to me unlikely that Apple was trying to do something nefarious. It didn't work, and they gave up pretty quickly. If a company is going to go to all that trouble to try to get people out of old phones, I don't think that it would offer such solutions that allow people to hold onto their phones now for perhaps a year or two later, with a $29 new battery.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

I wouldn't say every phone, I haven't had this with any Android phone I have owned, so I disagree that every phone has this issue.

Every phone will experience this. You've likely not had a phone old enough to experience the issue. Modern batteries deteriorate with time and eventually, they can't handle the current requirements for times of heavy draw, which results in a phone shutting down.

This happens to every single Android phone also once the battery gets old enough. As I said, you likely just haven't had a phone with a battery more than 1 year or 1000 charging cycles old, at which point you start to see the degradation.

 

[pdaholic]

I’ll tell you that this predicament is overblown in my case—I replaced the battery in my iPhone 6, and it is still slow as a turtle. It’s not the battery, but rather the craptastic iOS 11 that has ruined the phone, and I have no way to go back to iOS 10. My only recourse is to get a new phone. There’s your real story.

 

[macfacts]

Anyone who owned an old iPhone can recall how awesome the unexpected shutdowns were. I'd take a slower phone (which most didn't even notice the slowdown in until this news broke) over a phone that'd randomly shut down and take several minutes to turn back on.

Except no other battery powered electronics have sudden shutdowns due to cpu running at 100%. With all my portable electronics, they have shorter battery life as they get older. None of them had sudden shutdowns.

Apple's sudden shutdown fix (A.s.s. fix) was most likely implemented because of a design flaw or manufacturing defect in the iPhone 6/6s.

 

[iOSFangirl6001]

I don't own an iPhone currently. Is the way this was handled a big issue for current owners, or is it a blip of a problem that's being overblown?

A bit overblown

 

[ronno]

I don't own an iPhone currently. Is the way this was handled a big issue for current owners, or is it a blip of a problem that's being overblown?

Well if you are one of the millions who ended up buying a new phone because they thought theirs was broken due to the throttling, then this is not overblown. They shelled out $800 instead of a $29 battery fix.

 

[78Bandit]

"Disclosed"

I do not think that word means what you think it means.

 

[617660]

It's really not a power management but a performance management.

 

[69Mustang]

Every phone will experience this. You've likely not had a phone old enough to experience the issue. Modern batteries deteriorate with time and eventually, they can't handle the current requirements for times of heavy draw, which results in a phone shutting down.

Every phone will not experience this. You are literally making up excuses. The Apple issue is not about modern batteries deteriorating properly over time. But you know this already. Apple's issue is about batteries that defectively shut down prematurely. Those are not the same issues. This issue could have easily been solved months ago... with replacement batteries. The exact solution Apple has on offer now. Compounding the problem was Apple store employees not allowing battery replacements if the degradation test was failed. So according to your theory above, the batteries weren't degraded enough and shouldn't have been shutting down. But they were.

This happens to every single Android phone also once the battery gets old enough. As I said, you likely just haven't had a phone with a battery more than 1 year or 1000 charging cycles old, at which point you start to see the degradation.

This is false. Not even sure why you bothered posting this. It's nothing but deflection. Anecdotally, I have an old SII and an S5 that I retired back in December. Neither have ever experienced premature shutdown. My anecdote is just as irrelevant as your Android info since, as I stated earlier, this isn't about regular battery degradation. As I also stated, you already know that. So please stop.

 

[corebeliefs]

I’ll tell you that this predicament is overblown in my case—I replaced the battery in my iPhone 6, and it is still slow as a turtle. It’s not the battery, but rather the craptastic iOS 11 that has ruined the phone, and I have no way to go back to iOS 10. My only recourse is to get a new phone. There’s your real story.

This is the kind of thing I'm evaluating before going back to iPhone. All phones slow down with new OS updates, my Nexus 6 was nuked by 7.1.1. But with the premium pricing that Apple charges, it makes these kinds of issues worse in my opinion. I have a $360 G6, for example, right now. It's going to do stuff also, but at a much lower price I can move on more easily. Apple needs to be more perfect to justify $750+.

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

Every phone will not experience this. You are literally making up excuses. The Apple issue is not about modern batteries deteriorating properly over time. But you know this already. Apple's issue is about batteries that defectively shut down prematurely. Those are not the same issues. This issue could have easily been solved months ago... with replacement batteries. The exact solution Apple has on offer now. Compounding the problem was Apple store employees not allowing battery replacements if the degradation test was failed. So according to your theory above, the batteries weren't degraded enough and shouldn't have been shutting down. But they were.


This is false. Not even sure why you bothered posting this. It's nothing but deflection. Anecdotally, I have an old SII and an S5 that I retired back in December. Neither have ever experienced premature shutdown. My anecdote is just as irrelevant as your Android info since, as I stated earlier, this isn't about regular battery degradation. As I also stated, you already know that. So please stop.

It appears you don't truly understand the issue here, what Apple has done to avoid the problem, what is causing the shutdown, or the entire situation. But carry on telling yourself you're correct if it makes you feel better.