Other Apple is slowing down older iPhones based on battery wear level [MERGED]

[HeadphoneAddict]

No they do not that is simply untrue!
Battery will last easily the full year of the warranty. So if it’s beyond that it’s up to the user to replace the battery or buy Apple care for extended warranty!
So you’re telling me if the starter wears out after the warranty on my vehicle, that the company owes me a new starter? Sorry it doesn’t work that way.

I always buy an AppleCare warranty on my Apple devices. There have been many times when I’ve taken my device in before the two years was up, with complaints about Performance and battery life, and they’ll do a test but if it’s even slightly above 80% they will not replace the battery under warranty.

Yet they obviously know that even when the battery is at 85% or 90% of original capacity that they’re already throttling the speed AND THEY NEVER MENTIONED THIS TO ME. Also some other battery test apps don’t agree with apples diagnostics and will show worse battery wear than apple’s test shows.

Most recently, my son’s iPhone 6 battery was performing horribly after almost 2 years this spring, and we took it to Apple, and the Apple store told me that there was nothing they could do. The battery tested at 83% but you could watch the battery gauge climb down each minute as we used it.

I took it to batteries plus bulbs and paid about $80 for a new battery and performance and battery life returned to normal. He can confirm this story. Later I took the receipt to the Apple store and they told me too bad, even though the phone still had a week of apple care plus left.

EDIT - this battery and performance issue had resulted in my son buying a 7+ this spring, after Apple refused to help, and then I installed the new battery which fixed things because my daughter needed to replace her 5s and i wanted to see if I could salvage the iPhone 6 for her.

 

[Applejuiced]

Did Apple respond yet? You can't really deny this evidence though

Im looking forward to a response and an action plan from Apple.
And an admittance that they will not engage in such shady practices in the future I hope.
I dont want my device turning to a turtle over time. If the battery dies faster I will either charge it more often or have the battery replaced. That should be my choice and not the manufacturer to secretly underclock and throttle my device and turn it slow and useless.
Transparency would be nice.

 

[v0lume4]

So, if true, another reason for me to continue to hate any iOS above iOS 6.

To me, iOS 6 will forever be remembered as the best iOS release. It was rock. solid. It's not the rose-tinted glasses, either.

 

[Radon87000]

I agree a good reason not to do a recall is to save money; however you can’t prove that is apples’ rational or that is what they are doing. In fact the common denominators with most of these threads is that the “proof of the pudding” ie smoking gun is always missing. It’s the same pattern: “my phone did this there Apple is engaging in planned obsolescence (or cost cutting or greed or etc)

This is what happened

1. Apple tried to cut some costs with the batteries in the 6s/6 models and get away with it. Unfortunately it turned out the cheap batteries were defective.
2. Apple was now in a bind. It would have to recall the faulty 6s units and get them fixed free of cost but that would involve a significant amount of cost.
3. Apple decided to knock out 2 birds with 1 stone and underclocked the CPU in iOS 10.2.1 so as to prevent the phone from shutting down as it reached 20% battery. Not only did they avoid the embarassement of a recall, they also saved money and the slower phone would mean more potential customers to get the newest iPhone on the block and for all we know they succeeded.

4. Apple is strangely silent on this whole controversy. Why is the geekbench score halved? Apple has to answer the customers

 

[v0lume4]

My old iPad 3rd gen should of never had iOS 9 installed by me. It crippled it

Tell me about it. My iPad 2 should have never had iOS 7 installed on it. Performance went from great to garbage, that quickly.

 

[Radon87000]

Tell me about it. My iPad 2 should have never had iOS 7 installed on it. Performance went from great to garbage, that quickly.

Its still happening. iPhone 6 is terribly laggy on iOS 11

 

[newellj]

I agree a good reason not to do a recall is to save money; however you can’t prove that is apples’ rational or that is what they are doing. In fact the common denominators with most of these threads is that the “proof of the pudding” ie smoking gun is always missing. It’s the same pattern: “my phone did this there Apple is engaging in planned obsolescence (or cost cutting or greed or etc)

Facts. We need more facts. And just to say it again, I'd really love to know how what people are posting applies to other manufacturers' cell phone lines, too. Just sayin'

 

[maka344]

Is it only the 6 and 6s model?

 

[newellj]

Even if you are out of warranty and their little test app indicates that the battery is within their "normal" parameters then even if you offer to pay they will not replace it.
So you would have to risk going to a 3rd party repair place or trying to do it yourself.
Your car comparisons are pointless.
[doublepost=1513097557][/doublepost]

Maybe you got lucky.
I didnt cause that's their policy and wouldn't replace the battery even though I wanted to pay.

This is such a strange policy. I wonder what the rationale is? Are $80 battery replacements either unprofitable or not profitable enough? Are they risky, in the sense that Genius staff foul them up frequently enough that it's a profits or customer relations concern? Something else? Curious.
[doublepost=1513106008][/doublepost]

Maybe iOS 11.2.1 will address the issue I raise? Doubt it tho

Rumor has it that iOS 11.2.1 will solve this problem by preventing people from using Apple mobile devices from posting at MacRumors.

Humor and nothing even remotely personal
[doublepost=1513106251][/doublepost]

I always buy an AppleCare warranty on my Apple devices. There have been many times when I’ve taken my device in before the two years was up, with complaints about Performance and battery life, and they’ll do a test but if it’s even slightly above 80% they will not replace the battery under warranty.

Yet they obviously know that even when the battery is at 85% or 90% of original capacity that they’re already throttling the speed AND THEY NEVER MENTIONED THIS TO ME. Also some other battery test apps don’t agree with apples diagnostics and will show worse battery wear than apple’s test shows.

Most recently, my son’s iPhone 6 battery was performing horribly after almost 2 years this spring, and we took it to Apple, and the Apple store told me that there was nothing they could do. The battery tested at 83% but you could watch the battery gauge climb down each minute as we used it.

I took it to batteries plus bulbs and paid about $80 for a new battery and performance and battery life returned to normal. He can confirm this story. Later I took the receipt to the Apple store and they told me too bad, even though the phone still had a week of apple care plus left.

EDIT - this battery and performance issue had resulted in my son buying a 7+ this spring, after Apple refused to help, and then I installed the new battery which fixed things because my daughter needed to replace her 5s and i wanted to see if I could salvage the iPhone 6 for her.

For what it's worth, I'd be shocked (assuming all of this turns out to be true) if the store staff had any idea that this was going on. Really, how long do you think even a small group of people could sit on a secret like that? Then consider the number of people involved, and the annual turnover in staff. If store staff had known, the Time to Tweet index would have been just about instant.
[doublepost=1513106341][/doublepost]

Tell me about it. My iPad 2 should have never had iOS 7 installed on it. Performance went from great to garbage, that quickly.

I agree with your conclusion, but the reason is probably nothing more complex than insufficient RAM in the iPad 2.

 

[Applejuiced]

Facts. We need more facts. And just to say it again, I'd really love to know how what people are posting applies to other manufacturers' cell phone lines, too. Just sayin'

I dont care about other manufacturers, I care about my device.
If others do it or not they should also be a lawsuit for them.

 

[I7guy]

This is what happened

1. Apple tried to cut some costs with the batteries in the 6s/6 models and get away with it. Unfortunately it turned out the cheap batteries were defective.
2. Apple was now in a bind. It would have to recall the faulty 6s units and get them fixed free of cost but that would involve a significant amount of cost.
3. Apple decided to knock out 2 birds with 1 stone and underclocked the CPU in iOS 10.2.1 so as to prevent the phone from shutting down as it reached 20% battery. Not only did they avoid the embarassement of a recall, they also saved money and the slower phone would mean more potential customers to get the newest iPhone on the block and for all we know they succeeded.

4. Apple is strangely silent on this whole controversy. Why is the geekbench score halved? Apple has to answer the customers

Ok I got that ya your opinion mine is different.
1. Some batteries had an issue and Apple is fixing those batteries.
2. Apple changed its power management software response in iOS 11.
3 Apple doesn’t have to broadcast it.
4. People are conflating power management changes with the notion Apple did something nefarious under the hood; which they didn’t.
5. Geekbench didn’t slow down for everybody, and my phone didnt slow done not sped up.

 

[rui no onna]

Even if you are out of warranty and their little test app indicates that the battery is within their "normal" parameters then even if you offer to pay they will not replace it.
So you would have to risk going to a 3rd party repair place or trying to do it yourself.
Your car comparisons are pointless.
[doublepost=1513097557][/doublepost]

Maybe you got lucky.
I didnt cause that's their policy and wouldn't replace the battery even though I wanted to pay.

Ah. I've never had our iPhones' battery replaced until they're below 80% of original capacity or exhibiting other issues. In this case, I quite understand Apple's policy.

However, I do think they should have an investigation on defective batteries and perhaps a battery replacement/recall system in place.

 

[Act3]

Ok I got that ya your opinion mine is different.
1. Some batteries had an issue and Apple is fixing those batteries.
2. Apple changed its power management software response in iOS 11.
3 Apple doesn’t have to broadcast it.
4. People are conflating power management changes with the notion Apple did something nefarious under the hood; which they didn’t.
5. Geekbench didn’t slow down for everybody, and my phone didnt slow done not sped up.

Many people have this issue with 6s, I saw my benchmarks double yesterday after replacing the battery. Both with geekbench and antutu. I also saw my CPU speed go from 911 mhz to approx 1846 mhz using the app that macrumors linked in their article. Not sure how you can not put any blame on apple. I was so close to thinking I needed a new phone due to their power management changes, when all along I just needed a new battery. There is no harm in communicating that to the consumer.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

[doublepost=1513106251][/doublepost]

For what it's worth, I'd be shocked (assuming all of this turns out to be true) if the store staff had any idea that this was going on. Really, how long do you think even a small group of people could sit on a secret like that? Then consider the number of people involved, and the annual turnover in staff. If store staff had known, the Time to Tweet index would have been just about instant.
[doublepost=1513106341][/doublepost]

It doesn’t take a genius, or in this case Apple genius, to put two and two together - poor performance and decrease battery capacity - when people keep coming in with these complaints at the Apple Store.

I told them I thought the battery was bad, or that I thought it might be slow and running down faster because maybe apps were crashing in the background, but I didn’t have the experience that they have seeing this day in and day out. So I didn’t make the correlation.

 

[I7guy]

Many people have this issue with 6s, I saw my benchmarks double yesterday after replacing the battery. Both with geekbench and antutu. I also saw my CPU speed go from 911 mhz to approx 1846 mhz using the app that macrumors linked in their article. Not sure how you can not put any blame on apple. I was so close to thinking I needed a new phone due to their power management changes, when all along I just needed a new battery. There is no harm in communicating that to the consumer.

As I said, I had my battery replaced yesterday when this stuff was “breaking”. No difference in cpu before the replacement or after according to Lorium. Wet finger in the air couldn’t tell the difference before and after and lirium didnt show any differences except the new battery lasts way longer. See I didn’t know I needed a new battery but the thread prompted me.

For the masses I can understand why Apple doesn’t broadcast such changes. Raises more questions than it will answer.

 

[Act3]

For the masses I can understand why Apple doesn’t broadcast such changes. Raises more questions than it will answer.

news articles about this throttiling, with no explanation as of yet from Apple, also raises alot of questions. A simple pop up on the phone saying "battery is degraded, needs replaced. CPU is not running to full potential" Kind of similar to the 32 bit warnings for older apps, would have have been all they needed to do.

 

[JT2002TJ]

As I said, I had my battery replaced yesterday when this stuff was “breaking”. No difference in cpu before the replacement or after according to Lorium. Wet finger in the air couldn’t tell the difference before and after and lirium didnt show any differences except the new battery lasts way longer. See I didn’t know I needed a new battery but the thread prompted me.

For the masses I can understand why Apple doesn’t broadcast such changes. Raises more questions than it will answer.

Sorry, Did you post your before and after results?

Edit: You have many times in this thread asked for proof, and pointed out that it is speculation in support for Apple, while there have been before and after speed tests posted. So looking forward to your before and after results indicating that there was no change.

 

[jasonklee]

I am very impressed by the posters in this thread refraining from hyperbolic and conspiratorial thinking. Respect to those members who've engaged in objectivity and empiricism. Looks like Apple is...rotten. A rotten Apple, if you will. A rotten Apple to the core.

 

[chillip]

This needs massive media attention to put pressure on Apple.

 

[anonymous guy]

So I had benchmarked an iPhone 6S plus on iOS 10.3.3 with the battery evaluation app and Geek Bench. The battery app informed me the battery was running on 35% capacity and Geek Bench was reporting benchmarks half of what an iPhone 6S plus would average. I decided to take it into the Apple Store and request replacement.

They run their internal diagnostics and report 84.88% battery health. No battery replacement approved.

I wonder if one of their approved vendors like Best Buy would perform the repair or if they use Apple benchmarks as well.

 

[chillip]

I’m currently corresponding with Rene Ritchie from iMore about these issues.

 

[anonymous guy]

Also their solution: update to 11.2 lmao

 

[Applejuiced]

Many people have this issue with 6s, I saw my benchmarks double yesterday after replacing the battery. Both with geekbench and antutu. I also saw my CPU speed go from 911 mhz to approx 1846 mhz using the app that macrumors linked in their article. Not sure how you can not put any blame on apple. I was so close to thinking I needed a new phone due to their power management changes, when all along I just needed a new battery. There is no harm in communicating that to the consumer.

Dont mind some, no matter what Apple does they still wont put any blame on Apple.
Some enjoy getting ripped off I guess

 

[daijholt]

I think this is being blown out of proportion. I don’t think there was any malicious intent by Apple with this, I’m sure they merely saw it as another optimisation to extend battery life between charges as the battery aged, thus providing a similar experience later in its lifecycle. There’s probably a tonne of other similar situations where performance is reduced to enhance the longevity of the battery.

If Apple are guilty of anything, it’s likely making the assumption that iOS was that well optimised that reducing CPU speed wouldn’t have a big impact on UI smoothness, when clearly it does ok some older devices.

 

[Applejuiced]

Also their solution: update to 11.2 lmao

To me they told me to just update and buy a new device.
I had it for a few years so I got my money's worth out of it he said.
Great answer, the repair techs are pushing like salespeople for you to buy a new iPhone instead of telling you that your device runs like a turtle because it needs a battery replacement.
Off course the profit margins are a lot better when they sell a new device than replacing a worn out battery
[doublepost=1513111359][/doublepost]

I think this is being blown out of proportion. I don’t think there was any malicious intent by Apple with this.

Yeah ok