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

[JT2002TJ]

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.

I agree, I do not think they did it maliciously. But the unintended outcome was people traded in phones (for little money) and spend more money on new phones because of Apple's battery replacement policy and Apple Geniuses suggesting that their device is at the end of it's life cycle.

If Apple had given the customer the choice, indicating that speed was related to the battery, then customers could have made an informed decision. Since they didn't, there was no choice for the customer.

I would like to see 2 things:

1) Apple admitting to doing this (and I assume they did it with honest intentions), saying they did it to increase the users experience with battery life. Create a pop-up notification (even if it is one time) warning the customer that their battery has reached a threshold where the phone will run slower from now on in order to conserve battery life, replacing the battery will restore original speed.

2) Remove the out of warranty 80% requirement for customer funded battery replacements (and allow customers to pay out of pockets during the warranty period if they want to replace the battery even if it is above their threshold).

If these are accomplished, they will have stood behind their product. Even if they do not make a switch

 

[I7guy]

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.

You know what proof is? The underlying code that Apple “supposedly modified” not all this conjecture of which people are posting conflicting information understandably. While I’m in the group of people that are affected I don’t buy the hypothesis. Not one bit.

I didn’t take a screen shot prior to getting the battery replace unfortunately.
[doublepost=1513112234][/doublepost]

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.

Don’t know obviously what Apple will do.

 

[JT2002TJ]

You know what proof is? The underlying code that Apple “supposedly modified” not all this conjecture of which people are posting conflicting information understandably. While I’m in the group of people that are affected I don’t buy the hypothesis. Not one bit.

GeekBench has a history of your previous runs, perhaps you could post yesterdays speed test, and today's. I have a historic run in my history from my iphone 7+ I ran April 2017 at 12:52, even though I have an X now.

 

[chillip]

My iPad mini 4 exhibits the same issues. Normal Geekbench when battery has plenty of charge and then much lower scores when under 50%.

 

[I7guy]

GeekBench has a history of your previous runs, perhaps you could post yesterdays speed test, and today's. I have a historic run in my history from my iphone 7+ I ran April 2017 at 12:52, even though I have an X now.

Have you tried editing a 4K movie to see if there is any difference other than some theoretical numbers?

 

[HallStevenson]

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.

Did you seriously expect Apple to reimburse you for the cost of the battery replacement that you had done elsewhere ? The other shop didn't replace the battery because it needed replaced as much as they replaced it because you paid them to do it !

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.

Nothing against the Apple Store folks, but they are trained (?) on what symptoms to look for, how to do some diagnostics, etc, etc. If their testing says it's "okay", then it's okay to them. No one can expect to ignore their training or guidelines.

 

[JT2002TJ]

Have you tried editing a 4K movie to see if there is any difference other than some theoretical numbers?

No, I haven't. Do you have the history?

EDIT: My first 4k iOS device is my current iPhone X, it is 2 weeks old.

 

[HallStevenson]

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.

It works both ways and conspiracy theorists can run with this or not. You have two outcomes:

1) Slow down the clock speed in order to maintain reasonable battery life. If Apple can maintain ~24 hours, most people are content with that. Anyone that has to charge their phone every 4, 6, 8 hours or so, knows something is wrong.
2) By slowing down the clock speed, the usability of the phone decreases - it just feels and operates slower. What do people do when a device such as a phone gets "too slow" ? No need for me to answer that.

 

[I7guy]

No, I haven't. Do you have the history?

So basically there is no real world scenarios to corroborate this. While I can’t prove they didn’t, nobody can prove they did.

 

[Act3]

reducing CPU speed wouldn’t have a big impact on UI smoothness

Has a big impact on any cpu intensive tasks, there is more to iPhones than pretty animations

 

[JT2002TJ]

So basically there is no real world scenarios to corroborate this. While I can’t prove they didn’t, nobody can prove they did.

You do realize that you are calling for proof, saying these comments isn't true. At the same time, you simply have to look within your app click on history (at the bottom), then click on CPU and it will show your test.

You have all the proof to discredit all the people in this tread... Lets see it. It would be nice to see some shred of proof (even if it doesn't prove you changed the battery), just proof that you ran it yesterday and today with similar results.

 

[newellj]

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.

Fair enough on both points, but I'd still really like to know whether Apple is an outlier or not, assuming the facts are as alleged in the reddit thread and here. To me, it's a little less egregious if it's some kind of unstated industry standard. Or to put it differently, it would really make a difference to me if Apple were the ONLY company doing this - I would feel differently about this. But YMMV on this.
[doublepost=1513115329][/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.

In real life, you may be giving them too much credit? Or not, I'm honestly not sure.

 

[Jimmy James]

This IS planned obsolescence under the guise of power management. When my car is low on fuel I don't want or expect it to cut power with no option for intervention. Most phone users may think their old phone runs slow and then upgrade, where they may have alternatively considered a battery replacement instead.

 

[newellj]

My iPad mini 4 exhibits the same issues. Normal Geekbench when battery has plenty of charge and then much lower scores when under 50%.

I know you know this, and I know you agree with this - I wish this were a separate thread, because I think it's possibly a separate issue...in a way, I think your issue is more interesting and depending on how I'm looking at it at the time, possibly more annoying. The redeeming fact in your scenario, though, is that restoring performance is only a charge away - no heroics, like a new battery, required.

 

[I7guy]

You do realize that you are calling for proof, saying these comments isn't true. At the same time, you simply have to look within your app click on history (at the bottom), then click on CPU and it will show your test.

You have all the proof to discredit all the people in this tread... Lets see it. It would be nice to see some shred of proof (even if it doesn't prove you changed the battery), just proof that you ran it yesterday and today with similar results.

I can prove I changed the battery because I know the audience on MR. I already have a suitably redacted version of the receipt. But that’s not the issue there is no way to “prove” beyond a shadow of a doubt that Apple is doing what people allege. People can believe what they want. Nor can I disprove beyond a shadow of a doubt Apple isn’t doing what is alleged.

 

[newellj]

This needs massive media attention to put pressure on Apple.

I hesitate to say this, but what it probably needs is some lawyers...if there is fault here, they will find it because there will be money in it for them.

 

[Septembersrain]

The wording here implies that they treat those with Applecare/Applecare+ the same as those without. If it retains less than 80%, they'll do it. If not, they won't.

They do not say anything about if you feel you need a replacement, you can pay for it. It says if it needs replacing, telling me they can dictate that without my input. They just indicate that you can change it if the test fails.

 

[macsforever]

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

I’ll change the battery out for you. For free, just buy the parts.

 

[Act3]

I hesitate to say this, but what it probably needs is some lawyers...if there is fault here, they will find it because there will be money in it for them.

Maybe the trillion dollar company will right the consumers affected by this and leave the lawyers out of it. /s
[doublepost=1513118089][/doublepost]

GeekBench has a history of your previous runs, perhaps you could post yesterdays speed test, and today's. I have a historic run in my history from my iphone 7+ I ran April 2017 at 12:52, even though I have an X now.

you mean this? lol Can you tell when I got my battery changed out?

 

[Jmausmuc]

Maybe the trillion dollar company will right the consumers affected by this and leave the lawyers out of it. /s
[doublepost=1513118089][/doublepost]

you mean this? lol Can you tell when I got my battery changed out?

View attachment 741740

That’s a huge difference. Looking forward to trying this on my 6S.

 

[mlody]

Maybe the trillion dollar company will right the consumers affected by this and leave the lawyers out of it. /s
[doublepost=1513118089][/doublepost]

you mean this? lol Can you tell when I got my battery changed out?

View attachment 741740

I am seeing the exact same thing on my daughter's 6S. Her phone was replaced at the end of Q1 this year because of the battery issue and now the slowness. The 6S is slower than her 6 that she replaced it with

 

[Act3]

I am seeing the exact same thing on my daughter's 6S. Her phone was replaced at the end of Q1 this year because of the battery issue and now the slowness. The 6S is slower than her 6 that she replaced it with

Before I changed my battery yesterday, mine was benchmarking slower than a 5S

 

[I7guy]

Before I changed my battery yesterday, mine was benchmarking slower than a 5S

Did it feel slower? Mine didn’t. Nor did it feel faster after the swap.

 

[Act3]

Did it feel slower? Mine didn’t. Nor did it feel faster after the swap.

yes it felt slower, laggy etc... the new battery made it feel like new phone to be absolutely honest.

It was running at half speed. If it did run fine at half speed, I would think that there would be really no need for faster processors.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

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.

This is what I'm saying, this is what happened to us with our 6. They don't care if it's half as fast with degraded battery if their capacity results don't jibe with our experience (or test results). I won't be so paranoid as to say the fudged the results, and let the readers judge for themselves.