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

[OzmoOzmo]

So the choice is, your old phone either just dies or it becomes sluggish. I'd rather it become slow and I can still use it than the battery just die.

There are more options than that - like
1. Notifying you the battery is faulty so you can replace it
2. Decreasing the time it can be in normal speed before it has to go into low power mode
3. Not slowing it to the point of 1/3 the purchased speed (600Mhz vs 1800Mhz).
4. Giving you the option to do none of the above and work as purchased before the OS hack that did this was applied!

I buy a new phone every year so this doesn't affect me.

Good for you - I hope its recycled responsibly.

 

[Radon87000]

I think it wouldn’t be far fetched at this point to think that the batteries used in iPhones are deliberately designed to wear faster than usual after a year.

 

[Radon87000]

Apple Inc hit with first class action law suit over intentional slowdown of older phones.

https://9to5mac.com/2017/12/21/apple-lawsuit-slow-down-older-iphones/

 

[cbreze]

Wasn't it mentioned earlier in here that if your battery passed the diagnostics with the geniuses it would not be replaced? So Joe/Jane Blow, average consumer and iphone user then just figures their phone is worn out and time for a new one eh? Even tho Apple fully knows they just purposely throttled your phone and won't sell you a battery swap out to fix it. What a F'n racket! I was never an Apple fan but like their tech, but I have quickly become a total non fan that will be looking elsewhere for my tech.

 

[mateo124]

I mean I know it sucks and all, but how is this really any different that when intel processors throttle themselves when exceeding TDP and thermal limits? At the end of the day it’s a safety mechanism, they just need to be more explicit it informing the public about it.

 

[617660]

I mean I know it sucks and all, but how is this really any different that when intel processors throttle themselves when exceeding TDP and thermal limits? At the end of the day it’s a safety mechanism, they just need to be more explicit it informing the public about it.

It's not a safety mechanism. Certainly, Apple didn't use safety as a reason for slowing down old devices in its official response.

Rather think of it as a license to print money.

At least when Intel throttles CPU, it did it without the cover up.

 

[Applejuiced]

I mean I know it sucks and all, but how is this really any different that when intel processors throttle themselves when exceeding TDP and thermal limits? At the end of the day it’s a safety mechanism, they just need to be more explicit it informing the public about it.

Some people will continue to try to make excuses for this...

 

[thadoggfather]

Didn't the issue originate because of unexpected shutdown issues on the iPhone 6s that were solved in iOS 10.2.1?

This is interesting:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordon...-10-2-1-iphone-battery-problems/#8db206a79399

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/01/23/apple-releases-ios-10-2-1/

http://www.redmondpie.com/ios-10.2.1-release-notes-changelog-here-are-all-changes-in-one-place/

Just says general bug fixes and release notes don’t get much more into it in relation to battery issues

The Forbes article says this affects 6s on iOS 10 below 30% but not 7

So why would 7 need this throttling in 11.2?

Still fishy...

And if the phone just shuts off at 30 percent until u re charge that’s better than a throttled cpu without your knowledge. Geeez

This story isn’t done

 

[PBz]

I'd be more worried about the keyboards than performance on new MBPs.

This times 1000. So many failures went back to 2015 MBP.

 

[Hieveryone]

Some people will continue to try to make excuses for this...

I’ll never understand people who make excuses for all things Apple. Probably shelling out thousands of dollars over the years and never questioning anything.

It’s kind of like that book 1984 if I remember it correctly.

 

[janeauburn]

I’ll never understand people who make excuses for all things Apple. Probably shelling out thousands of dollars over the years and never questioning anything.

It’s kind of like that book 1984 if I remember it correctly.

There's a psychological term for this. The layman's term is much less flattering.

 

[Stuart6]

Remember that when the iphone 6s was unveiled, and how they were proud of their phones having sustained high levels of performance over longer periods of time without the processor throttling? Other companies don't have phones shutting down on 30% charge or below, at least not in recent times that I know of. I feel that apple is pulling a fast one instead of finding a better solution. Iphones are supposed to be this smooth and fast phone, but I feel that in recent times, the phone is getting slower with weaker RAM management and slower app loading speeds when I launch twitter. I have seen iphones losing speed tests to lower priced phones and having weaker battery life. To be honest, i don't like 2017 apple ever since they messed up IOS 11 with so many lags/bugs. They need to step it up next year.

 

[Radon87000]

I know the lawsuit will just make more money for lawyers and nothing more but it ensures many will know about this fast one Apple pulled over its customers.

 

[Zigourney]

I am thinking that a iPhone that is only a year old should not need Apple to throttle to help the battery. Maybe a 2 or 3 year old phone but not one just one year old.

Exactly! the iphone 7 was released Sept 2016, it is only a year old and apple have confirmed they are extending the CPU throttling "feature" to the iphone 7.

Why does a 1 year old phone need throttling?
Why isn't the battery in the iphone 7 good enough to last more than 1 year without getting throttled?
Why aren't apple putting better spec'd batteries into iphones?

This tells me that apple isn't using high enough spec'd batteries as they should be, meaning costs will be kept down and higher profits will be made.

I mean we always knew apple uses very low battery capacities in terms of milli Ampere hour (mAh) in comparison to the competition, we have seen this year on year with only marginal increase in batteries, and in some years an actual decrease in battery size, but this is really worrying to know that the iphone 7 is being throttled and they have publicly said they will extend this "feature" to other phones i.e. the iphone 8 and the X.

I am glad to see the law suits have arrived...

 

[Radon87000]

Second class action lawsuit filed over “over the “deceptive, immoral and unethical” tactic of slowing older iPhones”

https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/apple-sued-in-chicago-for-slowing-down-older-iphones/

 

[janeauburn]

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/20/app...atteries-instead-of-slowing-down-iphones.html

 

[TroyBoy30]

they will replace your battery. walk in and pay for it. you really think you should get new batteries for free?

 

[Ads79]

Maybe they just done that with 6s due to its battery problem.
I think they have a good intentions but it’s seems like double edge sword here
[doublepost=1512929258][/doublepost]
According to that Reddit post.
When you replace your weared battery,your phone isn’t get underclocked anymore.

According to a reddit post, really?? We r going to reference a blog as verbatim?

 

[dominiongamma]

they will replace your battery. walk in and pay for it. you really think you should get new batteries for free?

If under 80% they will, they should replace it whenever the customer is willing to pay, not wait until 80% which is absurd

 

[MacDevil7334]

If under 80% they will, they should replace it whenever the customer is willing to pay, not wait until 80% which is absurd

This. The central problem here is that Apple won’t replace a battery unless it has degraded past 80%. But they start throttling the processor long before the battery reaches that point. So, users are stuck with degraded performance and have no option to remedy it with a battery replacement. What’s even worse is that, because Apple didn’t tell anyone they were doing this, most users didn’t even consider a battery replacement might be an option. They just see that the phone has gotten slow and figure the only option is to buy a new one. That means more money in Apple’s pockets.

I have owned Apple computers and devices for over 20 years now. I’ve been a fan and defended most of their controversial moves over that time. But this was a shady, underhanded move by Apple. The justification they have made for this behavior may be technically valid (it is). But, the fact that Apple added this behavior without telling anyone and only came clean after being presented with hard data just shows that they knew this was not in the customer’s best interest. Apple deserves these lawsuits and whatever else comes their way as a result of this action.

 

[macsforever]

https://ifixit.org/blog/9472/ios-up...utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Read More

This. The central problem here is that Apple won’t replace a battery unless it has degraded past 80%. But they start throttling the processor long before the battery reaches that point. So, users are stuck with degraded performance and have no option to remedy it with a battery replacement. What’s even worse is that, because Apple didn’t tell anyone they were doing this, most users didn’t even consider a battery replacement might be an option. They just see that the phone has gotten slow and figure the only option is to buy a new one. That means more money in Apple’s pockets.

I have owned Apple computers and devices for over 20 years now. I’ve been a fan and defended most of their controversial moves over that time. But this was a shady, underhanded move by Apple. The justification they have made for this behavior may be technically valid (it is). But, the fact that Apple added this behavior without telling anyone and only came clean after being presented with hard data just shows that they knew this was not in the customer’s best interest. Apple deserves these lawsuits and whatever else comes their way as a result of this action.

https://ifixit.org/blog/9472/ios-up...utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Read More

 

[Stang6790]

What I want to know is does this throttle the processor at all times or only when there is high demand? If it's at all times then I would think the planned obsolescence is probably the case unless it's not technically possible to vary the clock speed on demand like you can on a laptop. Either way I think this is a bad move and very shady. I've had smart phones several years old that still run the same as the day I purchased them. Granted the battery may not last very long but I have never had one shut down due voltage drop.

 

[MacDevil7334]

https://ifixit.org/blog/9472/ios-update-slows-iphone/?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=122217_Newsletter Battery Update&utm_content=122217_Newsletter Battery Update+CID_4199bcb96376e5a13932e975032601cd&utm_source=CampaignMonitor&utm_term=Read More

Why are you responding with this link? It didn’t contain anything that hasn’t already been said. Yes, there are 3rd party options for replacing your battery if Apple won’t. But the average user isn’t going to be opening up their iPhone with a screwdriver. Apple was deceptive, even if they may have had a valid technical reason for doing what they did. They should change their battery replacement policy to allow for repairs before 80% degradation. And they deserve whatever they end up having to pay to settle these lawsuits because the did deceive users with this practice.

 

[MachCrit]

You can always fork out $80 for a battery replacement, right? If so, then why is this a dastardly act? If they let the processor run at full song, wouldn't that hasten the demise of your power source and cost you quicker?

This didn't occur when using external power, did it?

 

[MacDevil7334]

You can always fork out $80 for a battery replacement, right? If so, then why is this a dastardly act? If they let the processor run at full song, wouldn't that hasten the demise of your power source and cost you quicker?

This didn't occur when using external power, did it?

The problem is Apple doesn't widely publicize the option of a battery replacement to begin with. Even if you want one, they won't do it unless their tests show the batter has degraded to 80% capacity. But, the software begins throttling the processor before the battery has degraded that much. So, users are left with degraded performance and Apple refusing to do a battery replacement. Combine that with the fact that Apple slipped this change into software without telling anyone and hoping nobody would notice, and it's a problem.