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

[Radon87000]

And this power management will commence when?

Ask Apple. If Apple told me when I would know. They will slow down the phone without my knowledge. Heck it would be better if the phone unexpectedly did shut down. At least I would know there is a problem with the battery. In the solution Apple implemented the user may feel the phone in general is slow and upgrade to a newer phone without realising a $80 battery is the solution.
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Yes let's discuss it.

Apple heavily throttles the CPU based on battery.

Apple didn't tell anyone it does so.

Apple throttles the battery even when the battery passes all diagnostics and is above the threshold at which they recommend changing it.

Apple let people believe their phones were physically fine and thus any slowdowns would be iOS related as they have been the past decade.

People would have purchased new phones based on the poor performance as there would be no indication of any other way of addressing the poor performance.

They even fooled a pro user like me. A guy who installed custom ROMs on Android. Never in my wildest dreams would I link battery wear with performance.

 

[Applejuiced]

And this power management will commence when?

Oh yeah I forgot, this is a "feature"

 

[Radon87000]

Oh yeah I forgot, this is a "feature"

A $1200 phone slowing down after 1-2 years is now a feature. Amazing the lengths to which Apple fans can go.

 

[Applejuiced]

A $1200 phone slowing down after 1-2 years is now a feature. Amazing the lengths to which Apple fans can go.

They are so kind and just love us so much that they are doing this great thing for us without even mentioning anything about it.
If I knew they implemented this great "feature" I'd send Tim Cook a Christmas present

 

[Radon87000]

They are so kind and just love us so much that they are doing this great thing for us without even mentioning anything about it.
If I knew they implemented this great "feature" I'd send Tim Cook a Christmas present

I was told the home button delay on iPhone 7 was a bug fix and a feature

I was told my brand new iPhone 6 battery wear decreasing to 94% health after just 80 cycles is perfectly normal

I was told when Error53 happened, those whose devices were bricked by Apple deserved it for third party repair.

I am being told my iPhone X battery getting wrecked after a year is perfectly Normal and I absolutely must buy AppleCare for my iPhone X performance to be retained beyond a year.

Apple just can’t do anything wrong. It’s all on the customer. If you are not liking it, it’s a new feature you have to get accustomed to. Otherwise switch to Android and their horrible outdated devices!

 

[Altis]

The fact is one complains their phone is slow it's difficult to determine the root cause. The 4s and ipad 2 people were complaining ios 9 "killed" their devices.

What's the relevance?

It's generally software that causes the device to get slow. You can put iOS 6 back onto a 4S and it will run sweet as the day it was new.

Nobody suspects hardware, and if they happen to, Apple will tell them everything checks out perfectly fine.

You cannot assume the reason anybody upgraded their phones is due to poor performance; that's a straw man. Since it's been showed that a rogue app could actually slow the phone down and kill the battery.

That's not what a strawman is.

That's one, if not the most common reason to replace a phone -- it's gotten slow. If your phone is old and performs poorly, you'll start looking to replace it.

The cause of the slowdown being a rogue app is a non-sequitur to the point that people replace their phones when they feel slow and sluggish.

 

[cappers]

...so in theory if you are experiencing slowdown and you have ability to run off mains, does this stop it from slowing down if plugged it?
Has anyone also had a battery replaced and an can verify that this stops it from slowing?

Just saying........

 

[Radon87000]

It’s a very cleverly laid scheme. I used to think the slowdown was due to lack of optimisation for older phones. Turns out they automated the process by linking it to battery wear. Very ingenious. The smaller iPhones have a smaller battery and need to be charged more frequently so the chances of them being throttled are more than the Plus variants or the X.

https://www.wired.com/story/apple-iphone-battery-slow-down/

APPLE HAD WAY BETTER OPTIONS THAN SLOWING DOWN YOUR IPHONE

Rather than quietly push out an update that crimped older iPhones, it should have made that throttling opt-in. As it stands, there's no way to avoid having your phone slowed down once the battery reaches its limits. By giving users the choice, and giving them the information necessary to make their own decision, Apple could avoid the frustrations many have expressed over the policy.



While making the throttling opt-in could cause performance issues for users who opt-out, it would give users a sense of control over the situation and avoid making them feel like they're being tricked into buying a new phone. As it stands, Apple's move comes off as deceptive.

Instead of leaving users confused about why their phones are suddenly slowing to a crawl, Apple could take user education a step further by providing a battery health monitor in the Settings app. That way, an iPhone owner could figure out if the battery is the issue, or if something else is going on.

If your phone is out of warranty and you don't have an AppleCare+ plan, the company offers a battery replacement for $79 plus a $6.95 shipping charge. The problem, Wiens says, is that Apple doesn't advertise this policy to consumers, leaving iPhone users to believe that the only solution is to buy a costly iPhone.

Apple's throttling is misleading, and it's far from the best way the company could have handled the situation. Still, lithium-ion batteries are riddled with problems users should be aware of. The company isn't likely to change its stance on the matter, but if you've noticed your iPhone getting slower over the last year, at least you know it wasn't all in your head—and that a battery fix might bring your iPhone back up to speed.

 

[maflynn]

You cannot assume the reason anybody upgraded their phones is due to poor performance; that's a straw man. Since it's been showed that a rogue app could actually slow the phone down and kill the battery.

Nor can you state the inverse. The issue is that Apple snuck in a change without any communication that made older phones perform worse then they used too. Without getting into the reasons why, its my opinion that when people start getting frustrated at how slow their phone is, and they see how apple is promoting the performance of their newest phones, they will upgrade.

There's no way to imo, to justify the move of purposely slowing down an expensive product without communicating and/or giving the consumer the choice.

 

[Radon87000]

This is the pathetic state of an iPhone 7 just a year later. AApple need to be brought to book on this. iPhone X and 8 owners like me should watch out. We are next.

 

[I7guy]

There's no way to imo, to justify the move of purposely slowing down an expensive product without communicating and/or giving the consumer the choice.

Even if no choice was involved they probably should have been more forthcoming.

Why there was “throttling “ on power though is beyond me.
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This is the pathetic state of an iPhone 7 just a year later. AApple need to be brought to book on this. iPhone X and 8 owners like me should watch out. We are next.

Is this your phone or “a” phone?

 

[maflynn]

Even if no choice was involved they probably should have been more forthcoming.

Why there was “throttling “ on power though is beyond me.

I agree, Apple is not about choice, but if they were more transparent about what actions they were taking and why, this may have prevented what could be a PR disaster for them.

 

[miragebg]

See mine after 10 months of use:

I want and will crush it in their heads just after the holidays.

 

[KingslayerG5]

Welcome back to 2009 after two years thanks to that sealed and degraded battery. Speed test comparisons and benchmark scores become irrelevant.

A 600 MHz iPhone 6s in 2017. Hello again, iPhone 3Gs.

 

[neliason]

No. They may lose efficiency but no manufacturer is throttling back max hp. If the pedal is pressed, the engine will perform as hard as it can.

No, they really do lose power over time for various reasons. Efficiency also drops along with this. And manufactures do throttle back HP. Modern engines actually shut off cylinders. I’m not saying this is the same as what Apple did. But the original claim I replied to said simply engines don’t lose HP over time and that isn’t true.

 

[RickInHouston]

This is the pathetic state of an iPhone 7 just a year later. AApple need to be brought to book on this. iPhone X and 8 owners like me should watch out. We are next.

It would help had you stated, when released, those numbers were 3233 single core and 5363 multi-core.

 

[Hal~9000]

This is the pathetic state of an iPhone 7 just a year later. AApple need to be brought to book on this. iPhone X and 8 owners like me should watch out. We are next.

That’s disgusting by Apple to do that on just a year old device... there’s no way, absolutely NO fu**ing way, that the battery is in bad enough shape after just 1 year where they need to throttle you like that

On the bright side, it could be worse: at least your 7 is not getting throttled down 50% like another macrumors forum user is

Mind you... that result above where his smartphones performance just got crippled in half by Apple is when his 7 has 85% battery capacity left (hardly the case where Apple would truly need to throttle to prevent shutdowns). Apple is clearly being overzealous with their throttling and simply not giving a **** if they screw up customers devices via software updates as long as they already have their $$$

 

[Radon87000]

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Is this your phone or “a” phone?

Why does it matter? If I dont have a problem that doesnt mean the problem doesnt exist.

 

[I7guy]

Why does it matter? If I dont have a problem that doesnt mean the problem doesnt exist.

It matters plenty. Posting pictures of random phones goes under the heading of anecdotal even more so than your own phone.

 

[Zaft]

I tested an old iPhone 6 I had laying around. It has 85% battery wear, its not being throttled.
Multi core 2625 and Single 1300. My wife's iPhone 7 Plus is over a year old and also not throttled.

Software I guess picks and chooses.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

That’s disgusting by Apple to do that on just a year old device... there’s no way, absolutely NO fu**ing way, that the battery is in bad enough shape after just 1 year where they need to throttle you like that

On the bright side, it could be worse: at least your 7 is not getting throttled down 50% like another macrumors forum user is

View attachment 743411

Mind you... that result above where his smartphones performance just got crippled in half by Apple is when his 7 has 85% battery capacity left (hardly the case where Apple would truly need to throttle to prevent shutdowns). Apple is clearly being overzealous with their throttling and simply not giving a **** if they screw up customers devices via software updates as long as they already have their $$$

The pathetic part is that Apple won't deem that battery with 85% capacity left to be defective or worn out, and it will pass their diagnostics while throttling performance, with the customer being sent out the door telling them to restore the phone as new and see if that helps. Been there, done that.

 

[blue rocket]

Honestly who cares.... They are doing the right thing. If anyone expects a cell phone to work as well as it did 2-3 years after you purchased it your head is in the clouds. These discussions blow my mind!

 

[CTHarrryH]

Just wondering - for those running 6s and having the slow down. A while back Apple had a battery replacement program for a ton of 6s. Those of you having slow down - were you part of that program, did the replacement and still have the slowdown. Did the replacement and don't have the slowdown? Knew about the replacement program but didn't bother since you weren't having any problems. I guess I wondering if you did have the battery replaced are you having slowdowns.

 

[I7guy]

Just wondering - for those running 6s and having the slow down. A while back Apple had a battery replacement program for a ton of 6s. Those of you having slow down - were you part of that program, did the replacement and still have the slowdown. Did the replacement and don't have the slowdown? Knew about the replacement program but didn't bother since you weren't having any problems. I guess I wondering if you did have the battery replaced are you having slowdowns.

My 6s battery was replaced two weeks ago under the quality program and I didn’t feel any slowdown.

 

[Stang6790]

Honestly who cares.... They are doing the right thing. If anyone expects a cell phone to work as well as it did 2-3 years after you purchased it your head is in the clouds. These discussions blow my mind!

The phones are slowing down after a year, they are not doing the right thing. Besides that, the other smartphones have no problem working after a couple years. I gave my cousin my old Galaxy S6 when I got a iPhone 7 Plus, it's now over 2 1/2 years old and it works just as good as the day I got it, the battery doesn't last as long as it did when new but the phone is not throttled to half speed and has never spontaneously shut down due to voltage draw. It boggles my mind how anyone can defend this move.