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Apple's Alleged Throttling of Older iPhones With Degraded Batteries Causes Controversy
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I semi-retired my 7 when I bought an X three or four weeks ago. It's a year old. I'm letting the battery charge wind down and running GB4 as it does. I want to see what the results are. This morning the battery was at 59% and the GB results were basically unchanged. It may be too early to draw any conclusions. There's also the sample size issue.
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I think the assumption was that this was a 6S/6S Plus problem, but you see owners of other models reporting problems.
One complication is that the issue of the battery's "health" (capacity) and the battery's charge level are being confused in some cases, which makes it harder to figure out what's going on, and why.
Or, the octane rating of your gas is lower than it used to be so the engine control electronics senses the lower octane and adjusts its settings to prevent knock or other problems, thus lowering your top speed.
Throttling due battery charge level and battery health levels are both issues that need more attention.
Has it been confirmed that this issue only comes with ios 11? (Sorry, haven't kept up with the thread)
I hope Apple addresses these issues.
I hope that we will get some clarification soon. I am debating whether or not to exchange the battery in my 6S but would wait for a software fix if possible.
Don’t have warranty anymore.
I think we will probably get some clarification soon. I will hold off until then and decide what to do afterwards.
My 6s wasn’t under warranty or Apple care. But my 6s serial number was under the quality replacement program for the battery.
Only for people who complained, sometimes very loudly. It took me three trips to the Apple store before they would replace the battery in my 6s, even after I demonstrated the shutoff behavior in their presence. What Apple did is called a "silent recall", again the purpose of which is to avoid millions in service costs.
Replacement iPhone 7 on 11.2.
- battery health is >99%
- charge level at 53%, CPU clocked at 2.3GHz, Geekbench scores are normal as expected
My unscientific conclusion - when older batteries output lower voltages than nominal, this will cause iOS 11 to throttle the CPU down to lower power consumption to prevent abrupt shutdowns
A Reddit post over the weekend has drawn a flurry of interest after an iPhone 6s owner reported that a battery replacement significantly increased the device's performance running iOS 11. The ensuing discussion thread, also picked up by readers in the MacRumors forum, has led to speculation that Apple intentionally slows down older phones to retain a full day's charge if the battery has degraded over time.
According to TeckFire, the author of the original Reddit post, their iPhone had been very slow after updating to iOS 11, especially compared to their brother's iPhone 6 Plus, so they decided to do some research with GeekBench and battery life apps, and ended up replacing the battery.
Just over a year ago, Apple launched a repair program for iPhone 6s owners after some users reported their devices were unexpectedly shutting down. Apple said the problem was down to a manufacturing issue affecting a "very small" number of iPhone 6s devices, and offered battery replacements free of charge to owners of devices within a limited serial number range.
MacRumors' Geekbench scores for iPhone 6s before and after battery drain
Around two months later, Apple released iOS 10.2.1 and said the update resulted in an 80 percent reduction in unexpected shutdowns on iPhone 6s and a 70 percent reduction on iPhone 6 devices. However, Apple explained this was about fixing a more widely reported issue caused by uneven power delivery from older batteries, and claimed it was separate from the manufacturing fault that had caused it to recall a select number of iPhone 6s devices.
This weekend's Reddit thread - running to over 500 comments as of writing - appears to have kicked off a wave of speculation about whether the two shutdown issues are in fact related, and that Apple's fix involves dynamically throttling the phones' maximum clock speeds relative to battery output (voltage), to prevent them from drawing too much power and shutting down.
Reports that the performance of iPhone 6 series models can be improved by replacing the battery aren't entirely new, but the suggestion that Apple is intentionally throttling the performance of older devices, for whatever reason, is bound to cause controversy. We've contacted Apple for comment or clarification.
In the meantime, users interested in checking their phone's performance are also using the free CpuDasherX app to compare running clock speeds (a factory iPhone 6s comes in at 1,848MHz, for example). Let us know your findings in the comments below. Lastly, it's worth noting that DIY iPhone battery replacements or repairs performed by a third party will void any Apple warranty still covering said devices.
Article Link: Apple's Alleged Throttling of Older iPhones With Degraded Batteries Causes Controversy
I don’t know about controversy but this is a really good idea.
As the batteries wear out the device should disable some graphically intensive features of the interface or lower clock speeds in order to maintain usability for at least 8 hours (a working day). This can be default behaviour or a user can opt in. I think most would prefer the default.
I have had similar experience with my 6s, scores essentially unchanged when battery was fully charged and at 60%.
Better yet, pop up a notification telling the owner the battery has degraded prematurely and automatically book an Apple store appointment to get the defective battery replaced for free with a higher quality Japanese cell.
No, I am on 10.3.3. I have been periodically checking my phone and it continues to report 600 MHz at a variety of charge levels. Power saving is disabled of course.
so silent there's been a page about it on their website for at least good year if not more
Having just being pointed to this thread it might explain why my iPhone 6 is running slow like molasses. Just ran a GB4 - 840/1370 on 87% indicated battery. So that's under 60% of how fast it should be. It's getting even slower the more exhausted the battery gets.
It's booked in for a new battery at the Apple Store tomorrow - it was that remark to a friend who replied with said "You saw the post on MacRumors?". Kind of glad I did now.
iOS 10.3.3 BTW.
It's booked in for a new battery at the Apple Store tomorrow - it was that remark to a friend who replied with said "You saw the post on MacRumors?". Kind of glad I did now.
iOS 10.3.3 BTW.
This CPU throttling is happening to my iPhone 6, and I just had my battery replaced this past June 2017 (at an Apple Store). Using the "CPU DasherX" app, I note that with battery charge at 90%-100%, the CPU frequency is 1400 MHz, and drops to 1127 MHz when it hits 89%. Single/Multi GeekBench scores drop in proportion (almost) to the CPU throttle -- 1561/2689 to 1334/2292. I can definitely "feel" this 15% hit in performance.
It seems fairly obvious that they updated iOS to slowly throttle the CPU as the battery discharges and ages, which solves two problems... 1) Customer problem: prevent user phones from randomly shutting down at 30-40% 2) Apple problem: replacing 100 gazillion iPhone 6/6s batteries. Two design birds with one stone. Apple does have the best 1st-world-problem solvers in the world!
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It seems fairly obvious that they updated iOS to slowly throttle the CPU as the battery discharges and ages, which solves two problems... 1) Customer problem: prevent user phones from randomly shutting down at 30-40% 2) Apple problem: replacing 100 gazillion iPhone 6/6s batteries. Two design birds with one stone. Apple does have the best 1st-world-problem solvers in the world!
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Yes, that's true on my iPhone 6 (w/ 6 month old battery). The CPU throttles as the battery discharges.
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From looking at my phone with a 60% at best battery (according to Coconut Battery) then it's massively throttled at all times even when the phone is showing 100%. Best result of 1045/1784 so it's running around 2/3rds as fast as it should at 100% remaining and on charge.
OK, so after the "silent" fix in iOS 10.2.whatever it stopped intermittently turning off at around 40%, but now it's slow and the battery won't last the 9 hours I'm at work with hardly any use. It did 2+ days when it was new.
So you are saying your 6 month old iPhone 6 is already throttled?
My iPhone 6 is about 2 years old at least and is still working full speed.
My one year old iPhone 6S is already down to half it’s usual Geekbench score.
Apple's battery replacement only covers phones manufactured within a two-month window. Yet they released iOS 10.2.1 on 2/2017 that provides a software fix for the issue. If the issue only occurs within a two-month window of phones and they agreed to replace the defective batteries on those phones then why would Apple have to release a software fix for the issue? Because the issue affects phones outside that two month window, and because Apple didn't notify users directly who were within that two-month window of phones about the replacement program. Thus it was a silent recall.
Of course, if you don't expect this sort of throttling to happen, then it could be unnerving to find out that it does happen.
On the other hand, Apple has never made any promises about iPhone performance vs. time. They never said your iPhone would be just as fast after 2 years as it was on the day you bought it. Of course that's what we've come to expect from computers/laptops/phones but it's not a rule. It was never written in a contract or anything. So anybody who gets super upset about this might as well be upset at themselves for making assumptions about a product that weren't really warranted.
Personally, if I have to choose between my phone running slower or shutting off unexpectedly, I'm very happy to choose "running slower."
On the other hand, Apple has never made any promises about iPhone performance vs. time. They never said your iPhone would be just as fast after 2 years as it was on the day you bought it. Of course that's what we've come to expect from computers/laptops/phones but it's not a rule. It was never written in a contract or anything. So anybody who gets super upset about this might as well be upset at themselves for making assumptions about a product that weren't really warranted.
Personally, if I have to choose between my phone running slower or shutting off unexpectedly, I'm very happy to choose "running slower."
The main “Overview” page will show the current/active CPU frequency. When My iPhone 6 drops below 90% battery charge, CPU freq shows 1127 MHz, which full speed is 1400 MHz.
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My 6 month old battery, in my 3 year old phone, yes.
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How have you determined your 2-year-old iPhone 6 is at “full speed” ?
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Would you be happier if it didn’t shut off unexpectedly, and ran just as fast as when you purchased ?
I had a similar experience at an Apple store — I told them that my 2 yr old iPhone 6 was randomly shutting down at 30-40% charge, and that I wanted the battery replaced, and even that I would pay for the replacement. They tested the battery and it showed 86% capacity (capacity, not charge) remained, and that they couldn’t authorize the replacement unless the battery tested at 80% or lower, even though I said that I would pay! I left, and went to a different Apple store, where I demanded that they let me pay for a battery replacement! They gave me some stink too, but finally allowed it. I was calm on the outside, but my innards were vibrating.