Apple's Alleged Throttling of Older iPhones With Degraded Batteries Causes Controversy

[alm99]

I fully believe this. I recently changed my battery in my 6S plus because I it would be dead by 2pm, battery life was terrible.

Now with this new battery at full capacity the phone is snappier on iOS11, much less lag or stutter, almost not noticeable. However once the battery gets down to 20% at the end of the day, performance takes a massive hit, apps will take forever to load, stutter in animations, app loading. Even the changing from portrait to landscape viewing will either result in stutter or get stuck requiring you to hit the home button and start over.

 

[Baymowe335]

That's strange. I have had the opposite experience with my Samsung hence why I haven't upgraded since my contract ended two months ago. The iPhone 5S I had before it though, was disturbingly slower towards the end of the 2 years I had it.

Another vote for my Samsung being trash after a year. Meanwhile, my iPhone 3GS is still useful in a pinch.

 

[Rogifan]

I'll wait for more than a couple redditers doing some pseudoscientific testing before I get outraged.

This is the worst of the internet. People coming up with theories that then get shared, re-tweeted etc. and become fact to some, especially those who always believe the worst intentions about Apple.

 

[B4U]

iPhone 6s is already an old phone now?

Nope, Apple is still selling the sucker now. Without the optimized stock iOS 9 though...

 

[alex2016g]

iPhone SE
64GB
iOS 11.2
View attachment 741452View attachment 741453View attachment 741454

Mine

 

[Rogifan]

It takes courage to save millions in service costs by denying a systemic problem, then covering up the problem by slowing down users' phones without telling them.

Because slowing down people’s iPhones thereby providing a worse experience makes them more likely to buy another iPhone in the future (or any other Apple product). I guess you really do believe Apple customers are iSheep.

 

[calzon65]

If true, here we go with another class action lawsuit ... which might actually be justified.

 

[Leonard1818]

My wife's 6s had the battery replaced during the recall campaign and within a year, it's back to shutting down between 20 and 30 percent, dying very quickly, etc.

There is no reason her 6s should be in this bad of shape 2 years after purchase.

 

[locoboi187]

CPU throttling is a basic function of any decent BMS. They have a throttle pin which is directly connected to CPU to reduce system load or else the BMS will have to cut all power to keep the battery voltage from dropping below critical.

If battery does drop below critical voltage, it could internally short-circuit and/or swell and cause fire.

I think you’re confused.

Lower battery capacity does not equate to lower voltage. You can lower the voltage to get a longer battery life with the lower battery capacity you have but I don’t think Apple should have done that. Let the voltage be lowered on “Low Battery” mode so then the CPU can be underclocked. This way a person will know performance will take a hit.

Apple should have at least informed consumers of their practice (if this is genuinely true). I know people with two year old iPhones getting a newer one because their current one is slow. They instead could have just forked significantly less money to Apple to replace the battery. All in all this is pretty bad and people need to see that.

 

[Jmausmuc]

CPU throttling is a basic function of any decent BMS. They have a throttle pin which is directly connected to CPU to reduce system load or else the BMS will have to cut all power to keep the battery voltage from dropping below critical.

If battery does drop below critical voltage, it could internally short-circuit and/or swell and cause fire.

Some people’s phones run throttled the entire time. There are reports of iPhone 7 users who have reduced scores and clock speeds with just 6-12 month old devices.

If the phone lowered its clock speed when it reaches about 20% I would be ok with it, but according to the thread (500+ reports) people are also affected with fully charged batteries.

 

[Rogifan]

I think you’re confused.

Lower battery capacity does not equate to lower voltage. You can lower the voltage to get a longer battery life with the lower battery capacity you have but I don’t think Apple should have done that. Let the voltage be lowered on “Low Battery” mode so then the CPU can be underclocked. This way a person will know performance will take a hit.

Apple should have at least informed consumers of their practice. I know people with two year old iPhones getting a newer one because their current one is slow. They instead could have just forked significantly less money to Apple to replace the battery. All in all this is pretty bad and people need to see that.

What practice? Where did Apple admit to this theory posted on reddit?

 

[bradkrischel]

Not sure I'm following this guy's logic. He owns a model of phone that has a known battery issue for a small number of units, experiences some issues, then replaces that battery and gets better performance. But his conclusion isn't that the battery was defective and fluctuating as a result of the known defect, but rather that Apple is throttling through software?

Reddit in a nutshell

 

[Jmausmuc]

Reddit in a nutshell

If you wanna hate on reddit fine. But here on macrumors there is a huge thread with people reporting the same issue.

My 6S is also very slow and it’s Geekbench score is about half of what it should be at about 50% charge. The battery is about a year old.

 

[decafjava]

Reddit in a nutshell

I predict 50 pages by the end of the week, not less than 20 for sure.

 

[blackdogaudio]

Seems like Apple could just create a script that pops up warning users their battery is no longer meeting specs and the phone's performance will be lowered to prevent damage until it's replaced.

 

[locoboi187]

What practice? Where did Apple admit to this theory posted on reddit?

This is all under the big assumption this whole post is true.

 

[jonnysods]

Not sure I'm following this guy's logic. He owns a model of phone that has a known battery issue for a small number of units, experiences some issues, then replaces that battery and gets better performance. But his conclusion isn't that the battery was defective and fluctuating as a result of the known defect, but rather that Apple is throttling through software?

That's kind of what I was thinking. His first set of tests blow because his battery blows

 

[upandown]

Whoa whoa whoa. Hold on here. I need some clarification. There's a few articles talking about this. And so far all have said the performance gets throttled when a battery degrades over time. Meaning cycles, not a low charge on the battery.

But this article has red arrows pointing at the battery percentage. So are they implying the performance gets throttled as the charge on the battery gets lower??? Over the course of the day*

 

[DarkSel]

I noticed this issue going back to 10.2.1, the update that fixed the random reboot issue. Basically, Apple decided that instead of fixing hundreds of thousands of defective batteries, they’d rather throttle performance to prevent the reboots.


After I figured this out, I fought them tooth & nail for them to replace my battery. I was finally escalated to a senior AppleCare advisor, who agreed to replace my battery which fixed all performance issues I was having.

This has nothing to do with old batteries.

 

[Dekard]

iPhone 6s is already an old phone now?

Yes, 2.5 years old. Unfortunately, standard Apple behavior. Iphone 6 and 6+ are 3 years old.

 

[belvdr]

That's kind of what I was thinking. His first set of tests blow because his battery blows

The issue is there shouldn't be a link between performance and a battery unless low power mode is on. In other words, even if it were a bad battery under the Apple recall, replacing it should not affect performance.

 

[japanime]

What would be worse, a slow phone? Or a phone that the battery dies way too quickly?

For me, I'd prefer poor battery life versus an excessively throttled CPU. My four-year-old 5s was doing just fine until I updated to iOS 11. Now, it's an absolute mess. I need to get at least another year out of it.

 

[yanki01]

I have no proof, and I know this was mostly related to the iPhone 6s, but my iPhone 6 "hit" the bed soon after iOS 10 was released. Basically it would randomly die after about 50% battery. No warning at all. It would just turn off. It was working perfectly find before then. I took it to Apple, they tested it, said the battery was fine. Did lots of restores and set up as new. Did not help.

So it had to be an iOS issues. After months of killing myself with the issue I broke down and bought a 7. Win for Apple. Does make me wonder to this day - not that Apple did something purposeful, but that they really did not dedicate much time learning how iOS 10 worked internally on older models.

same with my iP6 but was extremely noticeable after 10.1.2 IIRC (or 10.2.1?). prior to iOS 10 it was still a great iPhone for me. EVERYTHING was slow about the phone after 10.1.2 (10.2.1?). animations, apps opening, performance, random shut downs, battery performance. i had to replace the battery myself with the iFixit (was really cheap and easy actually) because it wouldn't last until noon off the charger. i ended up buying the X and glad i did.

 

[Dan Pandrea]

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.

MacRumors' Geekbench scores for iPhone 6s before and after battery drain​

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.

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 contact 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. 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

This is my 6S. Ran Geekbench on another 6S and it got almost the same score. Both phones feel sluggish since iOS 11.

 

[Billberryjuice]

I got my 6S on day one and, as it happens, replaced the battery last week under the replacement programme due to terrible battery life and the occasional crash in the >20% region. Its longevity has naturally improved but I'm not sure you could convince me it's now working any faster, I'm still occasionally getting 5+ sec waits to open apps like Settings and Camera.

I didn't do any speed tests before the change so regretfully can't add any meaningful before/after stats to OP's pile.