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

[SactoGuy18]

Without throttling, the phones shut down not blow up. Note 7 had batteries with manufacturing defects that inflamed as they were charged. There is nothing in common between the two cases. Apple case may be worse though since Samsung owned up to their problems and replaced all phones (even though the phones themselves were fine) while Apple seemingly is trying to cover up the problem to avoid the recall.

Besides, the nice thing is that (at least) on the iPhone 6 and later, the battery is relatively easily replaceable. I'd consider changing the battery on the iPhone 6 or later 24 to 27 months after the original buy date.

 

[Tzerlag]

A Geekbench comparison would be very interesting...

Peer pressure!!

FWIW

Two two-year old iPhone 6S. One (A) supplied from the initial 6S battery recall (and lightly used) the other (B) built after the recall date range and moderately used.

Both fully charged.
According to battery life app A was at 1% wear, B was at 24% wear.
According to CPU Dasher64 A was at 1848 MHz, B is was 600 MHz.

Running various apps (YouTube. Mail, maps/directions, iMessage, StarWalk, weather, camera,...) I find no appreciable difference in performance.
With one exception, B was marginally slower to sync and run Gaia GPS.

I then simultaneously updated both to iOS 11.2.1
B was noticeably faster each step of the way and completed rebooting about 5-10 seconds faster than A.
That surprised me considering the CPU measurements.

According to CPU Dasher64 (and the opinion of many posters) iPhone B at 600 MHz is “crippled”.

I’ll admit the B battery doesn’t last as long, even on standby, as the A battery but for my purposes, I don’t see much degradation in actual performance. Granted, I didn’t try playing any games.

Also, while CPU Dasher64 is consistent, BatteryLife is not. The battery wear determination changes wildly on B, seemingly depending on overal charge and recent usage.

More info

Phone A (TMSC chip)
Geekbench4 2563 single-core 4464 multi-core
Compute 9388 metal score
Battery score 1960

Phone B (Samsung)
Geekbench4 1053 single-core 1774 multi-core
Compute 8465 metal score
Battery score 2159

Thoughts?

I have a new third-party battery to install in phone B.
I’ll report back when I get around to that.

 

[OzmoOzmo]

So - just wanted to add to the list that this exact issue affected me also - and say thanks for bringing it to my attention.

IPhone 6S - was ok on IOS 10 - 11.1.1 killed the speed - I suspect it was at this point my cpu was throttled.
Battery was still lasting a day, sometimes more - but phone was slow.
I put it down to OS bloat and was planning reluctantly to upgrade to IPhone8...

On reading this thread last tnight - I ran benchmarks

Geekbench 4: 1054sc/1770mc (not low power mode)
CPUDasherX: 600Mhz when charged (& same 600Mhz in low power mode)

Battery replaced this morning (free from Apple )

Geekbench 4: 2544sc/4433mc (& 1462/2485 low power)
CPUDasherX: 1848Mhz (& 911Mhz in low power mode)

I have screenshots.. but above is whats on them.

Notes:
* Apple Support call said their diagnostic software flagged the battery as "Consumed"
* Apple repair center said it had 416 recharge cycles - so not that many but within the 400 to 600 they expect.

 

[nerdAFK]

Stop testing in Low Power Mode.

Read the ****ing article.
[doublepost=1513471107][/doublepost]

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true"
but thanks for the high words on the imagination.
[doublepost=1513086650][/doublepost]
Light the torches!! youre furious because your phone won't launch apps in under a second and the extra time you waste waiting for your phone to load, you could be on these forums being furious at Apple!!!

Are you listening to yourself?
Are you drunk or you are just being willfully obtuse.
[doublepost=1513471677][/doublepost]WOW!
It's amazing that so few tech sites reported on this, not even the clickbaitish Verge? Perfect chance for them to make some noise.

Can't believe Apple just gets away with this kind of rude behavior this easily. What a sad world!
Just because the so-called tech junkies in the tech press world used the latest and greatest, doesn't mean they should just keep their head in the sand.

Lack of evidence? You kidding? Whatever else you need, I'll give you more.
[doublepost=1513472700][/doublepost]

There was already scientific testing on the “slowing down your old phone when new ones are released” and the conclusions are clear: Apple does not slow down older phones. Period. There is no legitimate debate after those tests were conducted.

read the ****ing article
[doublepost=1513473725][/doublepost]

I just tested an old iPhone 6s Plus running the latest ioS 11.2.1 with a less than stellar battery and the CPU benchmarks were above what Geekbench says is average for the device.

So I don't think this is a real issue at all.

Nothing on iMore from Rene Richie or Daring Fireball so I think this is a bit of a fantasy dreamed up by someone on reddit.

It's not a fantasy, it's a fact.
Don't just benchmark it, check the battery wear level first. The higher the level is, the harder the CPU is throttled.

The people who are saying the CPU is not throttled are the ones with a mostly still OK battery, which means they are not affected. To my knowledge, no more than 20% wear level of the original battery capacity will leave you out of the throttling zone.

The only reason this shameless action has not blown up is that only a relatively small portion of users are holding on to a degraded battery for whatever reason (don't judge other people's choices please, maybe they are waiting, maybe they have a portable charger or maybe they stay charged most of the time), most of whom probably haven't seen or maybe will never hear about this throttling behavior.

As for John Gruber and Rene Ritchie, they are two of the most evasive Apple defenders out there. Even if this gets big, they will just downplay it.
[doublepost=1513474370][/doublepost]

Wow, I have a launch day iPhone 6 that's been horribly slow since iOS11. I had planned on replacing the battery, hopefully it makes it faster.

Rest assured, it will.
Just replaced my old 6 Plus's battery. Back to previous performance.
[doublepost=1513474581][/doublepost]

it is really messed up what they did, yet some will defend it. I had a 6s performing at the level of a 5s before I changed my battery. I'm glad macrumors shared the reddit users info of his findings.

Lucky you, 6s to 5s.
I was like 6 Plus to iPhone 5 with a 1080p display to drive, which itself is downsampled from a 2K res.
So mine was less like a 5 and more like a 4s maybe, which means total unusability.
Shame on .

 

[nerdAFK]

Can you prove a statement such as that? And how does one know a slowdown isn’t due to a myriad of possible other causes not related to the o/s or power management?

How about this: my 6 Plus was factory reset, installed basically nothing, no photos, no videos, no nothing basically.
Yet it's downclocked from 1.4GHz to 600Mhz, resulting in half the score in Geekbench.

Any other questions? Hit me.
[doublepost=1513475083][/doublepost]

A general statement was made that I wonder how the conclusion was derived: "There are tons of people who upgraded because of their slowing the phone CPU..." seems how would one know the mindset of why anybody other than oneself upgraded? Nobody here is arguing anything. And since I'm in the target of a device that should have these issues and my battery was replaced, my device didn't (have these issues). So there are possible other things going on, imo.

Test your battery degradation level first.
Oh wait you have replaced your battery?
Seems you don't understand what the thread is talking about actually.
[doublepost=1513475285][/doublepost]

You got to be kidding me 500 iPhones is nothing when they sold close to 100 million in quarters 3 and 4 combined of that year. That could be attributed to just faulty or bad units when you pushing out those types of numbers. Any company would gladly take those statistics.

Well then, please welcome our guest Apple Inc. to the stage to give us at least a little explanation.
Wait a minute, they refuse to show up, just like old times.
[doublepost=1513475932][/doublepost]

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

You can officially get outraged now.
[doublepost=1513476235][/doublepost]

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.

Clearly if people know this, most will prefer neither your said default nor opt in. They will just replace the battery.
[doublepost=1513476550][/doublepost]

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."

First, Apple denied you and everybody to right to CHOOSE.

Also, slower to the degree it's unusable? No thanks.

 

[nerdAFK]

But is it possible Apple deliberately did this given what happened to Samsung with the Galaxy Note 7 battery debacle? It may be to ensure that we don't have a overheating battery situation with older batteries, and given how dangerous a lithium-ion battery catching fire can be (as Boeing found out with the 787 Dreamliner battery packs), I'd rather have Apple do this than suddenly have a bunch of older iPhones with scary battery failures.

Your assumption seems highly unlikely.
However, even if it stands, Apple has no right to throttle our devices all without saying a word.
Stop make excuses for Apple, please, people.

 

[Luiisrg25]

Im still getting low benchmarks on my 6s after a third battery replace from ebay and my battery wear is excelent, dont know what is going on, help.

 

[Radon87000]

Im still getting low benchmarks on my 6s after a third battery replace from ebay and my battery wear is excelent, dont know what is going on, help.

View attachment 742391 View attachment 742390 View attachment 742389

Those wear apps on the store don't work. If you have a Mac use Coconut Battery or on Windows download iMazing and a post a picture of your battery stats here

 

[xnetdude]

For me personally, the equation is very simple. My 6s has been running sluggish of late and Geekbench showed 1436/2387 yesterday morning on full charge non-power saving mode.

Took it to UK Apple store and tried to convince them to swap for free - wasn’t happening - paid £79 to get it done anyway.

Two hours later with new battery Geekbench now shows a consistent 2516/4411 for CPU (have test results for above).

Problem fixed. Now, can I be bothered to fight Apple for £79 on a two year old phone... not sure yet.

 

[Luiisrg25]

Those wear apps on the store don't work. If you have a Mac use Coconut Battery or on Windows download iMazing and a post a picture of your battery stats here

Ok

 

[nerdAFK]

Im still getting low benchmarks on my 6s after a third battery replace from ebay and my battery wear is excelent, dont know what is going on, help.

View attachment 742391 View attachment 742390 View attachment 742389

Strange. My 6 Plus with a new batt came back to life.
Try Coconut though.

 

[I7guy]

Im still getting low benchmarks on my 6s after a third battery replace from ebay and my battery wear is excelent, dont know what is going on, help.

View attachment 742391 View attachment 742390 View attachment 742389

Does your phone feel slow? If you take and edit a 4k movie in imovie, is it reasonably fast? I'm wondering if the phone feels okay, but somehow the benchmarks are throttled.

 

[Luiisrg25]

Does your phone feel slow? If you take and edit a 4k movie in imovie, is it reasonably fast? I'm wondering if the phone feels okay, but somehow the benchmarks are throttled.

Yes it does feels slow, i haven’t tried the iMovie app yet, but I downloaded CPU DasherX and when my battery is at 100% runs at 1200mhz, in 90% or below goes down at 911mhz is strange, I’m going to try with another battery and see what happens.

 

[munpip214]

Yes it does feels slow, i haven’t tried the iMovie app yet, but I downloaded CPU DasherX and when my battery is at 100% runs at 1200mhz, in 90% or below goes down at 911mhz is strange, I’m going to try with another battery and see what happens.

Just replaced mine yesterday, courtesy of apple (https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/) and now its at 1800MHz instead of 600!

 

[nerdAFK]

Check this out.

iPhone Performance and Battery Age

 

[Jmausmuc]

Check this out.

iPhone Performance and Battery Age

Wow

 

[Luiisrg25]

Now my cpu frequency is high and my benchmarks too after replacing my battery from another one that I bought from eBay, it looks like the first battery was giving lower voltage causing the cpu to throttle, I’m happy now.

 

[Act3]

Now my cpu frequency is high and my benchmarks too after replacing my battery from another that I bought from eBay, it looks like the first battery was giving lower voltage causing the cpu to throttle, I’m happy now.

look like good numbers to me, similar to the ones on my 6s with a new apple battery. CPU speed is same.

 

[ateslik]

It just goes to show that even when you buy you never really own and control your own sh@&!

unless you jailbreak. But I digress.

Your comment tells me you must be too young to have lived through the age where all aspects of all of your computers had to be managed by yourself. It was fun for hobbyists, but absolutely sucked for everyone else. Basically, only hobby nerds owned computers. Then families got computers, but the "nerds" still needed to maintain them constantly. Then Apple came along and suddenly Grandma and Grandpa could own a computer without having to call constantly. Then the iPhone came out and a child could use it before they could speak.

Apple controlling aspects like battery management for you is why these products are successful. If someone made a phone where you had to control all this "****" you wouldn't buy it.
[doublepost=1513692211][/doublepost]

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.

I had this same power cut out problem on my 5s. I missed video recording my daughters birth because of it. The phone said I had 20% and as I walked into the room with the video running it cut out.

I ended up replacing the battery and the phone was like new again until I got something else.

 

[satinsilverem2]

I think there is definitely some throttling happening. I ran Geekbench both at 50% and 90% battery life and the results were very different. when the battery was lower the score shaved off over 1000 points off my score! My battery health hovers between 85-90 percent so I don't know why its being throttled.

 

[willdude]

I think there is definitely some throttling happening. I ran Geekbench both at 50% and 90% battery life and the results were very different. when the battery was lower the score shaved off over 1000 points off my score! My battery health hovers between 85-90 percent so I don't know why its being throttled.

View attachment 742745 View attachment 742746

I think the thing is, as I'm seeing on my 7 and was mentioned elsewhere in the thread, is that when the battery capacity is lower (e.g. my capacity is 1710 mAh, vs. 1960 when it was new), you'll get full CPU at higher battery charge % (75% and above), but lower CPU as the % drops. Can you see what your capacity is, and how many charge cycles you've done?

 

[satinsilverem2]

I think the thing is, as I'm seeing on my 7 and was mentioned elsewhere in the thread, is that when the battery capacity is lower (e.g. my capacity is 1710 mAh, vs. 1960 when it was new), you'll get full CPU at higher battery charge % (75% and above), but lower CPU as the % drops. Can you see what your capacity is, and how many charge cycles you've done?

 

[rshev]

@satinsilverem2 was it happening on 11.2.1? maybe they are starting to throttle 7 plus on 11.2.5?

 

[Strubionat]

I' have been following this thread since the beginning and now I can add my personal experience.
I recently bought an iPhone 8 Plus so I took the occasion to test this battery/CPU situation on my now "old" iPhone 6S.
It is a day-one heavily used device.
I went to the nearest Apple Store and asked for a battery replacement.
They tested the device and told me that, even if I was willing to pay, they couldn't authorize the maintenance service because the battery was still over 80% capacity.
I went straight to a third party maintenance shop and with 50€ (half the price asked here in Italy by Apple for the same service) had the battery replaced within an hour.
Now look at the difference on Geekbench!

 

[satinsilverem2]

@satinsilverem2 was it happening on 11.2.1? maybe they are starting to throttle 7 plus on 11.2.5?

I didn't run benchmarks before 11.2.5 so I cant answer that but the phone has been extremely sluggish for a while even after a fresh restore.