FAQ: What to Know About Apple Slowing Down iPhones to Prevent Unexpected Shutdowns

[MH01]

Uh.... unless you’re in the EU the warranty on the battery is one year. Not sure where your claim that a technical fix to stop shutdowns is somehow really to prevent warranty battery replacements, but go ahead and conflate away...

Wrong. It's not just EU, and wrong that everyone else just gets one year. If you are going to hit others up for data, please don't be so wrong about the facts.

I suggest you have a look at consumer laws globally, your assumption is wrong.

And even if it was just the EU...... kind of a large markert to avoid warranty replacements? conflate away , as you say

 

[PizzaBoxStyle]

Yeah it's at the point where it isn't even safe to go to the second iOS version supported on your device.

Have a 6S. Agreed. I should have stayed on iOS 9. I'm on iOS 10. So far, I have been able to defeat the upgrade prompts, but its not easy.
[doublepost=1515015321][/doublepost]

This is only my opinion, but all the story is a mess like this article. By chance all these things happened (not in a logical order, if any is present):
1 By chance, the slowdown code was introduced for phones of the previous generation;
2 By chance the slowdown made the phones to look outdated
3 By chance the slowdown happened before a major release
4 By chance the slowdown happened before xmas season
5 By chance Apple gave a statement after a large amount of data had been disclosed on the net
6 By chance Apple offered reduced battery prices while the conspiracy theories were growing up

I don't know why, but I will not update my iPhone 8 next year.

Don't do it. Don't update it. Keep the OS stock.

 

[rjp1]

It's going to be near impossible to prove in court that Apple slowed down devices so that customers would upgrade.

You're wrong there. I took my phone to the Genius Bar for it running slow. They recommended upgrading the phone. That is their notes in their system. During discovery, they will find many more examples of exactly that.

 

[idunn]

For the record, Apple had zero input on this article. I'll make it very clear: this article is not sponsored by or affiliated with Apple in any way, and Apple didn't relay any information to be included in this article.

I can believe that.

That said article best reflected the truth of the matter, not so much.

 

[asdavis10]

You're wrong there. I took my phone to the Genius Bar for it running slow. They recommended upgrading the phone. That is their notes in their system. During discovery, they will find many more examples of exactly that.

What you've described still doesn't prove that Apple slowed down iPhones to get people to upgrade. There may still be damages awarded, but the conspiracy that Apple did this to increase sales is much harder to prove.

 

[Act3]

You're wrong there. I took my phone to the Genius Bar for it running slow. They recommended upgrading the phone. That is their notes in their system. During discovery, they will find many more examples of exactly that.

those notes will get deleted, just like emails can be deleted.

 

[kazmac]

Thank you for the excellent article MacRumors staff.

 

[PeaceMonger]

For the record, Apple had zero input on this article. I'll make it very clear: this article is not sponsored by or affiliated with Apple in any way, and Apple didn't relay any information to be included in this article.

Do you see your article as neutral, pro Apple or ani Apple?

 

[iceperson]

For the record, Apple had zero input on this article. I'll make it very clear: this article is not sponsored by or affiliated with Apple in any way, and Apple didn't relay any information to be included in this article.

So you skipped all the hard frequently asked questions on purpose?

1) Why was this not needed before the 6?

2) Why is my phone throttled when it is plugged in?

3) Why does a phone with a battery that passes Apple store tests still get throttled?

4) Since even new batteries can get cold and see degraded performance why not flip the switch for all phones as they are released instead of waiting until an arbitrary date (which conveniently seems to coincide with the release of a new phone) to enable this awesome new "feature"?

5) Considering that 10 years of iPhones seemed to not have this issue and we're being told this isn't compensation for a design flaw in the 6 and up iPhones why is the throttling so aggressive? The throttling doesn't seem to have any real relationship with the % of remaining battery life.

Bonus question for the defenders:
If Apple came out tomorrow and changed the throttling so that only phone call functionality remained would you be cool with that because "batteries" degrade, or is there at least some limit to the amount of bull you're willing to swallow?

 

[hlfway2anywhere]

And cook charges you $29. Jobs apple also would have rolled back the changes.

Does not matter, as this was all done to avoid a battery replacement under warranty. Cook has turned apple into such a penny pinching compnay that this was allowed to happen . You will also find that jobs had big disagreements about pricing , he wanted his products for Everyone, while Cook is targeting the rich.....was a great company that got super greedy

Cook lowered the price by $50. A $20 value over Jobs' $29 bumper case. But I understand math is hard.

 

[filterdecay]

well i am personally done with apple. We have been paying a stupid tax on these products. After 10 years my next phone will be something else.

 

[firewood]

1) Why was this not needed before the 6?

2) Why is my phone throttled when it is plugged in?

3) Why does a phone with a battery that passes Apple store tests still get throttled?

4) Since even new batteries can get cold and see degraded performance why not flip the switch for all phones as they are released instead of waiting until an arbitrary date (which conveniently seems to coincide with the release of a new phone) to enable this awesome new "feature"?

Simple stuff:

1) The 5s and older had much slower processors that had much lower peak power draws.
2) For safety from crashes during a quick unplug, an iPhone runs off of the battery even when plugged-in.
3) Your iPhone may be slow because it is misconfigured. Try a factory reset, and then Set Up as New.
4) Apple doesn't have a years worth of the latest battery data and customer usage data until a year later. It's hard to fix problems without data. And early engineering samples don't produce enough data on customer usage patterns and how they affect battery wear. Cold batteries behave differently under load (sometime worse, which is why an ice cold iPhone sometimes doesn't even boot up) than old batteries. It's not a simple switch, might be dozens to hundreds of complicated interacting knobs within the power management. Plus, Apple could have already put some portions of this battery management code in the latest devices. They don't tell you every feature hidden in iOS. Lots of it are trade-secret special sauce.

 

[Ladybug]

Yeah it's at the point where it isn't even safe to go to the second iOS version supported on your device.

I installed the tvOS profile on my 8 to stop all updates until Apple sorts out this mess. Too late for my 6s other than battery replacement but I am not letting Apple update my new phone with this new feature (cough).

 

[filterdecay]

Simple stuff:

1) The 5s and older had much slower processors that had much lower peak power draws.
2) For safety from crashes during a quick unplug, an iPhone runs off of the battery even when plugged-in.
3) Your iPhone may be slow because it is misconfigured. Try a factory reset, and then Set Up as New.
4) Apple doesn't have a years worth of the latest battery data and customer usage data until a year later. It's hard to fix problems without data. And early engineering samples don't produce enough data on customer usage patterns and how they affect battery wear. Cold batteries behave differently under load (sometime worse, which is why an ice cold iPhone sometimes doesn't even boot up) than old batteries. It's not a simple switch, might be dozens to hundreds of complicated interacting knobs within the power management. Plus, Apple could have already put some portions of this battery management code in the latest devices. They don't tell you every feature hidden in iOS. Lots of it are trade-secret special sauce.

Apple has 12 years of iphone data.

 

[NT1440]

How interesting Mac Rumors posted that story last October right before the poop hit the fan, geekbench and ifixit provided masses of data to prove they were slowing iPhone downs, and right before APPLE THEMSELVES ADMITTED IT!!

To claim Apple doesn’t throttle devices is to literally deny Apple has just admitted to doing exactly that.... have you literally spent the last two weeks with your fingers in your ears shouting lalalalalala with your eyes closed? I mean the title of the story you linked to is:

‘Apple Doesn't Deliberately Slow Down Older Devices According to Benchmark Analysis’

Wow, you're ability to conflate two entirely different subjects is astounding.

 

[rjp1]

those notes will get deleted, just like emails can be deleted.

No, they won't.

If they are that foolish, then they will be dealing with an ever bigger problem. You can get a printout from the Genius with the recommendations. They have no idea how many and who kept a copy. They are not going to risk getting caught destroying evidence.

 

[loby]

You forgot the following questions:

1. Why is the throttling being applied just last year, after 10 years of iPhones? What happened to the 5s for example?

2. Could there be a hardware design issue with regards to quality/capability of battery/system Apple is using and this throttling is just a workaround due to the bad/cheap design?

3. Why isn't Apple aiming at higher battery quality like Samsung is now adopting for S8? A typical battery degrades to 80% after 2 years, Samsung's new design only goes down to 95%.

Point number 3 is the question that the courts may use to rebuttal reasons for technological degration, but Batteries are not degrading after two years, but less than 1 year and are slowing down just before the next model comes out.

The question should be:

4. What is considered an “old” iphone in Apple’s mind?

The batteries are getting “old” in less than a year while the product continues to maintaining (and is increasing) premium price tag...

What Apple may be doing is using cheaper batteries to reduce production costs to maintain profit margins per unit and write code to compensate for the cheaper battery instead of increasing costs by putting a premium battery in the iphone.

 

[GoldenJoe]

I’ve been an iPhone customer since the 4. I really hate Android for different reasons, so I don’t think I’m going to pick up a Samsung, but I am going to switch to either an old windows phone, or possibly a feature phone. Apple can have me back when they earn it with a competitively priced and features device that doesn’t act like a time bomb.

 

[NT1440]

Point number 3 is the question that the courts may use to rebuttal reasons for technological degration, but Batteries are not degrading after two years, but less than 1 year and are slowing down just before the next model comes out.

The question should be:

4. What is considered an “old” iphone in Apple’s mind?

The batteries are getting “old” in less than a year while the product continues to maintaining (and is increasing) premium price tag...

What Apple may be doing is using cheaper batteries to reduce production costs to maintain profit margins per unit and write code to compensate for the cheaper battery instead of increasing costs by putting a premium battery in the iphone.

Ok I’m getting really tired of this crap. You have nothing but speculation on your last paragraph and bet in three pages time people will be asserting that’s what actually is happening.

It’s been amazing watching people cherry pick from stories that have nothing to do with this issue, then use that cherry picked information as “evidence”.

 

[filterdecay]

Point number 3 is the question that the courts may use to rebuttal reasons for technological degration, but Batteries are not degrading after two years, but less than 1 year and are slowing down just before the next model comes out.

The question should be:

4. What is considered an “old” iphone in Apple’s mind?

The batteries are getting “old” in less than a year while the product continues to maintaining (and is increasing) premium price tag...

What Apple may be doing is using cheaper batteries to reduce production costs to maintain profit margins per unit and write code to compensate for the cheaper battery instead of increasing costs by putting a premium battery in the iphone.

sounds like the batteries are designed to get old at a certain time.

 

[NT1440]

sounds like the batteries are designed to get old at a certain time.

Based on...what exactly? You’ve run a chemical analysis?

 

[puma1552]

Why wouldn't the 8/X be prone to this throttling?

 

[filterdecay]

Based on...what exactly? You’ve run a chemical analysis?

based on the fact they go bad in a year.

 

[NT1440]

based on the fact they go bad in a year.

So in other words, you’re lying.

 

[filterdecay]

So in other words, you’re lying.

I dont think you know what the word lying means.
[doublepost=1515031568][/doublepost]me speculating that the phones are designed to have the batteries go bad is based on all of this news plus my personal experience owning iphones for 10 years isnt a lie. Its my speculation based on known facts. You on the other hand seem butt hurt that I choose to speculate about the whys.