iOS 11.3 Beta to Get Throttling Kill Switch in February as Apple Trials 'Reserve a Battery' System in Canada [Updated]

[roncron]

IMHO, Apple's only mistake was not being more open about what they were doing earlier, and not giving iPhone owners the choice to disable this feature. They announced they will do so in the next iOS version, and they're sharply discounting battery replacements. These actions seem like a very satisfactory response.

If Apple were intentionally diminishing older iPhone's performance to incentivize upgrades, 2-year-old iPhones would be hard to sell. In fact, though, there's a thriving market for older iPhones. I've had no trouble selling my older iPhones on eBay and have always gotten a very good price. My wife doesn't upgrade as often as me; she finally just got an iPhone 7 after using her iPhone 5 since January 2013. Her iPhone 5 always worked great, even when it was 4 years old and even without a battery replacement.

I know there are people with older iPhones that have legitimate issues. But there are many millions of older iPhones still in service. If just 1% of them were having legitimate issues and making noise, that would be a lot of noise.

 

[Juicy Box]

They is no reason I should have 10 second delay on typing text messages and very slow email (all since ios11).

"I'd like my phone to turn off unexpectedly instead of running slowly."

Choices are good, I guess.

I still think they should label this switch "Crash my Phone"

If these are the choices people have, either have their iPhone run like crap, or have it crash, I think Apple needs to re-think their design in batteries, hardware, and software. This shouldn't be a choice.

Also, it was not just "old" iPhones that were having shutdown issues. My 6s Plus was having the issues, and it was not old at all. When I called Apple Care, the rep on the phone said that he was getting a lot of calls just like mine. It sounds like it was either a flaw in the design, or a bad lot of batteries.

IMO, Apple just tried to fix their hardware error with software.

 

[Pascalll]

The reserve a battery system has been available in the Netherlands for over a week.

 

[BootsWalking]

"I'd like my phone to turn off unexpectedly instead of running slowly."

Choices are good, I guess.

I'd like my phone designed so that its peak power draw doesn't cause it to unexpectedly shutdown for batteries that show typical and expected wear patterns. In other words, like how every iPhone model other than the iPhone 6 was designed.

 

[Tozovac]

IMHO, Apple's only mistake was not being more open about what they were doing earlier, and not giving iPhone owners the choice to disable this feature. They announced they will do so in the next iOS version, and they're sharply discounting battery replacements. These actions seem like a very satisfactory response.

Agree. IMHO the very biggest issue is Apple's not making owners aware that a battery replacement could rescue an "agonizingly slow iPhone after certain iOS upgrades. " That's unforgiveable. So many of us had our phones virtually bricked after just 2 years of ownership after certain iOS upgrades. Also unforgiveable is still not making their phones more easily (and economically) friendly for said battery replacement. What other conclusion could people draw than Apple was perfectly happy letting owners think their only option was to buy something newer that could offer significant degraded/slow function in ~2 years? The software option provided here was IMHO an easy out for them and an example of blind obedience that's not a true well-balanced design response, typical of Apple nowadays.

 

[Juicy Box]

This is what users have said:
Macrumors 2016 IPhone 6 shutting down
Macrumors 2015: Some iPhone 6s Owners Seeing Their Phones Randomly Shut Off
Macrumors 2016 iPhone 6 Pluse [shutdown]
Macrumors 2016: South Korea Considering Investigation of iPhone 6s Battery Shutdown Issue
iPhone 6s turning off at 10-20%
Plenty plenty more links from 2015 to 2016.
Haven’t even checked Reddit yet. .

It sounds like there is a problem with the batteries. People having shutdown issues on brand new iPhones, Probably a design flaw.

 

[cmwade77]

What will all the Apple haters who post on macrumors have to complain about now?

Honestly, I like Apple products, but even I say they were 100% wrong on this issue. They have no right to slow your phone down without telling you about it and based on real world experiences, it is quite clear that they did this simply to sell new phones, contrary to what they are trying to claim.

 

[sterlingindigo]

This is a step in the right direction although it's a day late and a dollar short. The real question is where is my update kill switch that slows the phone worse than the stupid power management smoke screen???????

 

[roncron]

Agree. IMHO the very biggest issue is Apple's not making owners aware that a battery replacement could rescue an "agonizingly slow iPhone after certain iOS upgrades. " That's unforgiveable. So many of us had our phones virtually bricked after just 2 years of ownership after certain iOS upgrades. Also unforgiveable is still not making their phones more easily (and economically) friendly for said battery replacement. What other conclusion could people draw than Apple was perfectly happy letting owners think their only option was to buy something newer that could offer significant degraded/slow function in ~2 years? The software option provided here was IMHO an easy out for them and an example of blind obedience that's not a true well-balanced design response, typical of Apple nowadays.

Many very fair points here. But regarding the difficulty of battery replacement, isn't it common for smartphones to not have user-replaceable batteries? It makes them thinner. It also gives the manufacturer another source of revenue--I don't like that, but it's not uncommon.

 

[Juicy Box]

People getting upset at Apple over their attempt to improve the iPhone experience are going a bit overboard I think.

Having a choice between a sluggish iPhone, or one that randomly shuts down is hardly a way to improve the experience.

Batteries degrade over time. It's just the technology we are all currently using.

There were reports of new phones experiencing the shutdowns. You can't blame it all on old batteries.

Even if it was just old batteries, I have many really old Apple devices that don't randomly shut down. My 1st gen iPad doesn't, neither does my iPhone 2G. The 6 and 6s seemed to be the ones that have had widespread battery and shutdown issues.

It sounds like a design flaw.

 

[essential]

As we told our customers in December, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades.

This is the heart of it for me. By not coming out and saying what was going on, they did cause a degraded experience which prompted upgrades, even if it was unintended. When they introduced 10.2.1 if it came with the battery health features we are going to get in 11.3 and were transparent about the throttling, then I'd believe it was 100% about the customer experience. Apple's sin is of omission not commission. Everything we are getting from Apple in regards to this is reactive, nothing was proactive.

https://investorplace.com/2018/01/apple-inc-battery-replacement-program-cost-iphone-sales/

The Implications for iPhone Sales
Barclays Capital released an analyst note yesterday that predicts the cost will be 16 million iPhone sales in 2018. That’s 16 million current iPhone owners who will opt to replace their batteries rather than buy a new iPhone. Depending on model mix, Barclays estimates that represents roughly $10 billion in lost revenue.

If users were informed about throttling/battery health when 10.2.1 was released and told that a replacement battery would fix throttling, how many would have opted for a new battery instead of a new phone in 2017? 16 million in 2018 are armed with the knowledge of what's going on to make a choice, we can't know how many would have in 2017 (since 10.2.1) because they weren't given the information to make the decision.

"I'd like my phone to turn off unexpectedly instead of running slowly."

Choices are good, I guess.

You're going to extremes and that's not how it worked. I've experienced the unexpected shutdowns with my 6 Plus prior to the throttling update. It only happened when I was around 30% battery. So my phone functioned normally the majority of the day, and I only had issues if I let it get down that low. Unless a battery can get so bad that there are random restarts when my battery is above 50% then I'd leave throttling off.

 

[baldyauldeejit]

The problem (at least here in Ireland/UK) is that when you either mail in or bring your iPhone to a supplier for battery replacement, they're liable to 'find' other things wrong with the phone and refuse to replace the battery without fixing the other problem(s) they've 'found'.

I had protracted discussions with Apple Support but they were completely intransigent and refused to replace the battery without also repairing the camera – with which they conveniently found a problem – at a cost of €276. Naturally, I refused and the phone was sent back to me – minus the two pentalobe screws at the base. (Thanks, Apple.)

I've since talked to an Apple supplier here in Dublin (trying – and failing – to get Apple to replace the missing screws) and they've confirmed that they also will not simply replace a battery if they happen to 'find' any other issues.

 

[Tozovac]

Many very fair points here. But regarding the difficulty of battery replacement, isn't it common for smartphones to not have user-replaceable batteries? It makes them thinner. It also gives the manufacturer another source of revenue--I don't like that, but it's not uncommon.

Definitely common but not 100% across the board. For those owners like myself who would give back 2mm+ for replaceable batteries, other upgrade-ability, and some more robust drop/shatter protection, I'd do that in a heartbeat.

 

[ferrous]

Apple user experience is going down the drain. Apple has become just one of many greedy companies that just want nothing else but your money. Good news is we have more choices than ever nowadays

 

[Defthand]

Prior actions speak louder than words and later actions.

Covertly installing a feature that slows down a phone—regardless of reason—and denying that you intentionally slowed down phones as a result is nonsensical! No doubt, older batteries cause a phone to slow down naturally, but it's Apple's solution, and obstruction of a better solution (replace the battery), that contradicts their claim that they do "everything possible" to extend the lifespan of their product.

Mark my words, they will do everything possible to settle these lawsuits rather than go to trial.

 

[lsutigerfan1976]

In February? So no updates this week?

 

[ferrous]

Definitely common but not 100% across the board. For those owners like myself who would give back 2mm+ for replaceable batteries, other upgrade-ability, and some more robust drop/shatter protection, I'd do that in a heartbeat.

Problem would be different if Apple allowed us to just buy a new battery and replace it; not going through their "program" which is more of a scam than way to help customers.

 

[QuarterSwede]

This is what Apple said would happen ... not what real world users have said. So this claim remains to be seen. I have a feeling a lot of phones won't be randomly shutting down with this off. The incessant need to defend a claim from Apple without verifiable proof is a bit disconcerting.

Bingo. I’m on the 11.3 beta and I’ve yet to have a random shutdown. My 6 Plus actually is useful and reliable again with about a 10% hit to battery life. Totally worth it. Heck, it’s more stable than it was on 11.2.5 because the processor isn’t being choked.

 

[SetRen68]

What will all the Apple haters who post on macrumors have to complain about now?

Don't worry we'll find something lol

 

[MasterMac]

If these are the choices people have, either have their iPhone run like crap, or have it crash, I think Apple needs to re-think their design in batteries, hardware, and software. This shouldn't be a choice.

Also, it was not just "old" iPhones that were having shutdown issues. My 6s Plus was having the issues, and it was not old at all. When I called Apple Care, the rep on the phone said that he was getting a lot of calls just like mine. It sounds like it was either a flaw in the design, or a bad lot of batteries.

IMO, Apple just tried to fix their hardware error with software.

It's almost like there are a bunch of different reasons why phones (or computers in general) can have performance issues.

Can't wait to see the posts that say "I turned off the throttle but my phone is still slow, WTF apple?!" while having not done any troubleshooting besides that.

 

[ocnitsa]

The main point of this is that they chose the throttling as a solution to a problem regarding how their software taxed the system...that gave them carte blanche to not worry about folks who don't have the newest hardware. There are other solutions that could have sought to optimize software, at least enough, so that people's phones wouldn't shut down under peak load, so that a throttling mechanism was required for those people's phones.

 

[UL2RA]

This incessant need to attack everything Apple does without verifiable proof is a bit disconcerting. You literally say "I have a feeling" to support your point but demand "verifiable Proof" for theirs. Hypocrite much?

Uh ... I'm not incessantly attacking Apple. It sounds like you're taking this personally. Apple had to be pinned with nearly 50 lawsuits to add a toggling option. Their claim was that it was to prevent random shutdowns among other things. This never would have been brought to anyone's attention if Apple wasn't caught throttling ... and they were caught ... Apple admitted to and apologized for this situation. There's nothing to defend here. Because of the clear shadiness of this entire situation, taking Apple at their word at this point without anyone having actually verified random shutdowns with the throttling toggled off is a bit premature. People are taking their claim as 100% truth and yet nobody has had a chance to verify this yet with degraded batteries. If, after real world testing of the throttling being toggled off, people are experiencing a bunch of random reboots and shut downs, then we know Apple wasn't spewing nonsense. However, if phones are fine, then that will put Apple in an even worse position. I don't think you understand what the word hypocrite means. "I have a feeling" wasn't a talking point to support my narrative. My point was already made and the point is pretty obvious. "Wait and see" is my point. All I have at this point is empirical evidence ... as my mother has one of the aforementioned degraded batteries and her phone was perfectly fine before upgrading to iOS 11. Her phone is being throttled a lot. Was going to get her a new battery, but now I'm having her wait on this next update to see if anything changes ... and if her phone randomly shuts down and whatnot ... well then I'll feel more confident in what Apple has said. The fact still remains that Apple kept this a secret ... and it had to be forced out of them ... and I think that's the one of the main problems people are having right now. And believe it or not ... people are allowed to be upset with Apple whether that makes you upset or not.

 

[justperry]

“It still doesn’t make toast”

It's big brother does though.

As for the this throttling, it's being blown out of proportions, the only thing Apple did wrong was not being transparent while they should have been, but hey, Apple has always been secretive.

 

[urkel]

People getting upset at Apple over their attempt to improve the iPhone experience are going a bit overboard I think.

Have you ever used one of these affected phones? The "iPhone Experience" is excruciating.

Batteries degrade over time. It's just the technology we are all currently using.

Yes. And thats actually the issue that makes Apple's decision so consumer hostile.

The solution to inadequate battery has always been an external power source. Power outlets. Battery Cases. An umbilical cord from your iPhone to a battery pack in your pocket. External batteries solved a problem.... until Apple broke it. Once apple introduced that "feature" then your accessibility to power was irrelevant. If a battery wasn't new then your phone would choke. And what do you recommend to anyone who has an unbearably slow phone? "Buy a new one".

 

[UL2RA]

Bingo. I’m on the 11.3 beta and I’ve yet to have a random shutdown. My 6 Plus actually is useful and reliable again with about a 10% hit to battery life. Totally worth it.heck, it’s more stable than it was on 11.2.5 because the processor isn’t being choked.

That's good to hear. Hopefully others experience this as well.
[doublepost=1517419368][/doublepost]

The solution to inadequate battery has always been an external power source. Power outlets. Battery Cases. An umbilical cord from your iPhone to a battery pack in your pocket. External batteries solved a problem.... until Apple broke it. Once apple introduced that "feature" then your accessibility to power was irrelevant. If a battery wasn't new then your phone would choke. And what do you recommend to anyone who has an unbearably slow phone? "Buy a new one".

Don't use sound logic in here ... it may upset people.