Apple Issues Statement About Slowing Down Older iPhones

[Maura]

AppleInsider reports that Apple has issued an official statement to address the recent controversy over whether or not it slows down older iPhones. Here’s part of what the statement said:

“Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electrical components.

“Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future.”

AppleInsider says that it was told by an anonymous source inside Apple engineering that testing like benchmarking puts artificial load on the phone’s processor for longer duration than usual. The power “peaks” needed to test an iPhone with a worn battery can trip the failsafe mechanism that Apple has introduced to stop the sort of unexpected showdowns that they are referring to. The source also said that the degree of throttling depends on the state of wear of the battery in question, and that replacing the battery in devices that are being throttled will fix the issue.

Source: Apple responds to reports of worn batteries forcing iPhone CPU slowdowns

 

[zstairlessone]

Not cool, released this 'feature' last year, yet swore to the World that iPhones were absolutely not slowed down ...

 

[brixtonboy]

Don’t get me wrong not jumping on no bandwagon or anything.
Just making me wonder about my old iPhone 7 now. For a new model it was rubbish with updates. I wish l’d have got a new battery. Who knows!!

 

[NSquirrel]

As Apple knows when to slow down an iPad or iPhone for the reasons they have given, why not tell us the users? We can then opt to accept the slow down, trade in and buy a new one or check the item in for a new battery.

 

[foodjacaf]

Yes

 

[Citation 650]

I'm done with Apple.

 

[zstairlessone]

I'm done with Apple.

I'm sorry you feel that way. I have sent a message to Apple asking them to please be more up-front and transparent with these types of issues/fixes. I am sure if enough people did/do this in polite language they will understand how important it is to their customer base.