Apple admits it slows down older phones. What are your thoughts about it?

[timrlg]

Have you considered restoring your device and then setting it up as a new device?

Good thought - will give that a try later - thank you

 

[Just_Me_D]

Good thought - will give that a try later - thank you

You’re very welcome, sir ...

 

[doogald]

Have you considered restoring your device and then setting it up as a new device?

Another option is backup/reset/restore. See Apple's Bungled Battery Feature — Michael Glenn

 

[anon(50597)]

To deem people “wrong” because of your inability to understand their reasoning is in and of itself “wrong”. What doesn’t make sense for some people makes perfect sense to others. I learned that a long time ago. As for Apple’s battery replacement option, some people will take advantage of it and some people won’t.

It’s all about perception.

 

[SprSynJn]

Another option is backup/reset/restore. See Apple's Bungled Battery Feature — Michael Glenn

I don’t understand why you posted that link. There is nothing but a quick mention, much like in your reply, about doing a restore. Is that your website?

 

[doogald]

I don’t understand why you posted that link. There is nothing but a quick mention, much like in your reply, about doing a restore. Is that your website?

Not me, it is obviously somebody named Michael Glenn, but I linked because, due to performance issues, he theorized he had this battery issue, found out that he didn’t, did a backup/reset/restore, and found that his battery and performance issues had been resolved. The advantage of a restore over a reset and set up as new is that you don’t lose information (i.e., messages), don’t have to reinstall apps, don’t have to change global settings, don’t have to set permissions the first time that you run apps, etc. Though of course there are a few things that have to be redone (Touch ID and Apple Pay among them.)

 

[BreakingKayfabe]

I really, really hope with all this money that Apple has that they’ll invest in reinventing battery technology altogether.

 

[Quis89]

To deem people “wrong” because of your inability to understand their reasoning is in and of itself “wrong”. What doesn’t make sense for some people makes perfect sense to others. I learned that a long time ago. As for Apple’s battery replacement option, some people will take advantage of it and some people won’t.

“They” = Apple.

 

[mnc76]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

None of your Android devices have needed to throttle performance since they typically come with larger batteries that don't degrade so fast. Apple knew 100% their batteries would need throttling after a year or so and went ahead and planned to use to use batteries they knew would make the phone obsolete #plannedobsolesence

They knew the batteries would need throttling and instead of including larger batts they slowed down your phone instead. Win win for them and lose lose for you

 

[Rob Phillips]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

None of your Android devices have needed to throttle performance since they typically come with larger batteries that don't degrade so fast. Apple knew 100% their batteries would need throttling after a year or so and went ahead and planned to use to use batteries they knew would make the phone obsolete #plannedobsolesence

They knew the batteries would need throttling and instead of including larger batts they slowed down your phone instead. Win win for them and lose lose for you

Welcome to iMore! I’ve never heard of iPhone batteries degrading faster than Android batteries. I have, however, read lots of things about Android devices often requiring more battery to run, therefore requiring larger batteries.
Planned obsolescence...There isn’t a smartphone manufacturer on the planet not guilty of this. I’m not saying Apple is innocent here, I just don’t think they were doing this maliciously. Their big mistake here was in not being more transparent to users. A slightly slower at times phone is better than one that crashes but nobody wants to hear their phone is being throttled.

 

[anon(50597)]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

None of your Android devices have needed to throttle performance since they typically come with larger batteries that don't degrade so fast. Apple knew 100% their batteries would need throttling after a year or so and went ahead and planned to use to use batteries they knew would make the phone obsolete #plannedobsolesence

They knew the batteries would need throttling and instead of including larger batts they slowed down your phone instead. Win win for them and lose lose for you

Really? I highly doubt it.

 

[reeneebob]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

None of your Android devices have needed to throttle performance since they typically come with larger batteries that don't degrade so fast. Apple knew 100% their batteries would need throttling after a year or so and went ahead and planned to use to use batteries they knew would make the phone obsolete #plannedobsolesence

They knew the batteries would need throttling and instead of including larger batts they slowed down your phone instead. Win win for them and lose lose for you

 

[Ledsteplin]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

None of your Android devices have needed to throttle performance since they typically come with larger batteries that don't degrade so fast. Apple knew 100% their batteries would need throttling after a year or so and went ahead and planned to use to use batteries they knew would make the phone obsolete #plannedobsolesence

They knew the batteries would need throttling and instead of including larger batts they slowed down your phone instead. Win win for them and lose lose for you

They don't need throttling after a year or so. Maybe after 2 years or more, only if the battery becomes very degraded. It's the same affect as Low Power Mode. I've used that a few times, but didn't notice any slowdown.

 

[doogald]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

They don't need throttling after a year or so. Maybe after 2 years or more, only if the battery becomes very degraded. It's the same affect as Low Power Mode. I've used that a few times, but didn't notice any slowdown.

Apple turned on throttling for the 6s last year with 10.2.1 presumably because it was necessary for some extremely heavy users who already had about 500 charge cycles in 15 or so months. The key thing is charge cycles; when they are about 500 on these batteries, that reportedly puts the battery in a condition where they cannot handle high drains.

 

[Ledsteplin]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

Apple turned on throttling for the 6s last year with 10.2.1 presumably because it was necessary for some extremely heavy users who already had about 500 charge cycles in 15 or so months. The key thing is charge cycles; when they are about 500 on these batteries, that reportedly puts the battery in a condition where they cannot handle high drains.

500 isn't that many. I probably have over 800 on my 6s Plus. No issues other than charging 3 times or more a day. Maybe I haven't had any high drains.

 

[MaxSmarties]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

None of your Android devices have needed to throttle performance since they typically come with larger batteries that don't degrade so fast. Apple knew 100% their batteries would need throttling after a year or so and went ahead and planned to use to use batteries they knew would make the phone obsolete #plannedobsolesence

They knew the batteries would need throttling and instead of including larger batts they slowed down your phone instead. Win win for them and lose lose for you

And your assumption that a relatively smaller battery means it degrades faster is based on what ?
Since the battery life is comparable (sometimes even better on iPhone) I can’t find any reason to support that theory

 

[MaxSmarties]

Re: Apple admits it slows down older phones

500 isn't that many. I probably have over 800 on my 6s Plus. No issues other than charging 3 times or more a day. Maybe I haven't had any high drains.

It’s not a fixed number. Batteries are different one to another. There are batteries that are depleted after 300 cycles (and you should have a in warranty swap for those), while others last above 500 cycles, which is considered as “normal”. I had an iPhone 5S with over 700 cycles and still above 88% health.

 

[MaxSmarties]

I pretty much share the same view as you. As for the iPhone 7, it’s arguably more of a preemptive move than confirmation of a definitive and widespread battery problem.

Absolutely agree. It’s a preemptive move to address issues for heavy usage users (and weaker batches of batteries).

 

[Bazza1]

Denial of a problem until they are caught out, and now they are trying to get ahead of the bad press and lawsuits.
It's the usual Apple game plan.

Batteries wear out. We know that. Apple knows that. But when we buy a product, we expect it to work as intended for as long as it is able - in this case, until the battery finally dies. We don't expect that the product will be intentionally reduced in capabilities to cover failings elsewhere.

(Heck, when we know the battery in our car is on its last legs, we don't expect the car to go only 80% as fast, or run only some of the accessories. It runs until the battery can no longer start and run the car)

And if, with a degrading battery - be that wear and tear, bad design, wrong product or a deeper fault in the core of the OS that Apple has chosen to ignore - the iPhone is incapable of running the OS as it once did, perhaps Apple should simply have an OS version for each iPhone, and stop offering new 'features' in each OS version 'upgrade' they know a degraded battery cannot fully take advantage of. Or produce a product with a hot-swappable battery to extend the life of a product they say they intend users to love for as long as possible.

But to deny - as long as they did - that users felt the OS upgrades slowed the devices (without explaining why) and then happily encourage their own retailers and 3rd Party providers to sell a new phone to customers when a battery swap would do? How many 6, 6s, 7, and 7s phones are sitting in junk drawers, replaced because they weren't working as expected, and Apple did not say why?

Take advantage of the cheaper battery swap while you can, but ensure you sign nothing that removes your right to consumer protection, or to recompense should lawsuits proceed.

 

[anon(50597)]

Comparing a car battery (that only starts the car) to a smartphone battery (that constantly runs different processes that require different loads) has no merit.

I don’t believe Apple makes any promises about how long the battery, which they don’t make, will last. You also don’t have to upgrade to the latest software update.

Go get a $29 battery upgrade or stop complaining. There was no conspiracy from Apple but perhaps aliens are alive at Area 51.