“Reddit users have noticed that Apple appears to be slowing down old iPhones that have low-capacity batteries,” Tom Warren and Nick Statt report for The Verge. “When reached for comment, Apple basically confirmed the findings to The Verge.”
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 electronic 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. — Apple Inc., December 20, 2017
“Apple is effectively saying that it’s not slowing down older iPhones just to urge people to upgrade to newer devices,” Warren and Statt report. “Rather, the company says it’s addressing an issue with devices containing older lithium-ion batteries that results in unexpected shutdowns.”
“It all makes sense. As battery life degrades, a smartphone’s ability to achieve the same performance with less efficient battery use degrades as well, and Apple has released updates to address that problem as best it can and avoid embarrassing device malfunctions or even potentially dangerous component failures,” Warren and Statt report. “However, the company isn’t doing itself very many favors by being a bit opaque.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As has almost always been the case with Apple, unfortunately, transparency comes later, not sooner, and usually as a reaction to negative publicity.
A simple Knowledge Base article would have preempted all of this Reddit sleuthing and the attendant handwringing and erroneous presumptions.
SEE ALSO:
iPhone performance and battery age – December 18, 2017
Apple met with Chinese regulators to discuss iPhone 6s unexpected shutdowns – February 10, 2017
Rumor: Apple may extend iPhone 6s battery replacement program to iPhone 6 – January 17, 2017
A message from Apple about iPhone and unexpected shutdowns – December 2, 2016
Apple offers free battery replacement for ‘very small number’ of iPhone 6s units with unexpected shutdown issue – November 21, 2016