Apple Admits Secretly Slowing Down Older iPhones
Content adapted from this Zerohedge.com article : Source
Apple settled long-standing conspiracy theories surrounding claims that the company was purposefully slowing down older iPhones in order to force people into buying newer models - and there's a "perfectly good" explanation.
Batteries
In early December, Reddit user TeckFire posted a report in the iPhone subreddit, noting that after experiencing a painful slowdown on his iPhone 6S, a brand new battery resulted in significant improvement in benchmark scores - as can be seen in photos posted to the thread:
After testing performed by Geekbench developer John Poole, it was indeed confirmed that iPhones were being throttled to preserve battery life or avoid unexpected shutdowns while the battery degrades.
So it's true Apple intentionally slow down old iPhones. Proof: My iPhone 6 was bought 3years ago and recently got really slow. APP 'CPU DasherX' shows iPhone CPU is under clocked running at 600MHz. After a iPhone battery replacement. CPU speed resumed to factory setting 1400MHz. pic.twitter.com/pML3y0Jkp2
— Sam_Si (@sam_siruomu) December 20, 2017
The Cupertino, CA company responded to the internet sleuths, admitting in a statement "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," said the company.
As TechCrunch explains:
Basically, iPhones were hitting peaks of processor power that the battery was unable to power and the phones were shutting off. Apple then added power management to all iPhones at the time that would "smooth out" those peaks by either capping the power available from the battery or by spreading power requests over several cycles. This is clearly shown in Poole's charts in his post:
Many have pointed out how bad it looks for Apple - which has been accused of throttling older phones to make them buy new ones, was caught throttling phones. No matter how legitimate the reason, the fact that they were caught - and forced to admit - is going to fuel conspiracy theories for a while.
For years, we've reassured people that no, Apple doesn't secretly slow down their older iPhones to make them buy new ones.
If this must be done, it should be a setting. If it's on by default, the user should be alerted the first time it happens.https://t.co/kRRmd7mN72
— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) December 20, 2017
The reputation damage from secretly slowing down old iPhones, regardless of the reason, will likely linger for a decade.
— Marco Arment (@marcoarment) December 20, 2017
To recap: due to battery performance degradation issues, the power demands of the iPhone processor was causing shutoff issues. To solve this, Apple secretly throttled their phones in order to avoid the issue... and were caught by internet sleuths before issuing a statement with their tail between their legs. Was there any impact on the stock price? Of course not: after all 2018 is the year companies make buybacks great again.
Had a big discussion with a fanboy friend today about this. As usual, he defended it in every way he could come up with... including saying that changing the battery out was "simple" (in comparison to say, an LG V20).
iPhones could smell like rotting fish, electrocute you every 3rd click, and be made from the bones of dead children... their loyalist fans will still line up for them and still defend them around every turn.
Smell like rotting fish?
And they'd still stick em next to their faces bragging about how it's a "feature".
This is an undeniable trend with each iPhone release for years now, so its amazing that Apple was able to go for so long without being called out on this and forced to admit it. What a shady practice for them to be doing, but I guess we really shouldn't be surprised by this type of thing.
F*** Apple...
A satisfied customer?
Wow....did you lose money in their stock?
You think corporations should be able to do shady shit like this for years without openly disclosing it? The only reason they admitted this now was because people started calling them out on it, but it took YEARS for this to happen. And no I don't have Apple stock, I am just sick of corporations treating people like shit, and the people for the most part just standing there and accepting it as if they are a beat dog.
Ah so it wasnt Apple in particular, rather all major corporations.
They are an extension of the banksters...look up the institutional holders in any 50 stocks on yahoo finance...just pick them off the top of your head. You will see the same banks owning 1% here, 1.5% there, .75 here, 2% there...add it all up and it isnt hard to figure out who is running the show.
This is an example of how the Internet changes things for these corporations. Without it, Apple never admits this (of course, they never has the smart phone either).
At the end of the day, we need to start working towards openness and exposing the deceptions and lies that exist out there. We see a lot of hypocrisy, something that technology helps us sift through.
The blockchain is so exciting because it enables people to view things on an open ledger. This was not possible before.
I heard this The Cupertino, CA company responded to the internet sleuths, admitting in a statement "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."
I would be extremely surprised if that is not a regular practices with all manufacturers. There is solid evidence that manufacturers manipulate their products "performance" after certain time.
I agree. It is doubtful that this is a practice exclusive to Apple.
They arent the only ones looking to separate people from their money.
didnt need to be told i have known for so long it was always so obvious when it would start to slow down and internet use as well loading was bad always around the time of new releases
Awesome post it is.. But be the careful man from Apple Management. If they see this post then they could angry. I am joking with you. 'So it's true Apple intentionally slow down old iPhones', yeah I believe this also and they did it intentionally. Because of their business. They don't wanna to see the people will use same phone for a long time.Even they wish, people should change their mobile within 6 month. Then they could increase their bsiness with handsome profit margin.It's my opinion only...
My uncle bought a i phone two years ago.
This phone's condition is very bad now. . so slow is not suitable for use. . You said that this condition of the previous phones to force them to buy a new set. . Right.I agree with you about this. . Great post dear...thank You @zer0hedge
There´s a lot of stuff going on out there that normal consumers are never made aware of. Even whenever something gets public only a few people actually care so that stock prices aren´t really affected at all through such "smaller" issues.
I really hope that´ll change some day and people finally start to care again...
Gives new meaning to planned obsolescence.