Well damn, looks like that theory about your iPhone magically becoming unbearable to use right around the time a new iPhone is about to drop has legs. Apple admitted to significantly CPU slowdowns in iPhone 6S and iPhone 7 models that have low-capacity batteries.
We knew it all along.
Reddit users first took notice of their iPhones acting slower than usual and Geekbench developer John Poole supplied the evidence by mapping out the performance of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7. Through his findings, he came to the conclusion that iOS updates 10.2.1 and 11.2.0 were indeed impairing the phone’s performance. Now, iPhone6 and 6S owners (such as myself) were aware that the update was issued to reduce random shutdown issues with the phone. In order to do so, the update also sacrificed CPU performance or intentionally throttled the CPU to reduce random shutdowns. Geekbench also reported that iOS 11.2.0 update had similar effects on the iPhone 7.
The Verge reached out to Apple and here is what they said about the revelation:
“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 basically admits to the disingenuous behavior but insists they were only addressing units usiing old lithium batteries and not forcing us to upgrade to new phones.
Yeah right.
I had to replace the battery inside my iPhone 6S because it was revealed that some units had faulty batteries and my phone was one of them. After I updated my phone reluctantly I might add, my phone started acting very slow, but again we sounded crazy when we said this was Apple’s doing. Now that the proof is here, it would serve Apple to be more forthcoming as to what these updates do to their phones.
Apple you gotta do better.
—
Photo: Apple
