Apple admits to intentionally slow down your iphone

[WelshBloke]

And? I know most people are not used to companies improving their products after the sale. Especially Android users who typically get abandoned about 15 minutes after they walk out the door.

Improving their products would involve putting an adequate battery into it not applying a software patch to hide said inadequacy.

By shutting down the phone. Now the phone doesn't shut down. See the difference?

But it doesn't now run properly. This isn't
an either or argument. There's the option to put a battery in the device that will actually run it at the advertised performance levels.

I can tell you didn't bather to read the article I linked. Apple designs their own power management chips, so they have greater control of power usage across the entire device.

Maybe they should stick to the ones the battery manufacturers put in the batteries then their devices might work properly.

 

[Commodus]

Improving their products would involve putting an adequate battery into it not applying a software patch to hide said inadequacy.


But it doesn't now run properly. This isn't
an either or argument. There's the option to put a battery in the device that will actually run it at the advertised performance levels.


Maybe they should stick to the ones the battery manufacturers put in the batteries then their devices might work properly.

I don't think the batteries are faulty, or even too low-capacity. Has there been evidence to suggest that the batteries themselves are flawed?

Besides, what happens to a typical Android phone when the battery is severely degraded? We keep acting as if battery degradation is somehow an iPhone-only problem (part of the recurring "only Apple does bad things" mythology) when we know it's really the nature of lithium-ion cells that's the core issue. To me, the main concern is that Apple wasn't transparent about what it was doing and why, not that it was doing it in the first place.

 

[ZGR]

I don't think the batteries are faulty, or even too low-capacity. Has there been evidence to suggest that the batteries themselves are flawed?

Besides, what happens to a typical Android phone when the battery is severely degraded? We keep acting as if battery degradation is somehow an iPhone-only problem (part of the recurring "only Apple does bad things" mythology) when we know it's really the nature of lithium-ion cells that's the core issue. To me, the main concern is that Apple wasn't transparent about what it was doing and why, not that it was doing it in the first place.

Well, the beautiful thing about many Android phones is the ability to easily remove the battery and replace it with an even larger one. This is no longer possible for many Android flagships unfortunately.

Apple's $30 replacement fee is a pretty good answer to this. I will definitely replace my iPhone's battery (my mp3 player).

My friend does iPhone repairs and he already replaces batteries for people. I wonder if this will bring him more business.

The major problem with battery life for me is the old iPhones I still own. My iPhone 3G, 3GS, and 4S have essentially lost their capacity. I would gladly choose the option to throttle my SoC to preserve a bit more battery; as long as I am explicitly aware the 'feature' is enabled by me.

I already throttle many of my devices to preserve battery life, but I am the one doing the throttling and can easily stop on demand.

 

[WelshBloke]

I don't think the batteries are faulty, or even too low-capacity. Has there been evidence to suggest that the batteries themselves are flawed?

You mean apart from not being able to power the device at full speed?

Besides, what happens to a typical Android phone when the battery is severely degraded? We keep acting as if battery degradation is somehow an iPhone-only problem (part of the recurring "only Apple does bad things" mythology) when we know it's really the nature of lithium-ion cells that's the core issue. To me, the main concern is that Apple wasn't transparent about what it was doing and why, not that it was doing it in the first place.

How degraded are we talking? 80% capacity?
What happens then is you get 80% of your original battery life.

 

[ZGR]

Apple is saying 80% capacity for a replacement, but isn't it the voltage drop that causes the shut down issue? If your battery is at such a low voltage that iOS must throttle the SoC, then I wonder if this is happening well above 80% capacity for some iPhones?

 

[Commodus]

You mean apart from not being able to power the device at full speed?

That doesn't mean the batteries themselves are flawed. We'd need to show that few if any other smartphones suffer the same problem when the battery is heavily degraded. Samsung et. al. say they don't slow phones down, but that doesn't guarantee they're taking a better approach. After all, if the phone spontaneously shuts down, crashes or otherwise struggles to cope, you're in a similar boat, aren't you?

How degraded are we talking? 80% capacity?
What happens then is you get 80% of your original battery life.

Not sure, but probably worse than that.

 

[Oyeve]

Hopefully now that apples been outed more examinations will take place on other smartphone manufacturers.

 

[Commodus]

Hopefully now that apples been outed more examinations will take place on other smartphone manufacturers.

That's what I'm hoping. Not that there isn't the possibility that the issue is uniquely Apple's, but this has the whiff of the Only Apple Does Bad Things myth that some tech enthusiasts cling to, where they incorrectly assume the higher profile of an Apple problem means that it's the only company with that problem (see: factory conditions).

 

[ZGR]

The Nexus 4 comes to mind regarding battery problems. And lets ignore the Note 7

I will always buy a smartphone with a user replaceable battery for these reasons. I use my smartphones a long time, far longer than any battery lasts.

Same thing for laptops. But tablets are another story. My tablets are old and battery life sucks. I will not take those apart.

Our current battery technology sucks.

 

[MrSquished]

[Not us! Android makers say they never slow phones because of battery problems] [News Republic]
http://www.newsrepublic.net/detail/074AC35DD310100001_us?pid=14&referrer=200620&showall=1&mcc=310

Sent on the go from my LG V20

 

[lxskllr]

The Nexus 4 comes to mind regarding battery problems. And lets ignore the Note 7

I will always buy a smartphone with a user replaceable battery for these reasons. I use my smartphones a long time, far longer than any battery lasts.

Same thing for laptops. But tablets are another story. My tablets are old and battery life sucks. I will not take those apart.

Our current battery technology sucks.

I think battery technology's pretty damned good, but I grew up with huge batteries, that had low power, and leaked all over your device if you left them in too long, with 'too long' being defined as 'not actively using it'. I'm with you on non replaceable batteries. The only way I'll go that route is if that's the only way they come; begrudgingly at that. I'm using a lg g3 for that exact reason. My battery's not that great, but it's ~4 years old now. I've been thinking about getting a new one. Nice to have that option...

 

[lopri]

I have a 6s sitting in the house that drains battery in 2 days with no SOT. It is not my phone so initially I was not paying attention but sometimes I wanted to check time or take it to the bathroom, etc. and noticed how quickly the battery runs out. It was a shock. Even more so if that short of a battery life is under reduced CPU frequency. A Note 3 that sits alongside lasts about a week also with no SOT.

 

[ashetos]

I charge my 3-year-old LG G2 every 3 or 4 days. That's how a phone with a non-removable battery should function. Strong candidate for best phone ever

That said, my next phone will have a removable battery no doubt.

 

[ZGR]

Was at the Verizon store today and saw a couple getting their iPhone batteries replaced. The Verizon rep did each iPhone in about 8 minutes. Then they asked if they could have their iPad batteries replaced, which is not offered.

I am so ready for an iPhone with a removable battery cover that supports extended batteries. How hard would that be to make? (Making the battery sounds way harder)

I was astounded they still sell the Galaxy S5 and was told it is their only phone sold at the store with a removable battery. I asked for the LG V20 but that is already EOL...

The process to replace an iPhone battery looks pretty easy with practice. Smartphones are lasting longer as performance boosts are slowing down. Smartphones are aging better each year and Apple as well as ALL OEMs need to recognize that the battery needs to last or be replaceable.

But with the way laptops are going (glued in batteries) and thinner smartphones, I fear this will not happen.

 

[Elixer]

Was at the Verizon store today and saw a couple getting their iPhone batteries replaced. The Verizon rep did each iPhone in about 8 minutes. Then they asked if they could have their iPad batteries replaced, which is not offered.

I am so ready for an iPhone with a removable battery cover that supports extended batteries. How hard would that be to make? (Making the battery sounds way harder)

I was astounded they still sell the Galaxy S5 and was told it is their only phone sold at the store with a removable battery. I asked for the LG V20 but that is already EOL...

You can still find some phones with removable batteries, like the Moto G5.

It all comes down to, people don't care about removable batteries anymore, and for whatever dumb reason, they want these really thin phones.

 

[manly]

You can still find some phones with removable batteries, like the Moto G5.

It all comes down to, people don't care about removable batteries anymore, and for whatever dumb reason, they want these really thin phones.

That's somewhat debatable. It's not like Apple is asking user groups if they like the thin phones with sealed batteries, or prefer user-replaceable batteries with a slightly thicker chassis. The other OEMs more or less understand the pros/cons but tend to follow Apple's lead in many cases (thin is better, ditching the headphone jack, etc.). It's a business decision. People will upgrade their phones within 3 years for many reasons, including degraded battery perf, sluggish performance compared to original UX, keeping up with the Joneses, etc. There's little doubt that Apple sells fewer handsets if the battery is user-replaceable (even if ALL else were equal, which it can't be).

 

[TheSpecialist]

I've heard apple will now replace batteries on specific models for free now. Is this confirmed?

 

[Oyeve]

I've heard apple will now replace batteries on specific models for free now. Is this confirmed?

If you have AppleCare. I hear there is over 25 lawsuits going.

 

[zerocool84]

I've heard apple will now replace batteries on specific models for free now. Is this confirmed?

I had not heard about this at all. All I read was that they will replace any battery for the now lowered price as opposed to before they would only charge you the lower price if their tests showed your battery needed replacing.

 

[slayer202]

so I was just at an apple store planning to get a replacement battery for my 7, just because it was cheap and figures to be an upgrade. diagnostic put my battery at 95% health so the guy talked me out of doing it now. is that number accurate, that the battery only lasts 5% less than when new?

 

[Zaap]

The 7 isn't that old.

Personally I'd be horrified if phones as relatively new as an ip7 had severely degraded batteries already.

It'd indicate that sealing these things in was something of a crime against consumers to begin with.

 

[slayer202]

I didn't think there was an issue but it definitely doesn't seem to last as long as it did, I would have guessed closer to 20% lost as opposed to 5% that they tested. I was thinking that it would be a cheap upgrade either way but only 5% doesn't seem quite worth it. I think I was at just under 300 charge cycles

 

[Red Storm]

What I find interesting is that after getting found out and all the rage, all Apple did was discount the battery replacement service for just one year. So next year it's back to $80 replacements and people's phone's still being slowed down by degraded batteries.

 

[Oyeve]

What I find interesting is that after getting found out and all the rage, all Apple did was discount the battery replacement service for just one year. So next year it's back to $80 replacements and people's phone's still being slowed down by degraded batteries.

Its the apple way.

 

[slayer202]

we'll see what happens after the lawsuits. wouldn't be hard to get rid of that slow down "feature"