Apple admits it slows down performance of older devices

Hush-hush measures from iPhone maker to reduce demands on batteries do not look good

Apple has confirmed it curbs the performance of devices with aging batteries, including the iPhone 7, 6, 6s and SE – and it will do so for other products.

On Monday, Primate Labs, which makes an app for measuring the speed of an iPhone’s processor, published data that appeared to show slower performance in the Apple’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 models as they aged.

On Wednesday, Apple acknowledged it takes measures to reduce power demands – which can slow the processor – when a phone’s battery is having trouble supplying the peak current the processor demands, Reuters said.

Why not just be upfront about that and notify users about battery wear? asked the website thenextweb’s Abhimanyu Ghoshal.

TechCrunch writer Matthew Panzarino pointed out that giving users too much information could result in them replacing batteries too early, or unnecessarily replacing phones.

Ghoshal said: “There is also the issue of how conservative or aggressive iOS should be in determining when to start throttling performance. Again, that’s a sticky wicket for users, who may form opinions about how it should work.”

What Apple should be upfront about is that it engages its power management features to ensure incident-free performance, he said.

It should also make it easy to replace batteries.

“Right now, the company just looks like it’s kept this important function a secret in the name of earning more money through planned obsolescence, and that’s not a good look for Apple,” Ghoshal said.

The problem stems from the fact that all lithium-ion batteries degrade and have problems supplying the big bursts as they age, Apple said. The problems with peak current draws can also occur when batteries are cold or low on charge.

“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,” Apple told Reuters. “We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products.” Apple is saying that it is not slowing down older iPhones just to urge people to upgrade.

When an iPhone’s processor makes a big current draw from a flagging battery, the battery can deliver the current in spikes that can potentially damage the phone. As a result, iPhones would shut down to protect the processor.

The sudden shutdown problem became widespread among iPhones in late 2016, the company said.

The problem can be remedied by replacing the phone’s battery. The company has long faced criticism from repair advocates for making its batteries difficult for users to replace on their own.