Good News! Apple Apologizes For Slowing Down Your iPhone!

[PACOX]

Apple just published a letter to customers apologizing for the “misunderstanding” around older iPhones being slowed down, following its recent admission that it was, in fact, slowing down older phones in order to compensate for degrading batteries. “We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down,” says the company. “We apologize.”

Apple says in its letter that batteries are “consumable components,” and is offering anyone with an iPhone 6 or later a battery replacement for $29 starting in late January through December 2018 — a discount of $50 from the usual replacement cost. Apple’s also promising to add features to iOS that provide more information about the battery health in early 2018, so that users are aware of when their batteries are no longer capable of supporting maximum phone performance. This is a significant change in attitude around iPhone batteries — a decade ago, when the first iPhone came out, Apple said most iPhone users would never need to replace their batteries.

iPhone owners have long believed Apple artificially slows down older phones to drive new sales. But the new information from Apple about performance management poured gasoline on that long-simmering frustration, leading to a lot of bad press and multiple lawsuits. What made it all seem worse is that the scope of the performance penalty only came to light after being discovered by a developer instead of being clearly disclosed by Apple.

The iPhone 6, 6S, SE, and 7 have much slower peak performance as they get older and their batteries aren’t able to provide as much power to the processor. Apple had actually announced this change to performance along with iOS 10.2.1 a year ago, as the fix to a problem with the iPhone 6 that caused unexpected shutdowns if older batteries couldn’t provide enough power to the processor. But it wasn’t transparent about the performance penalty, and the new benchmarks suggest the penalty is much more significant than previously believed.

For its part, Apple continues to insist that it’s never artificially slowed down phones — just that it’s aggressively managing phone performance to maximize the lifespan of iPhone batteries. “This feature’s only intent is to prevent unexpected shutdowns so that the iPhone can still be used,” according to a new knowledge base article Apple published alongside today’s letter. “This power management works by looking at a combination of the device temperature, battery state of charge, and the battery’s impedance. Only if these variables require it, iOS will dynamically manage the maximum performance of some system components, such as the CPU and GPU in order to prevent unexpected shutdowns.”

Processor speed is just one piece of the battery- and performance-management puzzle, according to Apple: iPhones with older batteries may also more aggressively dim their screens, have lower maximum speaker volumes, and even have their camera flashes disabled when the system needs more peak power than the battery can provide. But other core features, like the cell radio, GPS, and camera quality, aren’t affected, Apple says. The whole approach actually quite clever, but cleverness isn’t a great substitute for speed.

In any event, Apple has a long way to go rebuilding trust with its customers — this story broke well past the tech press and hit TV morning shows and local news with zero nuance about “smoothing instantaneous peaks” and battery chemistry degradation. A lot of people already believed that Apple slowed down their iPhones, and this wave of news was a big data point confirming that for them. It’s going to be a difficult road back.

In its letter, Apple says “we’ve always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible.” If Apple is serious about that, and equally serious about the battery being a consumable, these first two steps are just the beginning of a major reset in the way we think about maintaining the most important devices in our lives.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/28/...w-down-apology

They're sorry for slowing down your phones but will sell you a new battery for $20.

[Celista]

Fucking lol. I hope they get sued to high heaven.

[Tackhisis]

So should they change the batteries for free, in your opinion? Most gadgets do not have removable batteries too, they are even soldered to the board often.

[Twix]

class action suit inc

[Freighter]

I have no idea why people are not using samsung phones instead...

[Socialhealer]

"In its letter, Apple says “we’ve always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible.”

lmfao this is like a dodgy man you loaned 10 grand from but you can't pay it back saying i've always wanted you to be able to walk around for as long as possible before ordering his henchmen to smash your legs in with hammers.

oh except this is supposed to be one of the biggest tech companies in the world and not a dodgy back alley criminal.

i guess the only difference is apple pays taxes so the law is on their side....right?

[melodramocracy]

Sorry we got caught. - Apple

[Twix]

I’ve honestly never noticed any kind of slower performance on my iPhone. As I understand it, it had something to do with the battery not being able to perform as well with the newer updates or something? So they didn’t say ”we slowed our older phones down so you’d buy the newer models”.

I’ll still continue to use my iPhone, as well as purchase future ones.

Do you seriously think Apple would admit to slowing phones and that their intent was that consumers would buy the newer models?

[bigsav1]

Do you seriously think Apple would admit to slowing phones and that their intent was that consumers would buy the newer models?

People who see Apple admit themselves to doing shady crap and say they will continue using said products are too far gone to even try reasoning with.

[PACOX]

I’ve honestly never noticed any kind of slower performance on my iPhone. As I understand it, it had something to do with the battery not being able to perform as well with the newer updates or something? So they didn’t say ”we slowed our older phones down so you’d buy the newer models”.

I’ll still continue to use my iPhone, as well as purchase future ones.

There is code in iOS to slow the phones CPU as the battery ages. So instead of getting a new battery because its not holding a charge, people buy a new phone because its running slow as molasses.

[Kapadons]

I have a 6 and an 8 both in my hand and their is no noticeable difference in speed between the 2.

[bigsav1]

I’m not assuming anything. That said, I don’t think any company is truly innocent.

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You’re naive if you think only Apple would engage in such behaviors.

I don't think I said anything about Apple being the only one doing anything shady shit. I do think the cult of Apple is the most ridiculous out of any other following. The fact that they admit to slowing older phone so morons run to the store to buy new ones and people like you who are like "HURR DURR I DONT SEE A DIFFERENCE AND I'LL STILL CONTINUE BUYING THEM HURR DURR" like this practice shouldn't be crapped all over goes to show that Apple needs to go away.

[durenas]

So, why not just buy a new battery?

Because a person whose phone battery has been slowly dying over the course of months or years is not really aware of the change. It's only when they realize 'oh hey this is running like tar, must be the new OS updates taking more processor power, better upgrade to a new model!' They don't associate the problem with the battery, they just think 'planned obsolescence', and get a replacement.

[Azelas]

So, why not just buy a new battery?

Because you're being LITERALLY ripped off. Better to go off and buy a new phone from a new brand instead of mindlessly supporting the people who are screwing you over and over again.

[FurryRedVixen]

Wow, talk about highly uninformative. Another salacious article made for clicks.

The fact is, apple knows that technology advances faster on the digital side then on the hard ware side. New programs, apps, functions, and the ever growing desire for people to have more on their phone and hand held devices continues to expand.

Now, we live in reality i hope, so thinking that batteries magically upgrade, and fulfill the ever increasing demands is a fantasy okay? As such apple saw a problem their batteries could not keep up with increasing power demands when they get older, as all batteries begin to degrade with use (Read this as lithium ion batteries). So they wanted to cut this program off before it became a serious problem.

Instead of letting irresponsible or unknowing customers have 50 some odd apps open at once on their devices and whining and complaining that their devices shut down, or have no battery length as that product ages, they decides to make an app that curbs power usage to allow that device to have better longevity. If they wanted you to spend money on new batteries or phones they would not of done this and let you just destroy your battery, have your phone shut down out of the blue, and possibly damage your firmware and hard ware from such harsh treatments on the battery.

Batteries a small packs of chemicals, that react and generate electricity and power, more science involved but that is the basis of them. When they do not work right, they can break their seals, the chemicals contacting and amalgamating (reacting and creating another metal in the process its cool, look it up!) other metals with their contact causing them to expand, heat up and become dangerous like the samsung galaxy 7 issue i believe. That phone is still not allowed on most airline flights.

Now back to apples reasoning, they wanted this done to help preserve the batteries life and phones longevity. Their intentions were not to get people to buy new phones, or trick consumers, because we know, specially in this day and age with how consumer faith in big business is so low, that doing something like forcing people to buy new phones by making them run slower is business suicide. Now did apple mess up with not being clear on such a process from the start and mention it in either in a keynote presentation or be more upfront? Yes, ill say that right away. Businesses need to be upfront and clear on their doings when it impacts the customer base.

Just wanted to get that said >.<

[Chakah]

Wow, talk about highly uninformative. Another salacious article made for clicks.
[snip]
Instead of letting irresponsible or unknowing customers have 50 some odd apps open at once on their devices and whining and complaining that their devices shut down, or have no battery length as that product ages, they decides to make an app that curbs power usage to allow that device to have better longevity. If they wanted you to spend money on new batteries or phones they would not of done this and let you just destroy your battery, have your phone shut down out of the blue, and possibly damage your firmware and hard ware from such harsh treatments on the battery.

As an iPhone user for the last 10+ years. I agree with the engineering judgement they used that slowing the device down is better than crashing it.
The cheap battery replacement offer is a decent 'oops, we're sorry we didn't tell you' offer. Oh wait... they did tell us http://www.zdnet.com/article/iphone-...-1-says-apple/

I'd love to see real benchmarks on how much slower the devices supposedly run. I generally replace after 2.5-3 years and I've noticed the battery life dropping, but never the speed.

[Celista]

As an iPhone user for the last 10+ years. I agree with the engineering judgement they used that slowing the device down is better than crashing it.

Maybe they should design their phones better, as I only purchase cheap AF Android smartphones and have never had that issue?

[ONCHEhap]

I have no idea why people are not using samsung phones instead...

because apple is trendy and people are stupid

[Omega10]

People who see Apple admit themselves to doing shady crap and say they will continue using said products are too far gone to even try reasoning with.

Other companies do much worse. If we had a free market capitalistic economy where there was real competition, then your comment would have some merit. Instead, it is Apple's way of ripping people off vs Microsoft's way, or Sprint's way, or Comcast's way.

[Themius]

because apple is trendy and people are stupid

? Seriously what the fuck is with apple hate? Apple people aren't sitting around hating on androids yet android people just love love love to hate on apple it is like all you people have a apple hate rage boner for no discernible reason.

I don't have an iPhone because it is trendy, if anything Samsungs with their fancy curved screens are the actual trendy phones not apple. Apple hasn't been trendy for years now that has gone to Samsung so stop being silly.

I have an apple phone because no matter what android phone I had it also had some random issue.. pictures disappearing (not really but changing their format to something else and not showing as photos so... still wtf?) random issues. Upgrade issues forcing me to have to buy a new phone because of terrible wifi performance due to updates that lg decided to never fix. Delays of upgrades between delays coming from not just the manufacture of the phone but also the individual carrier. Also just the overall ugly fucking apps as due to there being so so so many android phone developers just can't keep up to making beautiful apps for all. Meanwhile making a nice looking iOS app is built into everything you do if you were to go about making an iOS app.

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Maybe they should design their phones better, as I only purchase cheap AF Android smartphones and have never had that issue?

What fucking battery of this type doesn't erode over time? They made it so the phone doesn't suffer random problems and everything is done to make the phone last as long as possible.

Which... think about this iPhones have the longest supported lifespan of any phone.