Apple addresses #iPhoneSlow, offers steep discounts on battery replacements
Here's Apple's explination on what's happening with iPhone batteries and performance.
Apple has published a letter of explaining the confusion caused by the iOS 10.2.1 update last year that prioritized battery health over peak performance. The company is also offering deep discounts on battery replacements, down from $79 to $29, and will issue a software update that provides far more insight for customers into the state of their battery health.
From Apple:
We've been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process. We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize. There's been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, so we would like to clarify and let you know about some changes we're making. First and foremost, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades. Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.
Simultaneously, Apple has published a tech support article that explains in far greater detail what happens with lithium ion batteries in modern devices like iPhone.
From Apple Support:
Our intention for iPhone is to deliver an experience that is simple and easy to use. Doing so requires a lot of engineering and many advanced technologies. One important technology area is battery and performance. Batteries are a complex technology, and there are a number of variables that contribute to battery performance and related iPhone performance. All rechargeable batteries are consumables and have a limited lifespan—eventually their capacity and performance decline so that they need to be serviced or recycled. As this happens, it can contribute to changes in iPhone performance. We created this information for those who would like to learn more.
Overall, this is far better clarity, communication, and handling of the issue from Apple.
We're still digging into everything and will update again with more information and explination asap.
It's been three years since iPhone 6 and two years since iPhone 6s shipped. And two to three years can be a long time for batteries, as we've seen from these Reddit comments:
My iPhone 6S has been very slow these past few weeks, and even after updating multiple times, it was still slow. Couldn't figure out why, but just thought that iOS 11 was still awful to me. Then I used my brother's iPhone 6 Plus and his was... faster than mine? This is when I knew something was wrong. So, I did some research, and decided to replace my battery. Wear level was somewhere around 20% on my old battery. I did a Geekbench score, and found I was getting 1466 Single and 2512 Multi. This did not change wether I had low power mode on or off. After changing my battery, I did another test to check if it was just a placebo. Nope. 2526 Single and 4456 Multi. From what I can tell, Apple slows down phones when their battery gets too low, so you can still have a full days charge.
Update: An Apple spokesperson provided the following statment:
"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices", Apple told iMore. "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."
Once upon a time, you loaded a web page or downloaded an email then spent a few minutes reading, turned off your iPhone, and went back to your day. Now, we have social and gaming apps that keep the screen on while checking GPS, downloading media, showing the camera's live view, and layering on augmented reality near-constantly. The tech industry has been prioritizing power efficiency over performance for years: Processors could always run at redline, but they'd burn the battery out just as fast.
Balancing power and performance is key, and Apple has been addressing this in multiple ways — like systems-on-a-chip with both high-efficiency and high-performance cores, and machine-learning-based power management.
But lithium-ion batteries are lithium-ion batteries. When it comes to older phones or those with poor battery health, as of iOS 10.2.1, Apple prioritizes battery life over processor speed. Here's what Apple told me at the time:
"With iOS 10.2.1, Apple made improvements to reduce occurrences of unexpected shutdowns that a small number of users were experiencing with their iPhone," Apple told iMore. "iOS 10.2.1 already has over 50% of active iOS devices upgraded and the diagnostic data we've received from upgraders shows that for this small percentage of users experiencing the issue, we're seeing a more than 80% reduction in iPhone 6s and over 70% reduction on iPhone 6 of devices unexpectedly shutting down.
"We also added the ability for the phone to restart without needing to connect to power, if a user still encounters an unexpected shutdown. It is important to note that these unexpected shutdowns are not a safety issue, but we understand it can be an inconvenience and wanted to fix the issue as quickly as possible. If a customer has any issues with their device they can contact AppleCare."
That caused a hit to performance but now allowed the iPhone to last longer through the day. Here's what I wrote at the time:
My understanding is that, if a particularly processor-intensive task, such as a complex photo filter, caused a significant spike in power demand, an older battery unable to meet that demand could prompt a shutdown. So, by improving the advanced battery management in iOS 10.2.1, Apple has reduced the likelihood of that happening.
Batteries do age with time and charge cycles, though. To help with awareness, Apple is adding a service notice to Settings > Battery in iOS 10.2.1. It's similar to the one already in place on the Mac. Anyone with a particularly weak battery who still experiences the issue should contact AppleCare.
If and when you replace the battery— which costs $79 at an Apple Store — you essentially wipe away those years and charge cycles and make everything old new again. iOS no longer has to worry about your battery making it through the day, so it can run the SoC at full speed.
You could argue that Apple should prioritize the other way — performance at all costs over battery life — but that that would prompt people to seek battery replacements or iPhone upgrades sooner, and likely make just as many folks angry.
In hindsight, it also looks like the power management is either overly aggressive or the service notice in Settings is overly passive, because people are experiencing the ramped up power management without seeing the explanation or understanding why.
My preference would be for Apple to pop up the alert once the advanced power management kicks in or reaches a level where it would be noticeable to the user. That would help ensure everyone understands what's happening and could choose to go in for servicing and get a new battery, if that's their preference.
Either way, it's in Apple's best interests to keep customers happy so that they remain customers. Likewise, everyone at Apple has friends and family with older iPhones and I've never gotten anything from anyone there other than a profound desire to keep those iPhones running as well as possible for as long as possible.
Apple would certainly be accused of maleficence either way: If it doesn't provide updates, it's withholding features. If it does, it's overloading. If it prioritizes performance, it's letting old phones die. If it prioritizes battery life, it's slowing them down. It's Apple's job to provide the best balance it can for as many customers as it can, though, and to take any all accusations that come along with it.
But, to repeat what Apple said back in February:
If a customer has any issues with their device they can contact AppleCare.
**Originally published December 12, 2017. Updated December 20, 2017, with a statement from Apple.*
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