Apple has responded to reports of older iPhones – including iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE models – being slowed on purpose. The Cupertino firm says is temporarily slows processes on devices with worn batteries to “smooth out the instantaneous peaks” in order to prevent the shutdown of the device.
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.
The feature was enabled for devices as of the iOS 10.2.1 update, which solved the unexpected shutdown issues, said to be related to battery voltage output.
A l-o-o-o-o-o-o-n-g Reddit thread, which began on December 10, saw users claiming they saw improved benchmarking results after their iPhone’s battery had been replaced. This of course, led to the rise of conspiracy theories that Apple intentionally slows older iPhones in order to spur sales of new handsets, because that’s how the internet works.
