Apple Admits Slowing Down iPhones Performance After Upgrading/Older Batteries

Apple has admitted to deliberately limiting the speed and performance of its product especially the iPhones to prevent battery-related problems.

The company revealed, after many of its users complained of iPhones becoming conspicuously slow after updates

“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,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Apple came under pressure to come clean after recent speed tests showed the same models performing differently with old and new batteries, pointing to processor performance being throttled on older models with ageing batteries.

Users later criticized the company’s lack of transparency in handling poor battery performance, long seen as a means to prompt users to purchase the newest models.

The company explained that its phones’ “lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, [they] have a low battery charge or as they age over time.”

These problems could then “result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.”

Apple has not yet said what processor speed limits it is making to manage battery consumption, nor if it plans to notify users of impacted phones in future.

DPA