Suspicion of deliberately slowing down older smartphones by Apple have long been voiced by users, marking a noticeable decrease in performance over time.
The company said that the software was really slowing down my gadgets as they age, but solely on the grounds of deterioration of batteries over time. Apple has assured that it would «extend the life» devices.
«I used the iPhone 6 Plus my brother and it worked faster than mine? It was then that I realized that something is wrong,» wrote TeckFire.
On the Geekbench site dedicated to technology, reviewed the work of the gadgets on different versions of iOS, and came to the conclusion that some of them seriously slow down compared to predecessors.
How it responded to the representatives of the company?
«Lithium-ion batteries have become unable to ensure that requirements are current, when they have a low battery in cold conditions, or even just with time, which leads to unexpected shutdown of the device to protect its electronic components,» reads the statement.
«Last year we released a component to the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE for smoothing random power surges only if necessary protect the device from unexpected shutdown in such conditions. We also used this innovation in iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and we plan to add support for other products in the future. Our goal is to do everything in order to experience buyers our goods are the best.»
Why lithium-ion batteries over time work as well?
source: wikimedia commons
Lithium batteries work worse with time due to the fact that lithium ions migrate through the material forming the battery when charging.
Research using electron microscopes showed that each time the ions do this, changes are made to the physical structure of this electrolyte.
According to one scholar who studied the phenomenon, the effect is similar to «rust, uneven flowing over steel.»
These changes pretty quickly destroy the material, so it «aging», holds less charge and deteriorate its ability to provide a constant power source.
The higher the voltage and the temperature, the faster the erosion.
Whether it was necessary for the company to announce it early?
«Because of the decision to make all «quiet», the situation is more nefarious than it really is. It is not credible,» wrote developer and blogger Nick Heer. «Apple always meet the expectations … This is an example when they did not meet them. At least I think so.»
Replacing old battery in one of the considered models have to return the phone the previous speed. It costs $ 79 in the US.
«They must pursue a more transparent policy in such matters,» said Chris green, a tech consultant at Bright Bee. «You reduce the performance, for which someone paid. If you are going to slow down your phone over time, you have to explain why this is happening, that people understand that it is ultimately for their own good».
The analysis Kellan Rory Jones, technology correspondent
It’s like a combination of urban legend and conspiracy theory – the idea that Apple builds into the iPhone technology that slows down older models to encourage new sales.
And yet the explanation sounds reasonable. In the end, about the decline of performance of batteries all know the owners of other smartphones suffer from the low battery performance after a couple years of use.
What will it take to upset the owners of the iPhones — is the lack of transparency. The rumors about deliberate slow performance is already more than one week, and the poor performance of the phones began to notice earlier. But only a couple of days ago, the company made an official statement and explained what was going on.
