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Apple has been accused of slowing down old iPhones by tying performance to battery condition. This could cause some users to upgrade to a newer model rather than get the battery replaced:
Apple may be slowing down older iPhones in order to counteract problems with decreased battery capacity, according to Primate Labs founder John Poole. The news could add fuel to the conversation around planned obsolescence—the idea that tech companies purposely slow down older devices to encourage users to buy new models. Claims of planned obsolescence have hit almost all the big firms, and have reached the status of a major conspiracy theory in many tech circles.
In a recent blog post, Poole, whose company created the Geekbench benchmarking system, set out to detail the data behind a particular Reddit post claiming that Apple was slowing down iPhones with low-capacity batteries. The user was getting lower-than-expected scores on Geekbench, which improved after they replaced the battery in their iPhone 6S.
[...] Of course, part of the battery issues have to do with the changes that came with iOS 10.2.1, Poole wrote. Apple introduced the update to combat a bug causing the sudden shutdown of iPhone 6 and 6S models. "I believe (as do others) that Apple introduced a change to limit performance when battery condition decreases past a certain point," Poole wrote in the post.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @07:54PM (10 children)
When the battery degrades, just leave the phone plugged in to the wall all day, like a landline.
Or, you know, the phone could, like, slow down, to conserve battery, dude, bro, like, whoa.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @07:56PM (5 children)
FUCK APPLE FUCK APPLE FUCK FUCK APPLE
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
(Score: 4, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 19 2017, @07:58PM (4 children)
Fuck ... Apple.
Posted from my iPhone
(Score: 2) by unauthorized on Tuesday December 19 2017, @08:16PM (3 children)
You have that backwards mate. It's not you who fucks Apple, it's Apple who fucks you!
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Tuesday December 19 2017, @09:15PM (1 child)
In Soviet Russia . . .
(Score: 2) by unauthorized on Tuesday December 19 2017, @09:56PM
In Capitalist America, Apple fucks you. In Soviet Russia, iPhone posts YOU!
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday December 19 2017, @11:22PM
Apple... fuck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday December 19 2017, @08:05PM
If Apple were truly innovative, their batteries would explode even better than the Samsung Note 7. Thus the battery would never have a shorter battery life and the issue is moot.
Apple fanboys would applaud a suggestion to leave their phone plugged in to electrical power all day -- if it came from Apple. They would cheer and applaud. And call it "courage", like removing the industry standard headphone jack.
Why make the phone slow down to conserve battery? If the battery life gets shorter and shorter, this will prompt the owner to either (1) get the battery replaced, or (2) buy a new phone. Ahh, but I see the brilliant move now. Slowing down the phone would prompt the user to get a new phone -- but not to have the battery replaced.
The thing about landline phones is that they never get lost. No air tag necessary.
(Score: 2) by Bot on Tuesday December 19 2017, @09:04PM
If you had to make a picture of Apple Computing in the new millennium, I'd put a guy listening to music on an iphone plugged to the wall, using the airpods.
In the 80s it would be a guy next to an open apple ][ meddling with an add-on card.
Account abandoned.
(Score: 4, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday December 19 2017, @09:33PM
Samsung Galaxy S3 is a beautiful alternative. Mine has given me many years of service! Although my CIA guy told me it doesn't work in Israel or the Middle East. Because their cyber is different.
(Score: 2) by urza9814 on Wednesday December 20 2017, @04:39PM
My Android phone has special power saving modes, but they don't hide the settings from me and it doesn't automaticcaly and invisibly activate itself. First off, people might want to enable to power saving feature for other reasons, like if the battery is low and they aren't near a charger. If you're implementing the feature, it makes sense to provide access to it. Secondly, it's nice to know what the hell is going on, instead of just degrading the users' experience without explanation. And keeping the power saving mode on even when plugged in or with power saving settings explicitly disabled is just inexplicable.
Having a power saving mode is smart. Implementing it the way Apple did is just being an asshole.