Have you heard all the news about the big Apple “iPhone slow-down” conspiracy?
If not, here’s the quick version of what’s going on…
- A technology bench-marking company, Primate Labs, reported in a December 18th blog post, that Apple iPhone 6 and 7 phones have a battery problem, where the phones start slowing down as the battery ages.
- Apple, on December 20th, admitted that the iOS software that came out last year, makes your iPhone 6 and 7 models run slower to offset the aging battery problem where the phone can actually shut off when the charge is low or the temperature is cold.
- iOS 10 and iOS 11 software has the slow-down feature built-in to affect iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6S, 6S Plus, 7, and 7 Plus phones.
Apples lack of coming out with this information last year, when the “fix” was implemented has caused a big backlash on the Internet, with many iPhone users claiming that it’s just a ploy by Apple to get “old phone” users to upgrade to newer phones.
Apple, of course, denies this and states that “our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices”.
In any case, a few days ago Apple issued a formal apology to all its customers, and promised that that in January, 2018, they would start providing a $29 battery replacement which according to Apple would immediately return an iPhone 6 or later model, to its original performance level.
Considering that Apple normally charges $79 for this, it’s a pretty good deal that might be worth you looking into, if you have an older iPhone.
Apple is also issuing an iOS update which will “give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.”
If you’re wondering if replacing the battery will help your particular iPhone, in a special iPhone Battery Performance article (CLICK HERE to read it), Apple lists these particular things to notice in determining if your phone speed is being affected…
- Longer app launching times
- Lower frame rates (jumping) while scrolling
- Dimming of the backlight
- Lower speaker volume
- Camera flash disabled in certain circumstances
It’s interesting to note that according to Envia Systems, an advanced battery startup company in California, that it took over a decade, from 1995 to 2007, to only double the amount of energy a battery could store. And since 2007, battery energy storage has only improved by 30%.
That explains a lot about why all of our digital devices, including iPhones, haven’t seen much improvement in how long their battery charge will last.
I’ve already decided that in January, when Apple comes out with the $29 battery deal, my family will be replacing the batteries in their iPhone 6’s, with the hope that the inexpensive upgrade will prolong the usefulness of our phones for at least another year!
John, Thanks for this Apple iPhone info. Just great & very clear presentation. I have 3 questions:
1. Does this also cover the iPhone 5? My best friend has an iPhone 5 and has been having these problems for quite awhile only worse.
2. Will you please send out more info about what we need to do to get the fix for the 6 and 7 done for our iPhone?
3. Will you be having a class or lecture about this?
Hi Jodee…
At this point, Apple hasn’t passed along any details about the battery replacement offer, so I don’t know if it will be a “general” thing or if it will only be for certain phones.
My guess is, it will be a general thing for anyone with an older phone. But we probably won’t know until January. I also don’t have any information about what we’ll need to do to get the replacement. Again, Apple will probably be coming out with that information in early January, and when they do, I’ll certainly pass this along to everyone via the mailing list and this site.
Although I won’t have a specific class about this topic, I will be talking about it in all my iphone/ipad classes.
Thanks for posting!!!!
John Lortz