The row on Apple’s decision to slow down the old smartphones is back with the new IOS 12.1 update, and again the reason is the degrading batteries. When it happened the last time, the affected devices were usually 2 or 3 years old but this time around only one-year-old devices are also affected.
Which means if you have an iPhone X or the iPhone 8 series than you are going to face serious throttling with the new update. This is important because during the previous backlash Apple told that the new devices are powerful enough to be exempted from throttling.
This led many users to accuse Apple of “built-in obsolescence” that forced the users to update the device earlier. The argument given be Apple is essentially the degradation of batteries and software requirements. As batteries degrade in all phone and gadgets, they become less effective. Meanwhile, as the software advances it requires more resources for it to work properly which puts strain on the battery and the processor and hence the device faces certain hiccups, and it slows down considerably.
Now, to cope with the degrading battery the solution Apple came up with was that it throttles down the CPU and GPU so as the battery degrades the device is prevented from randomly shutting down. This was an automatic feature previously, but after facing a huge fine and backlash, Apple gave an option to turn it off in the 11.3 update. Apple admitted in the 12.1 patch notes that the relatively new devices such as the iPhone X and the iPhone 8 series would also be affected.
The point to remember here is the performance management will kick only when the iPhone has unexpectedly shut down. At that point, Apple will impose performance management services to prevent further battery degradation. This feature applies to every iPhone except the iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max, and iPhone Xr. However, the impact of the performance degradation, it is because these devices have more advanced hardware.
Users are describing their frustration as soon as they installed the new update. However, some users of the iPhone X did not see the option of disabling the performance degradation. Many users have complained about decreased battery life as soon as they upgraded to the new update. One user quoted “@Apple After the iOS 12.1 update on my iPhone SE the battery is draining terribly it’s the third time I am putting my device on charge in a single day” (Source: Daily Mail)
As many users experience performance degradation, it seems that Apple is not going to stop throttling the iPhones anytime soon. Is Apple going to extend this “feature” to the new iPhones? This remains to be seen in the coming months.