Apple slows your iPhone down "to conserve battery"

[Rroff]

As per the other thread I think the supposed reasoning is BS from Apple - lithium ion battery technology tends to have far higher current output capability than phone/tablet, etc. type peak draw giving loads of overhead for degradation over time - by the point you are seeing significant fade the battery is pretty much done and needs replacing anyhow. Likewise with the capacity - these batteries unless you get a faulty one tend to go through a slow decline from ~20-50 cycles through to ~500 cycles and then a little faster but still fairly slow fade from 500-1000 cycles and then pretty quick drop off after that - once you hit drop off the battery loses capacity very quickly and needs replacing anyhow.

As I mentioned before, it is well known that aging lithium ion batteries suffer from reduced capacity so you have to charge the phone more frequently. There doesn’t seem to be much evidence for lithium ion batteries to suffer from a reduced current supplying capability due to age. For the phone to shut off, the phone would at full speed require a certain amount of current, if the battery couldn’t supply that current, the voltage would collapse due to the current limiting. When the voltage collapses beyond a certain voltage the phone would shut down as there wouldn’t be enough volts to power the components.

Reducing the performance of the phone would reduce the current required thus solving the problem so it sounds like a good fix, as said, there doesn’t seem to be much evidence of aging batteries suffering from reduced current supplying capability. Only reduced capacity, probably why there isn’t much in the way of data for people with shut downs

The battery tech doesn't really see much current fade until right at the end when it goes pretty quick it is one of the benefits of using the technology other than the power density. Even capacity fade is pretty much a gradual decline down to around 80% and then it falls off a cliff so it doesn't make much sense to try and manage it as once you hit that point the battery isn't particularly useful anyhow.

I do wonder if this is covering up for some hardware or software flaw or something.

 

[Kenai]

Sites have been testing battery life over the years and we know they typically drop around 80-85% of the original capacity over 12 months, Samsung specifically stated that has been reduced to around 95% with the Galaxy S8 and devices released afterwards, if they were doing something shady I'm sure we would know about it by now.

My S8 is at 95% (according to accubattery) after 8 months, interested to see whereabouts it will be after 12 given those claims.

 

[james.miller]

Lol Shocky-FM you really think you're taking the sensible position here?

I never said my experience with samsung was limited to one device and i never said it was limited to just my own devices either and doubt me all you like by the batteries were faling left right and center in the note 4 thread after 12 months or more (that's when the MCC read fails weren't the problem, anyway). The fact that mine failed at 11 months was simple just premature...but it was still going to happen regardless and no it wasnt due to misuse, it wasnt due to fast charging (i never got a fast charger in the box - it had never been fast charged). It was simply an example of the problem.

When we have evidence to suggest the Galaxy S8 battery is not holding up as they claim then great, but right now we have nothing other than your irrational mistrust of Samsung and experience with a single device.

you've got that backwards. You said this in the other thread:

Samsung have been working to slow down degradation of their battery life with great effect with the Galaxy S8, on the other hand Apple do this.

Nice contrast between the two companies there.

that's you claiming the batteries are better without any evidence.

How do you know that? the phones arent old enough to judge the battery quality yet, and there's rumours all over the net that samsung are under charging the batteries to try and preserve the charge capacity. I dont know if that's much better tbh.

I think that's pretty sensible, no irrational mistrust from me. When i make such a claim as to say the S8 batteries are dog turd and they'll all fail...and i get it wrong, you'll be the first person i apologise to but I've made no such claim - I never said the S8 batteries were faulty or anything of the kind, I'm making that very clear. I've seen enough from Samsung to believe their statements about battery improvements when i see it for myself. I've claimed nothing more than that.

My S8 is at 95% (according to accubattery) after 8 months, interested to see whereabouts it will be after 12 given those claims.

Mines at 92. I'm doomed!

 

[Shocky-FM]

Lol Shocky-FM you really think you're taking the sensible position here?

I never said my experience with samsung was limited to one device and i never said it was limited to just my own devices either and doubt me all you like by the batteries were faling left right and center in the note 4 thread after 12 months or more (that's when the MCC read fails weren't the problem, anyway). The fact that mine failed at 11 months was simple just premature...but it was still going to happen regardless and no it wasnt due to misuse, it wasnt due to fast charging (i never got a fast charger in the box - it had never been fast charged). It was simply an example of the problem.

What position? We'll see after 12 months where the most of the Galaxy S8/S8+/Note 8 devices are at, it's going to vary based on usage as you know.

BTW - I like how you've deflected this discussion away from the main issue. Is this something you do a lot?

you've got that backwards. You said this in the other thread:

that's you claiming the batteries are better without any evidence.

Apple just admitted they're lowering performance due to degrading batteries while Samsung claim to be improving battery degradation, it was just an observation, an interesting one at that.

No need to get butt hurt over it

I think that's pretty sensible, no irrational mistrust from me. When i make such a claim as to say the S8 batteries are dog turd and they'll all fail...and i get it wrong, you'll be the first person i apologise to but I've made no such claim - I never said the S8 batteries were faulty or anything of the kind, I'm making that very clear.

If you say so.

Mines at 92. I'm doomed!

Assuming it's accurate, I'd test myself but I don't use that software, neither do I use an S8+ as my daily phone anymore.

 

[asim18]

Once again drunkenmaster is making the most sensible posts in this thread IMO.


I've still got an old 4S which I use for streaming music in car.

About a year ago the battery went "thermonuclear" and started expanding and leaking slightly. Right up to this point the battery was fine, it wasn't as great as new but it would still hold a charge and it NEVER suddenly turned off the phone lol. Only about a month after it started bulging out, it would suddenly kill the iPhone even at 100% charge.

This experience further leads me to believe apple's implementation is just complete BS. It's not saving anything from sudden shut downs, I reckon the battery in 99% of the phones they've "slowed down" isn't so borked that it will shutdown and is still perfectly capable of holding at least a dozen hours of charge without any total shut downs. You're probably getting about 5% extra standby time at best, at worst you're probably losing about 10% due to inefficiency. What a total charade. And I honestly cannot believe there are people defending this nonsense.

 

[asim18]

Also, I managed to replace this battery for about £13 lmao. This £70 or whatever highly inflated "radical" figure apple has pulled out is testament to their goal of absolute money-milking.

There are actually people here who think apple wants people to not make a sale and be able to hold onto their old iPhones for another 2 years? laughable.

 

[james.miller]

What position? We'll see after 12 months where the most of the Galaxy S8/S8+/Note 8 devices are at, it's going to vary based on usage as you know.

That's what I've been saying!

Shocky it was you who brought up Samsung twice in two different threads about apples batteries. Don't do that then accuse me of deflecting.

if you say so

Look...I never said anything about s8 batteries being bad. Give over. Let's stick to talking about apple shall we? Or you can go create a thread and we can continue till the cows come home, safe in the knowledge that nobody else gives a stuff.

 

[muon]

This is almost definitely to avoid warranty claims on the battery. I remember when I had an ipod I could get a replacement if capacity fell below 50%. But the only way you can easily tell this is by how long it lasts.

 

[muon]

My S8 is at 95% (according to accubattery) after 8 months, interested to see whereabouts it will be after 12 given those claims.

It depends on cycles rather than time. They likely assumed an optimistic number of cycles in 12 momths.

I have an S7 from Mar/16. I'll download accubattery again and check for me. I'm guessing down to 75%. I am a heavy user charging 200% a day and always use fast charge and always keep topped up at work.

 

[Caged]

I don't have a problem with my phone slowing down to get more life out of an older battery - but the crucial thing here is that Apple don't inform the user in any way that they have done this. A notification when the phone is going into 'limp home mode', explanation of why it's happening, and a more reasonable charge to get the battery replaced would be welcome.

 

[muon]

I don't have a problem with my phone slowing down to get more life out of an older battery - but the crucial thing here is that Apple don't inform the user in any way that they have done this. A notification when the phone is going into 'limp home mode', explanation of why it's happening, and a more reasonable charge to get the battery replaced would be welcome.

Or at least give the option to turn it off.

But that wouldn't avoid warranty claims as people will be aware of how much the battery has degraded.

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/iphone/repair/battery-power

• If you're covered under warranty, AppleCare+ or consumer law, we'll replace your battery at no charge if it retains less than 80 percent of its original capacity.

 

[Caged]

Also if the argument was battery conservation then surely they'd be better off limiting the display brightness?

 

[muon]

Also if the argument was battery conservation then surely they'd be better off limiting the display brightness?

Would be obvious. They wanted this to be hidden.

Unless that's your point.

 

[asim18]

Also if the argument was battery conservation then surely they'd be better off limiting the display brightness?

Yes absolutely. The amount of times I see people with their phones on 100% brightness when it's totally unnecessary is just unbelievable.

Halving performance of someone's phone while they're at 100% brightness is just utterly pointless.

 

[Caged]

It does sound like a pretty cynical thing to do, but with enough plausible deniability that it can be claimed that it's being done for the reasons stated - it's a happy coincidence for Apple that battery degradation is nicely predictable and so the performance reduction can be linked to that, rather than something like age of the device, which would be an instant lawsuit.

The secrecy is what leaves the bad taste here - I have had laptops where the battery has worn out, and they tell me that it needs replacing (both Dell and Apple laptops have done this). They don't just start slowing down.

 

[FlakGunna]

The iSheep will still flock.

 

[V F]

The iSheep will still flock.

You’re stating anyone who owns an idevice are sheep?

 

[deaglecat]

Is it plausible that Apple are just pushing it ... as far as they can... to see where the boundaries are. I am thinking...price rises on top of price rises, removal of headphone jacks, expensive to replace glass backs, keyboards with poor travel, usb C only laptops (despite a lack of peripherals), removal of mid-tier storage options, nearly mandatory updates (cannot stop them auto downloading and using my disk space).

Many of these are user hostile. But Apple is like a cult - whose devotees can see no wrong.

 

[FlakGunna]

You’re stating anyone who owns an idevice are sheep?

 

[MagicBoy]

I'm stating anyone using the term iSheep dwells under a bridge.