iPhone Users WIll Be Able to Turn Off Performance Throttling

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Apple CEO TIm Cook has stated in an interview that an upcoming iOS update will give users more information on the health of their devices battery. More importantly the update will give users the option to disable the CPU throttling to maintain normal CPU performance, but will be at risk of unexpected shutdowns.

This is good news for iPhone users. The decision to cause a device to throttle up to 50% because of the battery being older just reeked of planned obsolescence and forced upgrades.

Early in 2018, we will issue an iOS software update with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.
 
Funny how it wasn't an issue for many before the update that throttled the device.

Jim: iPhone sales are lower than expected!
Larry: Slow down phones so they will buy new ones!
Jim: Good idea sir!
 
Brokennails said:
Funny how it wasn't an issue for many before the update that throttled the device.

Jim: iPhone sales are lower than expected!
Larry: Slow down phones so they will buy new ones!
Jim: Good idea sir!
Click to expand...

I thought is was just because the iOS updates were gimping older phones as they pretty much have always done. Finding out it has to do with them throttling the devices on purpose with no way to disable that "feature" is/was the big problem.

And a battery health meter... why didn't they have this before? Probably to cut down on warranty repairs.

At least now we get to see how fast Apple devices batteries degrade.
 
So now that throttling is turned off does that mean that the phone will reboot by itself when cpu voltage is higher than what the battery can supply?
 
I don't even care for Apple but I want to believe that Apple chose to slow phones because they honestly thought that it was best for the user so that the phone could last throughout a day of use. When your selling point is that your devices are very user friendly, you put yourself in a predicament where you're stuck between limiting features to maintain simplicity and giving people discrete control over their devices. When people have discrete control over their devices, you end up in a situation where many people think your operating system is trash because they can't keep themselves from breaking it (Windows).

I'm not going to hold this against Apple, they sell secured (from both the user and external threats) devices that are supposed to be simple to use. To ask Apple to make their devices more configurable would open their devices to compromise and you certainly can't have your cake and eat it when it comes to computing devices.
 
djoye

I couldn't agree with you more.

Even though I'm quite happy to rip Apple a new one when they do drop the ball I've actually come around recently to defending them on this particular issue.
 
djoye said:
I don't even care for Apple but I want to believe that Apple chose to slow phones because they honestly thought that it was best for the user so that the phone could last throughout a day of use.
Click to expand...

If that were the case, they could have told the users about it rather than keep it a secret. Being more transparent would have prevented this kind of backlash. Plus, they could have given the user an option to enable or disable throttling.
 
djoye said:
I don't even care for Apple but I want to believe that Apple chose to slow phones because they honestly thought that it was best for the user so that the phone could last throughout a day of use. When your selling point is that your devices are very user friendly, you put yourself in a predicament[...]
Click to expand...

You make good and valid points. My contention is that the phones were built with batteries that are just too small for the powerful CPU. A Galaxy S7 Edge has a 3600mah battery, mine is now 2 years old and according to some battery software I've been using a few weeks now, the capacity left is around 2600mah, so just about what an IPhone starts out with. And that's why the Samsung phones don't have to throttle like that, they have enough juice left even after 2 years of use.

The specifications of the phone batteries for IPhones scream "will not live very long."

That said, I also think people are making a crazy big deal out of it because: you CAN have apple replace the battery. Standard price is around $75. People are pissed because of $75 every year or two (depending on use and patience). But they are perfectly OK spending $800-$1000 on a new phone every few years. That's a sentiment I do not understand.

This new feature solves nothing and if I were Cook I would never release it. Give more info, OK sure. But not an option to chance the phone crashing during important tasks; that's exactly anti-Apple.
 
lollerwaffle said:
You make good and valid points. My contention is that the phones were built with batteries that are just too small for the powerful CPU. A Galaxy S7 Edge has a 3600mah battery, mine is now 2 years old and according to some battery software I've been using a few weeks now, the capacity left is around 2600mah, so just about what an IPhone starts out with. And that's why the Samsung phones don't have to throttle like that, they have enough juice left even after 2 years of use.

The specifications of the phone batteries for IPhones scream "will not live very long."

That said, I also think people are making a crazy big deal out of it because: you CAN have apple replace the battery. Standard price is around $75. People are pissed because of $75 every year or two (depending on use and patience). But they are perfectly OK spending $800-$1000 on a new phone every few years. That's a sentiment I do not understand.
Click to expand...

Pretty much this. I have this same argument each time this throttling comes up and people talk about the battery.

$29 for a battery replacement for an OUT OG WARRANTY battery and the new battery has a NEW WARRANTY. Apparently a new battery for $29 every 2 years is crazy but a new iPhone makes sense.
 
Brokennails said:
Funny how it wasn't an issue for many before the update that throttled the device.

Jim: iPhone sales are lower than expected!
Larry: Slow down phones so they will buy new ones!
Jim: Good idea sir!
Click to expand...

Planned obsolescence... yeah right like having a phone that constantly switches off on you or turns off at 30% battery isn't going to give you more motivation to upgrade...

God forbid Apple try to give handsets extra life. My Note 4 battery died after 11 months due to these stupid shutdowns.

gxp500 said:
So now that throttling is turned off does that mean that the phone will reboot by itself when cpu voltage is higher than what the battery can supply?
Click to expand...

It will cause phones to turn off when current draw exceeds the capacity of the battery cells due to internal resistance increasing over time.

There is nothing in iPhone specifications that says the battery won't last long, capacity has no relation to the life of a battery. Quality of manufacturing does play a part and Apple use the best OEM's. You want to know what really kills lithium batteries? Keeping them full charged for too long, deep discharging and heat which is why I am so against wireless charging as it speeds up battery wear.

lollerwaffle said:
You make good and valid points. My contention is that the phones were built with batteries that are just too small for the powerful CPU. A Galaxy S7 Edge has a 3600mah battery, mine is now 2 years old and according to some battery software I've been using a few weeks now, the capacity left is around 2600mah, so just about what an IPhone starts out with. And that's why the Samsung phones don't have to throttle like that, they have enough juice left even after 2 years of use.
Click to expand...

Sorry but that is utter horse shit and you have no idea how batteries work. My Galaxy Note 4 battery died at 11 months by turning off at 20-30% and googling the issue you will find way way more reports. A batteries total capacity is not related to its discharge rate. Its based on how the cells are arranged, internal resistance etc.
 
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"This is good news for iPhone users. The decision to cause a device to throttle up to 50% because of the battery being older just reeked of planned obsolescence and forced upgrades."

lol - just wait for the wave of people complaining about their phones randomly shutting down now.

Ignorance isn't always bliss...
 
aokman said:
Sorry but that is utter horse shit and you have no idea how batteries work.
Click to expand...
Well, good thing you're here to enlighten us.

Here's something for you; these batteries lose capacity over time, mostly related to charging.
The iPhone either has to slow down or crash when there isn't enough capacity to satisfy the power requirements.
Were the battery to have a much higher capacity when new, the effect over time would be the same but it wouldn't happen as quickly.

I mean, if you have corrections to that theory, please do tell. Otherwise I'd make sure your high horse has plenty of battery left to ride you away from this conversation.
 
this is completely innovative! Such bravery, such wow.

I don't think they should have hidden it in the first place. If not for people complaining and thinking it was some wacky conspiracy theory, it would have remained hidden.
 
djoye said:
I don't even care for Apple but I want to believe that Apple chose to slow phones because they honestly thought that it was best for the user so that the phone could last throughout a day of use. When your selling point is that your devices are very user friendly, you put yourself in a predicament where you're stuck between limiting features to maintain simplicity and giving people discrete control over their devices. When people have discrete control over their devices, you end up in a situation where many people think your operating system is trash because they can't keep themselves from breaking it (Windows).

I'm not going to hold this against Apple, they sell secured (from both the user and external threats) devices that are supposed to be simple to use. To ask Apple to make their devices more configurable would open their devices to compromise and you certainly can't have your cake and eat it when it comes to computing devices.
Click to expand...

That's all fine and good, but they purposely choose to limit the battery they put in it to maintain a certain thinness/form factor. I'm sure many Apple users would be fine with a slightly larger phone if it meant a better battery.

Off topic: You have to try hard to break Windows, and really the issue isn't so much Windows, but the interoperability of so many different kinds of hardware with their own drivers, etc. Apple doesn't have that problem because they control the hardware. For what it is, Windows actually works pretty well other than recent releases being a data mining operation against the user.
 
The battery is too small for the phone. It's all about trying to make a thin and light phone, not a robust phone. Consumers are suckers for "sexy" phones. Look at battery life reviews and some of the uglier phones can go a very long time between charges, almost double that of an iPhone. Of course the reason is that they are thicker and have bigger batteries.

On the speed side, who cares if the speed is throttled. Didn't know you had to have a speedy processor for email, texts and Crackbook.
 
This is a classic case of "It's not about the crime, it's about the cover-up."

It is apparent at this point that the iPhone 6/s battery is too small and prone to defects. Apple should have fessed up and issued a product recall. Hiding their sins with software hacks was an awful idea. They should have realized they'd never get away with it...
 
lollerwaffle said:
Well, good thing you're here to enlighten us.

Here's something for you; these batteries lose capacity over time, mostly related to charging.
The iPhone either has to slow down or crash when there isn't enough capacity to satisfy the power requirements.
Were the battery to have a much higher capacity when new, the effect over time would be the same but it wouldn't happen as quickly.

I mean, if you have corrections to that theory, please do tell. Otherwise I'd make sure your high horse has plenty of battery left to ride you away from this conversation.
Click to expand...

I think you are misconstruing capacity as it relates to this issue when you need to look at cell voltage as well, along with the conditions the battery goes through as it ages. This is not a "Samsung is better" or "Apple is better" argument because it depends a lot on the environment the batteries are in and what material they used in the making of the batteries (no, not all Li-ion batteries are made in the exact same way with the exact same ingredients).

Higher total capacity doesn't guarantee that you won't have the same sudden shutdown issue. This is a cell voltage issue. Cell voltage drops too low = logic functions go borked (can't reliably cross that magical "on" voltage threshold anymore when under high current draw) and you get erratic behavior. I am oversimplifying; I hope you see the point.

3600 vs 2600 mAh doesn't automatically mean that the cell voltage level drops slower on the higher capacity one. Rated cycle count on the battery is a better indication of health since the battery degrades every time it goes through charge/discharge cycles, as things like a film slowly develops on the anode and the cathode oxidizes. Batteries also degrade naturally as they age even if they are never used. Also temperature over time plays a big part, as does how fast you charge/discharge them... so if your Samsung SoC sucks more current down versus an iPhone under use that will shorten its usable life.

Is the Samsung rated for a higher cycle count to 80% capacity? That's really the only way you can say something semi-definitive on this.

Boring things to look at:

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/bu_808b_what_causes_li_ion_to_die

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_define_battery_life

https://www.fs.isy.liu.se/Publications/MSc/16_EX_5015_OJ.pdf
 
Nukester said:
The battery is too small for the phone. It's all about trying to make a thin and light phone, not a robust phone. Consumers are suckers for "sexy" phones. Look at battery life reviews and some of the uglier phones can go a very long time between charges, almost double that of an iPhone. Of course the reason is that they are thicker and have bigger batteries.
Click to expand...

You have to look at the power draw from the SoC and display between all phones being compared versus their battery capacity. As an example - a low-res Android phone will draw half - quarter of the power for just the display versus a high-DPI Galaxy or iPhone as the backlight needs to be brighter. Also cheaper SoCs will most likely run at a lower frequency, with less cores and memory which also affects power draw.

My 8 Plus is at 60-65% at the end of every work day, even in a Faraday cage manufacturing plant with crappy reception to begin with ;).
 
hopefully turning it off wont send the phones back to the era of 50% battery life, then taking a picture with the flash which kills the battery and the phone until its recharged lol
 
So Apple throttling the CPU up to %50 percent all the time is ok???? Apple can't figure out dynamic voltage and throttling? Bullshit.
 
Brokennails said:
So Apple throttling the CPU up to %50 percent all the time is ok????
Click to expand...

On a brand new phone? Absolutely not. On a two year old or older phone with a battery that's been rode hard? Sure - it's better than the phone just randomly shutting off since the battery can't kick out enough voltage to keep everything powered up.
 
DocNo said:
On a brand new phone? Absolutely not. On a two year old or older phone with a battery that's been rode hard? Sure - it's better than the phone just randomly shutting off since the battery can't kick out enough voltage to keep everything powered up.
Click to expand...

Like I said. If they can not intelligently adjust voltage and clocks on the fly they are doing it wrong. I have used phones for multiple years and charged them daily.. Never had one reboot or crash on me for battery issues though. Then again, they were not Apple phones.
 
Brokennails said:
Like I said. If they can not intelligently adjust voltage and clocks on the fly they are doing it wrong. I have used phones for multiple years and charged them daily.. Never had one reboot or crash on me for battery issues though. Then again, they were not Apple phones.
Click to expand...

Thats because despite posts here, capacity and current output are not the same thing
 
People don’t give Apple and other companies / batteries enough credit.... you charge them at least once a day on average and probably top it off when using GPS etc. That’s at least 365 cycles already depending how flat you run it. Then the battery has to deal with heat, deep discharging and keeping it above 80% charge for too long. Lithium batteries hate all those things. That’s one of the reasons DJI drones and various power tools self discharge to 50% when they aren’t used for a few days to preserve the battery.

As already said, Mah capacity has no bearing on these shutdown issues it is caused by under performing cells due to age / abuse. It is the same as trying to run a PC with a underrated power supply.

You could put the biggest battery in the world in a phone, makes jack all difference if it’s worn out still.
 
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