Apple has come under fire in recent years for intentionally slowing down older iPhones, so when this video I’m going to explain why they do it now. It all begins with their lithium-ion batteries that run into several user experience problems as they age. As I mentioned in my last video, recharging these batteries over and over caused their capacity to slowly degrade over time, leading to an older iPhone having less capacity than on the day it was unboxed.
Battery life, also performance issues when your iPhone performs a task, its processor uses computational power to complete it. The more intense a task, the more power it uses, and all of the processor’s energy are drawn from the battery. But a problem arises when the iPhone ages. Not only does this lithium-ion battery become less efficient, but its older processor has to complete more intense tasks thanks to more advanced iOS features built for the latest high power. iPhone models and that’s the problem. Your older iPhone has to perform more energy-intensive tasks year after year, all, while it’s the battery, is becoming less efficient. This trend eventually reaches a critical point.
Typically when a battery falls below 80% efficiency, it can cause an iPhone to shut down unexpectedly, which is triggered by the processor pulling more energy than its battery can provide. This issue exists on most devices with rechargeable batteries and every manufacturer. Has to decide how they’ll deal with it. Some simply allow the unexpected shutdowns to occur while others like Apple implement software solutions to prevent them from happening.
When it comes to older iPhones running iOS 10.2 or later, it’ll begin slowing down performance once its battery efficiency falls to 80%. That way the processor won’t run the risk of pulling too much energy from the degrading battery, preventing a shutdown. Now, since Apple admitted to slowing down older iPhones. In 2017, they added a switch in battery health settings to allow for peak performance mode. This gives users the choice to ignore battery health and allows the processor to operate at full power, even if that means triggering an unexpected shutdown. Now some people watching this video might argue Apple slowed down older iPhones to force users to upgrade, but consider the alternative a device that randomly shuts down is hardly reliable and might even contribute to more people upgrading. Compared to one that performs a bit slower but can still be used. Also replacing an older iPhones battery solves this performance problem, which provides an affordable solution that doesn’t require purchasing a completely new device.
