It’s nothing unusual that smartphones tend to become slower as they grow older.
This is, in fact, common in almost every life cycle of any device – or living thing for that matter. As you grow older, you tend to get weaker, but apparently, this is something that Apple wants so badly that it has a “feature” that literally slows down the performance of your iPhone as it ages.
Yes, you read that right. According to a new report put forward by Geekbench founder, Apple has a feature that intentionally slows down the performance of the iPhone so that it doesn’t turn out to be a disaster. This started with the iPhone 6, where some users of the phone reported issues with the battery life and constant shutdowns.
In an update that came with iOS 10, Apple introduced a “fix” for this issue, where the iPhone’s processor is under-clocked so that it draws less power, thus giving your device more life. While this is a good move, the negatives outweigh the positives. No one wants a slow phone on their books, which is why people choose to buy a new phone once they realize that the current one has become slower than it was when they purchased it.
As it is, Apple slows down your phone so that you buy the next one, unless you are okay with using the slow one. If this was otherwise, the company would have given prior notice to iPhone users, informing them about the induced slow performance. Some people have discovered that when they replace the battery unit on their aging phones, they resume normal performance, which further justifies the claims that Apple intentionally slows down your phone so that you can buy the next in line.
To put this into perspective, Google trends for the past several years can confirm that the term “slow iPhone” becomes so common in Google searches when a new iPhone is on the horizon or once it starts selling. This is in itself enough to confirm that people do suffer from this issue and in fact, it has probably been here for years and not just beginning with the iPhone 6.
While it’s not a bad thing to tweak the phone so that it gives you longer, albeit stable, performance, making it slower doesn’t in any way enhance the user experience. Besides, Apple is well aware that this issue has everything to do with the battery and that if replaced, the phone will resume optimal performance. But why should you spend less money on a battery replacement when you can fill their coffers with hundreds or even thousands of dollars for a new iPhone? Well, that’s Apple for you.
To make matters even worse, Cupertino makes iPhone so hard to replace batteries, at least by yourself. Of course, it’s possible to walk into an Apple Center and have the battery replaced, but this is a decision you’ll have to make on your own. Furthermore, not every country where Apple’s iPhones are sold have easy access to Apple Centers, which makes it even harder for anyone looking to replace their iPhone battery.
While you are suffering, Apple is enjoying it. They know that since you won’t welcome the idea of trying to locate a center for replacing your phone’s battery due to the hassle involved, you are more than likely to buy a new iPhone on the grounds that the current one has become slower. But only if you knew that a simple battery change will bring back the good old performance levels.