Tell HN: Apple Is Still Throttling iPhones

4 points by new_here 3 years ago | 4 comments

Noticed my iPhone 12 mini was becoming annoyingly sluggish when searching, launching apps etc. Checked battery health and it was at 87%. Just received phone back from a battery replacement and device performance feels brand new.

The iPhone battery health screen (and the learn more page linked to from it) makes several mentions of how Apple's battery management system aims to reduce performance impact as the battery ages. See here: https://share.cleanshot.com/bp7PtvmZ

The way this reads it would lead you to think they are referring to processor performance but could they be referring to battery performance here?

My battery was at 87% and still displaying the Peak Performance Capability setting which clearly suggests my device should be operating at peak performance but after receiving a battery replacement it's clear the performance was being throttled.

Apple only recommends and offers a battery replacement to AppleCare+ customers when the battery capacity is below 80%.

How is this clearly misleading practice acceptable after the batterygate class action lawsuit? How many customers have been mislead to think their phone is old and slowing down when all it needs is a new battery? How many unnecessary new device purchases and extra electronic waste has this practice produced?

Whenever I've tried to search online to confirm the issue all that comes up are these useless articles and videos about little tricks and tips you can do to help here and there (clear your cache etc) but no mention that just replacing your battery solves the issue entirely.

Why is no one making a big fucking deal about this???

brucethemoose2 3 years ago |

On the other hand, its lightyers better than the Android OEMs who just ignored the issue, and didn't answer the phone when your phone started bootlooping because the CPU spike during boot was too intense, and whos charging depended on the phone booting, effectively bricking your phone...

No one was reporting this when Apple's batterygate was in full swing.

Yes I am still salty about this :/. It doesn't excuse Apple's planned obsolescense shenanigans, but they are not the bad guy on this particular issue.

ActorNightly 3 years ago |

>Why is no one making a big fucking deal about this???

Because you can just buy a new iPhone.

If you are money conscious in this regard, you shouldn't be buying apple products in the first place.

new_here 3 years ago | |

Am not money conscious in that regard. Own a full suite of Apple products and have no issue paying the premium for them.

The issue is with the intentional misleading of people to think their device is slowing down when they just need a battery replacement. At Apple’s scale it’s significant and dishonest towards its customers.

ActorNightly 3 years ago | | |

Let me explain it a different way.

When you buy a Porsche, you are not paying an inflated price because you are getting performance. You are paying an inflated price because of the economies surrounding the car - Porsche makes and sells a lower number of cars, so it needs to have a higher profit margin per car, however to justify that cost it needs something else, which is namely the badge (since nobody really uses the performance on those cars on a daily bases to get to work faster).

Fundamentally though, because people who buy these cars aren't buying them for robustness, Porsche sees no reason to invest in making things reliable, since that would cut into their profit margins, and since there aren't really significant complaints about reliability, they don't have issues, and in turn can sell parts at a premium because it is accepted that if you are rich enough to afford a Porsche, you are rich enough to pay a premium for upkeep.

Apple is exactly the same way with electronics. You get slightly more spec wise (if even TBH), and pay a inflated price because of the branding. And once you buy into the Apple ecosystem, you play by their rules, which means that you replace your device with a new one if you want to have the best performance.

Of course its not optimal, and for that reason people who are value-conscious don't buy Apple products or Porsche cars.