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Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? Leaving Google for Apple, and e

Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? Leaving Google for Apple, and expecting a more open app store, is going to be disappointing. I’m not a Google fanboy by any means, just pointing out the landscape out there

nicce 1y ago
> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery It wasn’t guise, it actually increased the battery life quite much. People complained about the battery of old phones. The problem was that users did not have choice to opt-out.
- makeitdouble 1y ago
  There was the opt-out part, but also the complete silence around the issue that comforted people into thinking they needed new phones every 2 years instead of just replacing the battery. Apple wouldn't have had to do all the song and dance if from the start a popup warned the users their battery lost capacity and should be serviced.
  - platevoltage 1y ago
    Yeah, the feature itself wasn't bad, it was the implementation that was.
zaphirplane 1y ago
> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? That’s not a true story.
GeekyBear 1y ago
> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? Nope. There was an issue in iPhones and Nexus phones that had been used for a few years where a worn battery could no longer maintain a voltage high enough to meet instantaneous SOC power demand, resulting in unexpected device shut downs. Apple got the device to quit shutting off without warning by throttling older devices and Google did nothing and just told users to buy a new device. They both got sued, and both lost. > If you currently or formerly owned a Google Nexus 6P smartphone, we have some good news: you might be eligible for a cash rebate for those bootloops and spontaneous shutdowns the device was known for. https://www.androidauthority.com/nexus-6p-lawsuit-2019-975474/ https://www.androidauthority.com/nexus-6p-lawsuit-2019-97547...
- ascagnel_ 1y ago
  It's not a bug or issue with those phones, it's how batteries behave -- over time, they lose both their capacity and the power they output. Apple decided to throttle their phones via software instead of letting them crash. I've said this before, but it was the right idea executed the wrong way. iPhones give you a warning when they overheat, and this throttling should have gotten a similar warning with a link to an FAQ explaining the battery dynamics.
tgsovlerkhgsel 1y ago
Apple throttled devices that had a weak battery, because the alternative is the CPU trying to draw more power than the battery can deliver, the voltage sagging, and the phone rebooting. By itself, this throttling is a good thing and keeps phones usable for longer, because a phone that is slow is better than a phone that randomly reboots. The problematic part was that they a) didn't disclose it, and b) did this for phones within the warranty period, so instead of the phone visibly crashing and you returning the obviously broken phone, it just lost performance which you might not have noticed in time to get a free replacement.
- james2doyle 1y ago
  Understood. Poor wording on my part!
- asdff 1y ago
  Funny how no one really complained about the random reboots but everyone noticed throttling and assumed their phone was "too old" and they needed to buy a new one. Interesting how this move greatly benefited apples bottom line versus improving actual quality of life for the user considering a reboot is 30 seconds perhaps and a slow phone is slow for every second you use it.
  - GeekyBear 1y ago
    > Funny how no one really complained about the random reboots People definitely complained about the random reboots, especially on the Nexus 6P, since that phone wouldn't boot again until after it was connected a charger plugged into a power outlet. Heaven forbid you had a medical emergency away from a power outlet with a phone that unreliable.
    - asdff 1y ago
      Well we are talking about iphones not the nexus 6p
      - 1y ago
Manuel_D 1y ago
No, the batteries had degraded to the point that they could not supply enough voltage and current to stably run the chip at full frequency. Replacing the battery would restore full performance.
to11mtm 1y ago
> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? It's not about 'saving battery' its about preventing undervoltage that janks everything up. Having dealt with more than one windows phone that didn't have this feature or had it in a bad way (i.e. 520/521 would just 'reboot', 640 and 950XL would just kill an app) I wish Microsoft would have figured that crap out lol.
kelnos 1y ago
No one is expecting Apple to be more open. It's just that the reasons for choosing Android over iOS have been slowly chipped away over time, and soon enough there won't be a big reason to choose one over the other.

nicce 1y ago

> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery It wasn’t guise, it actually increased the battery life quite much. People complained about the battery of old phones. The problem was that users did not have choice to opt-out.

makeitdouble 1y ago
There was the opt-out part, but also the complete silence around the issue that comforted people into thinking they needed new phones every 2 years instead of just replacing the battery. Apple wouldn't have had to do all the song and dance if from the start a popup warned the users their battery lost capacity and should be serviced.
- platevoltage 1y ago
  Yeah, the feature itself wasn't bad, it was the implementation that was.

zaphirplane 1y ago

> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? That’s not a true story.

GeekyBear 1y ago

> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? Nope. There was an issue in iPhones and Nexus phones that had been used for a few years where a worn battery could no longer maintain a voltage high enough to meet instantaneous SOC power demand, resulting in unexpected device shut downs. Apple got the device to quit shutting off without warning by throttling older devices and Google did nothing and just told users to buy a new device. They both got sued, and both lost. > If you currently or formerly owned a Google Nexus 6P smartphone, we have some good news: you might be eligible for a cash rebate for those bootloops and spontaneous shutdowns the device was known for. https://www.androidauthority.com/nexus-6p-lawsuit-2019-975474/ https://www.androidauthority.com/nexus-6p-lawsuit-2019-97547...

ascagnel_ 1y ago
It's not a bug or issue with those phones, it's how batteries behave -- over time, they lose both their capacity and the power they output. Apple decided to throttle their phones via software instead of letting them crash. I've said this before, but it was the right idea executed the wrong way. iPhones give you a warning when they overheat, and this throttling should have gotten a similar warning with a link to an FAQ explaining the battery dynamics.

tgsovlerkhgsel 1y ago

Apple throttled devices that had a weak battery, because the alternative is the CPU trying to draw more power than the battery can deliver, the voltage sagging, and the phone rebooting. By itself, this throttling is a good thing and keeps phones usable for longer, because a phone that is slow is better than a phone that randomly reboots. The problematic part was that they a) didn't disclose it, and b) did this for phones within the warranty period, so instead of the phone visibly crashing and you returning the obviously broken phone, it just lost performance which you might not have noticed in time to get a free replacement.

james2doyle 1y ago
Understood. Poor wording on my part!
asdff 1y ago
Funny how no one really complained about the random reboots but everyone noticed throttling and assumed their phone was "too old" and they needed to buy a new one. Interesting how this move greatly benefited apples bottom line versus improving actual quality of life for the user considering a reboot is 30 seconds perhaps and a slow phone is slow for every second you use it.
- GeekyBear 1y ago
  > Funny how no one really complained about the random reboots People definitely complained about the random reboots, especially on the Nexus 6P, since that phone wouldn't boot again until after it was connected a charger plugged into a power outlet. Heaven forbid you had a medical emergency away from a power outlet with a phone that unreliable.
  - asdff 1y ago
    Well we are talking about iphones not the nexus 6p
    - 1y ago

Manuel_D 1y ago

No, the batteries had degraded to the point that they could not supply enough voltage and current to stably run the chip at full frequency. Replacing the battery would restore full performance.

to11mtm 1y ago

> Wasn’t Apple the one actually caught throttling devices with an update to slow phones down under the guise of "saving battery"? It's not about 'saving battery' its about preventing undervoltage that janks everything up. Having dealt with more than one windows phone that didn't have this feature or had it in a bad way (i.e. 520/521 would just 'reboot', 640 and 950XL would just kill an app) I wish Microsoft would have figured that crap out lol.

kelnos 1y ago

No one is expecting Apple to be more open. It's just that the reasons for choosing Android over iOS have been slowly chipped away over time, and soon enough there won't be a big reason to choose one over the other.