It's a theory that many of us have harbored for a long time, and it turns out that it's true. If
like me, you're an avid user of
products (AKA a sheep), you will know that your
seems to slow down the moment a newer model comes out. For the majority of us who cannot afford the
, seeing as it's selling for over a grand, this characteristic of the older models is incredibly annoying.
However, while it was easy to believe that it was simply just you being a conspiracy theorist, and that the company wouldn't actually do something so cruel, it turns out that they would.
Apple has confirmed that older iPhones do slow down and have offered a fairly flimsy explanation for the reason why. According to the tech giant, older batteries may have a lower peak performance because the makers have limited how much an iPhone processor can draw.
Apple says that there is a perfectly good reason for this limited performance. The global tech firm has claimed that it has something to do with preventing the old phones from shutting down unexpectedly.
In a statement provided to Business Insider, Apple said:
"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices.
"Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.
"Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6S and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future."
To put that in more simple terms, if an iPhone battery tries to draw more power than it is physically able to do, it will shut down. Apple claims that by reducing the amount of power that battery can draw over time and slowing down the performance of the phone, they are preventing it
from failing abruptly. Essentially, Apple is slowly killing our phones.
The company were forced to issue the statement after GeekBench released a set of charts based on data that showed older iPhones weren't performing as quickly as they did when they were initially released.
Apple's honesty on the subject may be admirable, but in all honesty, it has left the majority of iPhone fans feeling pretty annoyed about the whole ordeal.
Marco Arment, a blogger and iPhone developer took to Twitter last night to convey his dismay at the statement.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/marcoarment/status/943574888106942464]]
"For years, we've reassured people that no, Apple doesn't secretly slow down their older iPhones to make them buy new ones," he said in a tweet on Wednesday.
[[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/marcoarment/status/943575253728538625]]
In a follow-up post, he added: "The reputation damage from secretly slowing down old iPhones, regardless of the reason, will likely linger for a decade."
To be honest, I don't buy the excuse that Apple is offering. Let's be real here, the reason they slow down older iPhones is simply so that we buy the new, expensive models.
