O: Apple admits deliberately slowing phones and devices

[Tickdoc]

I knew it. You can try to explain it from an engineering standpoint, but you cannot explain why every fall when a new device is introduced why your old device suddenly slows down.

sumbitches.

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-slow...ttery-issues/#

[Cicli]

I need a new iPhone. Just because.

[fa63]

My iPhone 5s is still going strong. The battery life sucks, but haven’t noticed it slow down.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Tickdoc

I knew it. You can try to explain it from an engineering standpoint, but you cannot explain why every fall when a new device is introduced why your old device suddenly slows down.

sumbitches.

https://www.cnet.com/news/apple-slow...ttery-issues/#

I'm sure the same is true for every 'smart' phone..just Apple says so..
At least they don't explode.

[dgauthier]

My iPhone 4S (purchased in January 2012!) is still going strong. End-of-day battery life is still around 40-60%. Still on iOS 7. Works better than my wife's 6S running iOS 10. Steve Jobs is dead.

[CunegoFan]

Originally Posted by Tickdoc

I knew it. You can try to explain it from an engineering standpoint, but you cannot explain why every fall when a new device is introduced why your old device suddenly slows down.

That tinfoil hat is on a bit too tight.

[verticaldoug]

My daughter was complaining about how slow her old Iphone was, and we upgraded to a 8s. I guess I will join the next class action suit which probably is announced later today.

[schwa86]

My 6 was slowing down, battery crashing rapidly at end of day. 20 minutes and $45 later at the iPhone repair guy guy down the street for a battery swap, and all is well again.

[happycampyer]

My wife and daughter were having the same problem, which is why I didn't update my phone to the latest operating system (which seems to trigger the problem, or make it worse if it already exists). It does seem suspicious in a VW sort of way.

[Mikej]

That’s total cr@p they do that - I have a 6se and it’s new from April 17 and it is slowing down- I can’t believe the battery is going bad already-“apple claims it’s for the best experience possible “ total horse $h@t

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by dgauthier

Steve Jobs is dead.

This is true. The software updates mostly don't improve the user experience. They make it more complex.

I'm a big podcast guy and the podcast format that was included a few updates ago stinks.

And no this isn't a conspiracy with tin foil hats. It's easily documented and Apple even admits they are doing it. I think their excuse is total and complete BS.

My 5S is old and I'll be the first to admit it but it should be my choice to upgrade to a new model, not something forced upon me because Apple thinks it's time.

This is worse than planned obsolescence.

How would (will?) owners react if Tesla decides it's time for the owners to get a new car so they reduce functionality via a software update? That's exactly what Apple is doing.

[benb]

Definitely a balance... would you rather your phone slows down somewhat and lasts all day or would you rather it's dead at 11AM in the morning because it's been burning away with the CPU clocked up to its maximum clock setting?

Androids all try to manage this dynamically too...

And it also helps avoid battery damage that can cause fires.

I had a battery failure on a macbook pro at work a couple months ago.. it didn't burst & burn but it was well on it's way and was pretty scary.. it bent the metal case of the laptop like it was a tin can.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by benb

Definitely a balance... would you rather your phone slows down somewhat and lasts all day or would you rather it's dead at 11AM in the morning because it's been burning away with the CPU clocked up to its maximum clock setting?

Androids all try to manage this dynamically too...

And it also helps avoid battery damage that can cause fires.

I had a battery failure on a macbook pro at work a couple months ago.. it didn't burst & burn but it was well on it's way and was pretty scary.. it bent the metal case of the laptop like it was a tin can.

Good point.

Not everything can be explained away by the Conspiracy Theory.

[saab2000]

Originally Posted by benb

Definitely a balance... would you rather your phone slows down somewhat and lasts all day or would you rather it's dead at 11AM in the morning because it's been burning away with the CPU clocked up to its maximum clock setting?

Androids all try to manage this dynamically too...

And it also helps avoid battery damage that can cause fires.

I had a battery failure on a macbook pro at work a couple months ago.. it didn't burst & burn but it was well on it's way and was pretty scary.. it bent the metal case of the laptop like it was a tin can.

I would most like my iPhone 5S to work as close as realistically possible to the way it worked when it was new. I completely understand that battery life will change and degrade over time. But I would like the software updates be specific to each model and if that means I don't get the latest and greatest on the newest models I'm 100% OK with that.

Frankly, if all they ever did were incremental security updates that would be fine.

Rant over. This is not a gigantic deal and I need a new phone soon anyway. I'm an Apple guy but I do agree that Steve Jobs' mantra of defining the products by the end user experience has been discarded. Now they seem to be trying to stay even with their competition through gimmickry rather than defining the market.

[MattTuck]

Originally Posted by benb

Definitely a balance... would you rather your phone slows down somewhat and lasts all day or would you rather it's dead at 11AM in the morning because it's been burning away with the CPU clocked up to its maximum clock setting?

Androids all try to manage this dynamically too...

And it also helps avoid battery damage that can cause fires.

I had a battery failure on a macbook pro at work a couple months ago.. it didn't burst & burn but it was well on it's way and was pretty scary.. it bent the metal case of the laptop like it was a tin can.

ben, your probably know more about this than most. But there seems to have been a shift over time. Early on in the time of computers, storage and processing power was very limited, so there was a real push to have efficient and economic programs that did not utilize system resources unnecessarily. As processing power and storage became cheaper, those pressures were largely alleviated and developers emphasized economic programming less.

Now, with smart phones and batteries, it appears the focus on efficiency should return. I remember reading an article a while ago talking about how apps (the article was focused on facebook's app) keep getting more bloated, and requiring more cached storage and processing power. Why do some updates for seemingly simple apps take up megabytes of space?

Anyway, there is a generation of programmers who could write inefficient code without any consequences. I'm not sure if new developers have efficiency and small footprint as points of emphasis in their education.