Earlier this year, my mom needed a new phone. Her iPhone 6 started running slowly, and the battery drained quickly.
Instead of purchasing a new phone — she couldn't decide which to get — she had a new battery installed to buy herself some time. I thought she was crazy to not just get a new iPhone. Turns out, she was on to something.
On Dec. 20, Apple admitted its iOS software slows down the performance of older iPhones. The company says iOS does this to counteract problems found in aging lithium-ion batteries. When a battery gets older, it doesn't hold a charge as well and can unexpectedly shut down if it's put under too much stress. Apple's software prevents that from happening by slowing performance.
What you get is a trade-off. Your apple replacement parts isn't as snappy as it used to be, but it also doesn't turn itself off when the battery says it's far from drained.
Apple's admission caused some outrage online and raised a lot of questions. People have long believed the company hinders older devices to get customers to buy new models (something Apple has denied), and the criticism got fierce over Apple's lack of transparency around its battery policies.
On Dec. 28, Apple apologized formally and said it would offer a low-cost battery replacement, $29 instead of the usual $79. Two days later, Apple said customers could purchase the newly discounted battery immediately, rather than having to wait until January.
Keep reading to find out how all this started and what it means for iPhone owners.
Why did this news come out?
On Dec. 18, Primate Labs, the company behind the Geekbench processor benchmarking software, released a report that examined a common complaint from users: iPhones seem to run more slowly when a new model hits the market.
John Poole, founder of Primate Labs, said in a blog post that processors in iPhones slow down and decrease in performance as batteries age and lose capacity. Poole explained that users expect their phones to perform the same regardless of how old the battery is, but his tests indicated that wasn't the case.
What did Apple initially say about this?
Apple said in a statement Dec. 20, after the Primate Labs report caught widespread attention:
"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."
What is Apple's latest statement?
On Dec. 28, Apple published a letter on its website that apologized to consumers and sought to explain its actions. It said, in part: "We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize." It said that it has never done anything to shorten the life of Apple products. "Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that."
It added: "At Apple, our customers' trust means everything to us. We will never stop working to earn and maintain it. We are able to do the work we love only because of your faith and support — and we will never forget that or take it for granted."
Along with the apology letter, Apple also published a new informative site with details about how its battery and slowdown software works.
Why does Apple use lithium-ion batteries?
Lithium-ion batteries are far from perfect. (Just look at Samsung and its Note 7 issues from 2016.) They're volatile, they deteriorate relatively quickly, and they haven't changed that much over the years. A few years ago, an advanced battery startup in California, Envia Systems, did some research and found that it took more than a decade, from 1995 to 2007, to double the energy stored in a battery — and since then the rise in stored energy hasn't even managed to hit 30 percent.
Still, lithium-ion batteries are better than the current tech alternatives. They weigh less, last longer and charge more efficiently than older battery types, according to Apple's battery information guide. The lithium-ion batteries used in Apple's devices are designed to hold at least 80 percent of their original capacity for 500 complete charge cycles.
For more about batteries, check out this article from CNET Magazine.
What happens to iPhone batteries when they get older?
As batteries age, they don't hold their charges as well as newer batteries, and they can have worse problems when the charge is low or the temperature is cold. Your battery won't charge above 80 percent after about 500 cycles, which means it won't last as long each time you charge it.
If your battery is old or really cold, it could unexpectedly shut down, as happened to the iPhone 6 and 6S last year. The processors in those devices wanted to hit faster speeds (something Apple calls "peak current demands") but their batteries couldn't handle the surge from the requests, prompting some etrade supply to simply switch themselves off.
Is this the first time Apple has tweaked its software to boost battery life?
Nope. Apple has long focused on power management to make sure you get as much life as possible from your devices.
The company introduced "Low Power Mode" with 2015's iOS 9 to make your iPhone battery last longer. When your battery level hits 20 percent and then 10 percent, you get a notification that lets you turn on Low Power Mode with a quick tap. It reduces the screen's brightness, minimizes system animations and limits what runs in the background on the phone. When your device reaches a higher charge level, Low Power Mode automatically turns itself off.