Apple just can not stop limiting iPhones



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Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo)

You can now download and install iOS 12.1. This means that you can finally use Group FaceTime (LOL), access more than 70 new emoji and get rid of the embarrassing image blur that caused Beautygate. If you own an iPhone 8 or iPhone X, it also means that your processor will be strangled by battery degradation to avoid unexpected shutdowns. It does not matter if it does not seem to be an interesting feature. It's actually very controversial!

As a result, the details of the CPU limitation may be somewhat buried in the release notes for iOS 12.1. At the bottom of a long list and under the heading "Other improvements and corrections", the document reads as follows:

Adds a performance management feature to prevent the device from shutting down unexpectedly, including the ability to disable this feature if an unexpected shutdown occurs, for iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus.

The iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR are not mentioned. And again, Apple says the feature can be turned off if an unexpected shutdown occurs. When updating, we did not find any options in the Battery menu to disable the feature in advance. Therefore, the manner in which this deactivation will occur will be specified.

Although this is a new feature on iPhone X and iPhone 8 devices, battery-related processor control has long been available on older iPhones. It was also the subject of a lively public debate for almost a year. The company says its goal is to provide the best possible experience for customers. Some customers do not agree on this approach, which is understandable because Apple has made their iPhones slower and did not bother to talk to them. However, battery degradation is inevitable and, without any intervention, it is very likely that iPhones would become unusable sooner than they already are, if Apple did not apply any solution to manage the consumption of used battery energy.

Before moving on to the next step, let's look at what has happened so far in the scandal of bottlenecks. At some point – and without informing its customers – Apple has begun to limit the power consumption of the processors of older phones to prevent them from extinguishing spontaneously and extend the life of the battery. But after many users of Reddit and leading app manufacturer, Primate Labs, realized what was happening, Apple faced real indignation, not just from its customers. who thought that Apple was not properly informing consumers about its products. The Italian antitrust organization fined the company $ 5.7 million and at least two groups filed a class action suit. Senator John Thune also asked for answers on how Apple would solve this problem. Somewhere in the middle of all this, Apple has reduced the price of battery replacement from $ 79 to $ 29. In theory, a new battery would put an end to the limitation.

The problem is that Apple has never stopped braking older phones processors with degrading batteries. He just got caught doing it, then released an update for iOS that gave people more information on the status of their battery. Apple also responded to Senator Thune by detailing these software updates and claiming that "the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X models include hardware upgrades that allow for a more advanced performance management system that allows specifically to iOS to anticipate and avoid an unexpected shutdown. Apple did not say explicitly that the new devices would not be strangled.

Until now, the throttling scandal has been reduced to two things. First, Apple has strangled users' phones in the name of better battery performance. Secondly, the company did not bother to talk to its customers, and these people and some government agencies became upset about the lack of transparency. You could argue that Apple solved the transparency complaint by apologizing last year and making battery replacements cheaper. You could argue that this solved the limitation problem by including hardware updates in the new iPhones, so that they do not need to be limited. Except now, Apple is also restricting new devices.

If it's not a little confusing, the latest update of the scandal is proof that Apple can not just stop slowing processors in devices with used batteries. The batteries will inevitably fail and Apple wants his iPhones to remain functional as long as possible. And although the release notes do not mention the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR, we can only assume that Apple will introduce the function of limiting these phones in a few months or a year. Or maybe the new devices also have hardware updates that might make the limitation unnecessary. We do not know for sure, because the company did not really explain what was happening.

We asked Apple to explain in more detail why the iPhone X, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus are now limited. We also asked about the fate of the iPhone XS, the iPhone XS Max and the iPhone XR. We will update this post if we receive an answer. In the meantime, if these restrictions really bother you, consider not upgrading to iOS version 12.1 for now. All things considered, if you have a newer phone, you probably have a pretty good battery, and the limitation will not affect you for a while. Once you have updated iOS, you are stuck with it.

Again, consider taking care of it. Apple's decision to choke the processors seems bad, especially when the company kept the secret. This may be the only choice of the company. Do you prefer a slow phone or a dead phone?

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