Well, this isn’t good.
Following years of suspicion from critics, Apple may have admitted to secretly stifling the performance of older iPhones.
After years of anecdotal evidence that the company was purposely slowing performance to compel users to upgrade to the latest iPhone model, Apple admitted to the practice on Wednesday, offering the following comments as to the practice:
“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.”
As such, Apple has stated that it offered the performance slowdowns of iPhones since last year for altruistic reasons and to prevent older phones from shutting down unexpectedly.
The company has not disclosed the practice until now, following the release GeekBench performance charts demonstrating how older iPhones were not performing as quickly as they had when they launched.
In years past, critics have pointed out that older iPhones were capable of running new features. In the case of the iPhone 4, the handset could have run Siri, though this feature was reserved for the iPhone 4s and later, which replaced that model. Likewise, the camera in the iPhone 3G was capable of shooting video, but Apple didn’t turn that feature on and instead made video recording the signature capability of its next device, the iPhone 3GS.
As such, the company’s critics seem to have been proven right and there’s no telling what effect the backlash may have on the company, the market, and its stock price.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via Business Insider and Geekbench