Apple’s new iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro phones include a new performance management system that will impact speed and quality of smartphone use over time, according to a new support document from the company.
Depending on the battery state and the tasks that your iPhone is handling, examples might include longer app launch times, lower frame rates, reduced wireless-data throughput, backlight dimming, or lower speaker volume.
To date there have been 32 class action lawsuits launched after “Batterygate” came to light in 2017. Apple had introduced a new power management system which throttled CPU performance for phones with older, weaker batteries.
Many iPhones – my wife’s being one of them – would mysteriously shut off with 30% or even 40% of battery supposedly remaining.
Kaiann Drance, Senior Director, Product Marketing, for the iPhone, talks about the new iPhone 11 ... [+]
The sudden shut-offs aside, it’s no shock that Apple tried to extend the useable time people could use older phones with degraded batteries. However, adding the battery management system secretly led customers to believe that Apple was attempting to force them to buy new phones.
Now, Apple is clearly stating that as iPhone 11 models age and their batteries degrade, a new onboard power management system will slow the phone down, reduce video quality, reduce sound output, and dim the display.
The new built-in software and hardware system is automatic, always-on, and works to provide the best possible performance as battery aging occurs over time.
I understand what Apple is trying to do here, but this might be the wrong approach.
A different approach would be to simply tell users that their batteries are at 75% or 60% of its original capacity, and then ask them how they would like to proceed. If iPhone owners want to burn battery and keep performance high, why not? And if they choose to conserve battery for a longer usable time frame with their phone, that’s OK as well.
After Batterygate, Apple was forced to offer cheap battery upgrades at $29.
Now, Apple is hoping to head that possibility off at the pass. The new system has software as well as hardware components – likely a reference to new features Apple has built to limit repeated charging overnight.
When people charge overnight, a phone generally charges to 100% capacity, then uses some battery power, and then gets full charged again. That cycle can repeat multiple times, and it’s hard on the battery. In the just-released iOS 13, however, Apple’s latest update to its mobile operating system, phones will charge to just 80%, and then charge just before they think you’re going to wake up.
You’ll wake up with 100% of battery available, but your phone won’t have over-charged by repeatedly recharging overnight.
The hardware features, however, are still a mystery.
