For long it has been rumored that Apple intentionally slows the performance on older model phones.
It is usually said that the decrease in processing speed is seen after a new model release or operating system update release. Though its been presumed that this was done to force users to upgrade, new bench mark technology suggests that lower processing power exists on older model iphones. This is not the first time Apple has been accused of the practice either.
A new study has claimed however, that Apple intentionally throttles the performance of its smartphones when a battery gets too old. A consumer watchdog that evaluates electronic gadgets' performance found that processing power of older models is limited once battery life begins to suffer.
Experts from Toronto-based firm Geekbench found that on certain versions the Apple operating system, phones with older batteries achieved much lower performance scores. Battery capacity is expected to decrease as they age, but processor performance should stay the same. Users with older iPhones with lower-than-expected Geekbench scores have reported that replacing the battery increases their score, as well as the performance of the phone.
A number of iPhone 6 and 7 models running various versions of iOS and it was found that an update issued to fix a 'sudden shutdown' issue, when users found their iPhone 6 was turning off when its battery reached half charge, was to blame. This resulted in the poor performance results observed.
This trend has been seen every year since Apple released the iPhone 3G in 2008. Explanations for the slowness range from Apple's iOS causing problems on older devices to the firm deliberately slowing down old phones to make people buy the new handsets. This latter explanation is known as planned, or built-in, obsolescence.
This is the idea that manufacturer's deliberately make their products in such a way that they become out-of-date sooner. By doing this, the companies can encourage customers to buy the latest model of a certain product. This also stimulates demand for products because people return again and again. In 2014, a study by Harvard University PhD student Laura Trucco appeared to back up conspiracy theories that Apple deliberately slows down older models of its iPhones to encourage users to buy a new release. The study analysed worldwide searches for 'iPhone slow' and compared those results with similar searches for the term 'Samsung Galaxy slow'. Interestingly, it discovered the term was unaffected by new releases from Samsung, but this may be due to the fact Android updates aren't rolled out at the same time like iOS ones are.