Apple apologizes for slowing down older iPhones and offers compensations

Apple officially apologized customers for throttling older iPhone models

If you are using an older iPhone, which is running the infamous iOS 10.2.1 update, you should either take advantage of the battery replacements discount or install the iOS 11.3 beta 2 and disable the power management feature that is to be blamed for the intentional slowdown of iPhones.

Those who haven't heard about the scandal^[1] that the tech giant Apple is involved since the end of last year will provide a summary of the events.

In January 2017, Apple released an iOS 10.2.1 beta, which initially reached iPhone 6, 6S, SE devices and month later iPhone 7 devices as well. The company hastened the release of the beta as a response to people's reports about unexpected shutdowns^[2] of older iPhone devices with lithium-ion batteries.

Unfortunately, but the update caused more harm than good by slowing down the updated iPhone models massively. The slowdown was not minor. For some people iPhone became almost unusable and, therefore, thousands of people were forced to switch to newer devices.

At the beginning of February 2018, more than a year later, Apple officially apologized^[3] its customers for all satisfactions they experienced and admitted that the iPhone iOS 10.2.1 update was, indeed, the culprit of a massive slowdown of the older devices with degraded batteries. Nevertheless, it rejects the accusations that slowdown was caused intentionally^[4] to increase sales. However, it seems now that Apple was aware of the possible update's consequences on the devices, but did not inform people about them explicitly. One of the Apple's spokespersons reported:

With the update, iOS dynamically manages the maximum performance of some system components when needed to prevent a shutdown. While these changes may go unnoticed, in some cases users may experience longer launch times for apps and other reductions in performance.

iPhone 6, 6S, SE, and 7 users can claim a discounted for battery replacement

If you are using iPhone 6, 6S, SE or 7, which was updated to the iOS 10.2.1 version, you should check your device if it's performance has been intentionally reduced. For this purpose, you can download Geekbench 4 or coconutBattery app for Mac from the official Mac Apps Store.

If it turns out that the fault of your iPhone's slowdown is at Apple's end, you can claim a discounted battery replacement. ^[5] To reduce people's anger, the company offered a “compensation” of less-expensive battery replacement. Apple cut the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29. The offer will be available through December 2018.To get the cheap battery replacement, you'll have to do the following:

• Acces the getsupport.apple.com and sign-in with your Apple ID. Select your iPhone device that you want to fix and click Battery, Power, and Charging.
• Select Battery questions and troubleshooting and set up an Apple store appointment by clicking on Bring in for repair option. Alternatively, you can select Send in for repair option, but the direct transfer straight to Apple's hands is safer and faster.
• Now click Continue to see the price of the new battery replacement.

Disable Power Management feature to fix intentional iPhone's slowdown

Early this week Apple's iOS 11.3 beta 2 reached iPhone users. With the handful of new features and improvement of old ones, Battery Health feature probably generated the most attention. This feature was a promise by Apple in response to the battery scandal. It allows the device's user to monitor the condition of the device's battery and disable the power management feature. However, beware that disabled power management feature increases the risk of unexpected shutdowns. This feature is disabled automatically upon installing the iOS 11.3, but can be enabled (automatically) in case the system shuts down unexpectedly again due to the battery failure.

The new feature provides three sections of information – Battery Health, Maximum Capacity, and Peak Performance Capability. When the device is running normally, its user should see “Your battery is currently supporting normal peak performance” notification under Peak Performance Capability. Under the same section, people whose devices contain degraded devices should get the following information:

Your battery's health is significantly degraded. An Apple Authorized Service Provider can replace the battery to restore full performance and capacity.

Next to the warning about a degraded battery, you should see a Disable button. Click it and follow the instructions to disable Power Management.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT trust your iPhone to third-party technicians. If anyone else than Apple will replace the battery, it will never be accepted by Apple services again.