The iPhone battery controversy: let's clear things up

We have been for weeks with the controversy about how Apple slows down devices whose battery has degraded and already prevents their proper functioning. The Cupertino company has been involved in a spiral of news and statements that have made this "slowgate" one of the most important in recent years. Just over 24 hours ago, the company was forced to publish an open letter addressed to its clients clarifying the matter and providing a solution.

However, after the letter, a multitude of news has been published that far from clarifying things, they have bundled them even more, generating a series of expectations in users that are not expected to be fulfilled and end up causing new disappointments. In this article we want to help make things a little clearer than they are right now.

The battery problem and your iPhone

This all started because some users started posting on different internet forums how their old iPhones suddenly started working much better after a battery change. When you renew this component of your iPhone, what you expect is that it lasts more hours without having to charge it, but these users noticed something better still: the performance of their iPhone improved, they could even objectify it using performance tests that gave concrete figures.

After this, many benchmark results carried out with one of the best-known applications: Geekbench began to be published, and they confirmed that, in effect, when changing the battery of their devices the scores obtained were higher. In other words, it seemed clear that changing the battery improved the performance of your iPhone in addition to increasing the hours of use per day.

Apple's explanation

With all this data, the company had no alternative but to declare itself admitting that it slowed down devices with degraded batteries, with the sole objective of avoiding problems such as inopportune shutdowns or even possible damage to other components. This demonstration, which in the company we assume was thought to be well accepted by users, ended up turning against them with millions of angry customers to learn that Apple was intentionally slowing down their iPhone.

This bad explanation by the company was followed by numerous lawsuits around the world and very bad publicity for the famous "planned obsolescence." How many people will have changed their iPhone for another new model when a simple battery change would have been enough? Apple has also published a document in which he explains how batteries work, what degradation consists of and what is what they call a "power management function" which is what makes your iPhone go slower when the battery is no longer in good condition.

In cases where extreme forms of power management are needed, the user may notice effects such as the following:

• Longer app startup times
• Lower frame rates when scrolling
• Backlight dimming (redefined in Control Center)
• Lower speaker volume by up to 3 dB
• Gradual frame rate reductions in some apps
• During the most extreme cases, the camera flash will be disabled (it will appear as such in the camera interface)
• Apps that update in the background may need to be reloaded when they start

Many of the fundamentals will not be affected by this power management feature. These include the following:

• Mobile network call quality and network transfer rate performance
• Quality of photos and videos taken
• GPS performance
• Location accuracy
• Sensors like gyroscope, accelerometer, and barometer
• Apple Pay

Apple lowers the replacement of your battery

In the letter it has published in English, Apple talks about a reduction in the replacement of the battery of certain iPhone models in order to «end the concern of its users, thank their loyalty and regain the trust of those who may have doubted the company's intentions«. What exactly does it say?

Until December 2018, Apple will reduce the out-of-warranty battery replacement price worldwide by € 60, from € 89 to € 29, for all models of iPhone 6 or later. Details will be posted shortly at apple.com/uk.

In this short paragraph, however, there are many details that are worth highlighting. We already know the final price, and it is pleasantly surprising that Apple has applied the euro / dollar exchange in our favor for once, as it will cost € 29 ($ 29 in the US). This represents a reduction of € 60 compared to the original price (€ 89) while in the United States the reduction is $ 50, since the original price was $ 79.

But not only the price and important, also knowing which devices are included in this battery change program. Apple notes that only from iPhone 6 onwards, so iPhone 5 or 5s users will be left out of this offer. But it also makes it very clear that will be the devices "whose battery needs to be replaced". In other words, the user will not be deciding whether or not they can take advantage of the plan, it will be Apple that will pass the relevant tests on the battery to decide whether or not it needs to be replaced.

Here is another important point that Apple does not mention but that common sense and logic dictate: If your iPhone has an unofficial battery, you can forget about asking for the reduced change. Apple will not accept devices that have been tampered with in unofficial services, much less with unofficial components.

Will changing the battery improve my iPhone?

The answer is "Yes", but with many quotes. The first thing is that the battery of your iPhone must be really degraded for you to notice the improvement. If your battery is good and they change it, with a 99% probability you will continue with the same problems that you had, since their origin will not be that component. You will have to look for other software, application management or configuration problems on your device to find what is the fault that is causing it not to work as it should.

Remember that the problems with the "old and slow" iPhone have been with us for years, always appear after each major update of iOS, and it is the law of life. You cannot ask that an iPhone from 3 years ago works as well as a brand new one, it is the maxim of electronic devices whether we like it or not. And this year everything indicates that iOS 11 has accused more of this problem with old devices as it is designed for absolutely monstrous processors such as the A11 of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and X with its "Neural Engine" which the rest of the iPhone lack.