Smartphone experts have accused Apple of deliberately slowing down the speed of the iPhone which could dupe users into believing that they should upgrade to a newer model.
After testing the processor speeds of iPhone 6 and 7, the experts suspect Apple has put a brake on speed with a software update to mask poor battery performance.
“This fix will also cause users to think, ‘my phone is slow, so I should replace it’ not, ‘my phone is slow, so I should replace its battery’,” said John Poole of Primate Labs.
“This will likely feed into the ‘planned obsolescence’ narrative.”
So far, Apple has not commented on the remarks.
In November, Apple started a program to swap new-for-old iPhone 6S batteries after complaints that the phone would crash without warning when the battery discharged to around 40%.
Software update
The company then issued a software update to combat the issue.
However, Poole argues that the update slowed the phone to counter the problem.
“The difference between 10.2.0 and 10.2.1 is too abrupt to be just a function of battery condition,” he said. “I believe, as do others that Apple introduced a change to limit performance when battery condition decreases past a certain point.”
Many experts suspect the batteries are the real problem.
Smartphone batteries are designed to last for several hundred charge cycles, which manufacturers expect takes at least two years of continuous usage to reach.
Aging batteries must be charged more often and discharge quicker, which means performance degrades quicker as the battery gets older.
Users report replacing the battery on an iPhone 6S or iPhone 7 solves the problem and bench tests show a marked performance improvement.
From a galaxy far, far away
Meanwhile, images purporting to be the new Samsung Galaxy S9 in a snazzy new case have hit the web.
The pictures have sparked a debate as they appear to show the S9 with a single lens camera, while the S9 Plus has a larger handset with a dual lens camera.
Both have a fingerprint scanner and a wrap-round screen like the Galaxy S8 models. In fact, the new Galaxy S9 looks just like the older model at first glance.