According to CNET reporting, Apple has released a statement this week
which verifies a long-held suspicion: Your older iPhone or iPad really
IS getting slower.
The statement was in response to an observation from Primate Labs.
Published in a blog post from its founder, Primate Labs' testing
showed that iPhone performance did not remain constant as the unit
ages, contrary to the public's expectations.
It's a Feature
Apple's response, reproduced here, was included in the CNET article:
"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes
overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion
batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in
cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which
can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its
electronic components.
Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to
smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device
from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended
that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other
products in the future."
I admit, I'm in that camp — I've wondered why, after the release of a
a newer model, my iPad suddenly seems like someone replaced its chip
with a Pentium 60. My suspicion has been that AT&T had been throttling
it's network performance. Happily, I've never had a problem with a unit
(iPhone or iPad) simply shutting itself off. Thanks to this article, if
that happens, I'll know one reason why.
Read the full article.