Tag: speed

Replace iPhone Batteries For Free- US Senate Leader

The iPhone slowdown controversy surrounding Apple doesn’t appear to be fizzling out anytime soon. Ever since Apple came out and admitted to intentionally slowing down older iPhones, the consumers have been fuming over the decision. Even though Apple changed its battery replacement policies and brought charges down to US $29 (from US $79), the company has not yet won the trust back of the majority of its consumers.

The chairman of the US Senate’s commerce committee wants Apple to clear the air surrounding its once-secret slowdown of older iPhones. Senator John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, issued his request for more information in a letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Among other things, Thune wants to know if Apple made any effort to notify its customers that its recent software updates would make several types of iPhones released before 2017 slow down when their batteries weakened.

Thune also asked whether Apple considered replacing the batteries for free, instead of the current discounted charge of US $29. In the letter, he has also asked about Apple’s future plans of handling ageing batteries and whether performance throttling will continue in older iPhones.

To tackle battery ageing in a more efficient way, what Apple does for older iPhones is it caps the processor power to prolong the age of the battery. This is a is a lithium-ion chemistry issue, not an Apple or any other OEM issue. Over time, batteries just become bad. This is an attempt to make people’s phone work for longer with fewer issues, not to get them to switch away from it.

These changes will not affect the average performance of a device, and it is not throttling; it is capping the peak demands. In doing so, it is not allowing them to be as high and spreading that work out over more cycles rather than one.

January 11, 2018
Worried If Apple Has Slowed Down Your iPhone? Here’s How To Check
It is no longer a conspiracy theory doing the rounds on the internet. Apple has come forward and conceded that it does indeed make older iPhones run slower in order to prolong its battery life. While much can be said about the intentions and actions of Apple, it is fair to assume that if you have an old iPhone, you would’ve thought about the repercussions of these actions.

In a nutshell, what Apple is doing is occasionally restricting the processor of some old iPhones, specifically those that have batteries that can’t hold a proper charge. To tackle battery ageing in a more efficient way, what Apple is doing for older iPhones is it is capping the processor power to prolong the age of the battery. This is a is a lithium-ion chemistry issue, not an Apple or any other OEM issue. Over time, batteries just become bad. This is an attempt to make people’s phone work for longer with fewer issues, not to get them to switch away from it.

Here are a few steps you need to take to see if your phone has been a part of Apple’s intentions to prolong the life of the old iPhones.

Check the model of your iPhone

First and foremost, you need to confirm whether your phone is affected by this or not. The affected iPhones are the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, iPhone SE, and the iPhone 7.

What software is your phone running

Apple introduced its software fix with iOS 10.2.1 for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6S, and iPhone SE. It introduced it with iOS 11.2 for the iPhone 7. You can check your current software build by going to Settings>General>About and look under Version.

Inspect the battery health of your iPhone

This is the main issue. The main reason Apple is capping the CPU power is to prolong the battery life of older iPhones. It is a known fact that after around a thousand charges, lithium-ion batteries stop performing properly, and cannot retain more than 50-60% of the original charge.

Download apps like Battery Life and do an inspection of the battery of your iPhone. Even though Apple hasn’t specified the parameters to judge your battery, but battery life rated as “Poor” or worse is likely to be a problem.

Do a Benchmark Test

The whole thing broke out when John Poole did some benchmark testing of his own and posted the results online. Geekbench scores for new iPhones are as follows:
- iPhone 6S: 2500
- iPhone 7: 3500
Anything below that (greater than a 500-point difference) means that there is a problem.

If the tests show that your iPhone has been affected, then the onus is on you to either replace the battery, buy a new phone or ride out the slow iPhone storm for as long as you can and then invest in a new phone.
December 23, 2017
Apple Sued For Deliberately Slowing Down Older iPhones

Days after addressing the millions of conspiracy theories on the internet about the mysterious slowing down of older iPhones, Apple has been sued for it. Filed by Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, the suit claims that Apple’s deliberate effort to throttle CPU performance on the iPhone amounts to “breach of contract.” It also notes that Apple’s behaviour lowers the resale value of existing iPhones and underhandedly coerces iPhone owners to upgrade to newer models.

For years, iPhone users claimed to notice a discernible system slowdown with some iOS updates. However, the issue came in the spotlight thanks to a widely circulated Reddit thread backed. Following that, Geekbench founder John Poole did some performance testing on various iPhones running different versions of iOS. Poole found that Apple does, in fact, limit performance on older iPhone models with lower-capacity batteries in the interest of battery life and preventing unexpected shutdowns.

After the hue and cry on social media, Apple decided to address the issue and put out a statement:

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.

It is fair to say that while Apple has a noble reason behind the decision, the company should’ve been up-front about it from the beginning. Waiting for an outcry to come clean makes it look like a PR decision more than anything else. No other details about the lawsuit have been revealed yet.

December 22, 2017
Here’s Why Apple Slows Down Older iPhones

Ever since the iPhone 8 and iPhone X was launched, there have been multiple reports from previous gen iPhone users of their devices slowing down considerably. Theories about how Apple deliberately slows down older iPhones to practically force people into buying the new ones have been doing the rounds ever since.

Ever since a Reddit post gained attention and the interpretation of subsequent benchmark tests posted by Primate Labs’ John Poole went even more viral, people have been taking shots at Apple for throttling the speeds of older iPhones.

iPhone 5c Was Launched In 2013

To actually believe that Apple or for that matter any company would do something so ethically wrong would be unfair. If Apple were to do this, it would likely lead to incredible battles with the governmental that no company like Apple would ever want to happen. In fact, Apple is focusing attention on smoothing out the very high and quick peaks of power draw that can cause problems with older batteries.

To address the issue and the theories flying around the internet, Apple issued a statement to TechCrunch:

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.

In short, what Poole’s benchmarks are showing is the result of a power curve-smoothing algorithm that Apple rolled out last year to mitigate iPhone shutdown issues.

To tackle battery ageing in a more efficient way, what Apple is doing for older iPhones is it is capping the processor power to prolong the age of the battery. This is a is a lithium-ion chemistry issue, not an Apple or any other OEM issue. Over time, batteries just become bad. This is an attempt to make people’s phone work for longer with fewer issues, not to get them to switch away from it.

These changes will not affect the average performance of a device, and it is not throttling; it is capping the peak demands. In doing so, it is not allowing them to be as high and spreading that work out over more cycles rather than one.

December 21, 2017
Top 10 Countries With the World’s Fastest Internet

The internet is an absolute necessity for our generation. Everything we do, today, is connected to the Internet somehow or the other. For most of us, it is impossible to go through the day without scrolling through our Facebook feed or YouTube. With only a keyboard and mouse, we can access limitless amount of information.

But, with a slow Internet speed, there is nothing more irritating than waiting for a page to load. For the people living in the countries listed below, we’re guessing that they never have to use the word “buffer”.

Let us look at some countries with the fastest Internet connections:

#10 Finland

This year, Finland had a tremendous growth with a 33% increase in its Internet speed. Undoubtedly, one of the wealthiest countries of Europe, Finland also boasts a high quality of life and education.

Average Internet Speed: 12.1 Mbps

#9 Czech Republic

One of the developing countries in Europe, many people would argue that Czech Republic isn’t quite there yet. It’s simply not true. Czech Republic is one of the fastest growing European countries in the terms of economy. Just like its growth rate, the Internet facilities have developed by leaps in the past few years.

Average Internet Speed: 12.3 Mbps

#8 Ireland

Ireland has one of the fastest growing technology sectors in Europe. It has seen a growth of 24% in the last year.

Average Internet Speed: 12.3 Mbps

#7 Latvia

Latvia is perhaps the only country in this list, that many would never have heard of. This region has a rather dark past since was under, both, Nazi Germany, and the Soviet Union rule. But, it has been showing spectacular growth in all sectors. In the terms of Internet speed, Latvia has taken most of the countries by surprise. Internet speeds have grown 25% over the last year.

Average Internet Speed: 13 Mbps

#6 Netherlands

Netherlands is listed with Switzerland in holding the most broadband subscriptions per 100 subscriptions, has no bandwidth caps, and has the most homes passed in Europe in terms of connection speeds of 50 Mbps and higher. Government-mandated Internet censorship is non-existent due to the House of Representatives speaking out against filtering.

Average Internet Speed: 14.2 Mbps

#5 Switzerland

Switzerland, along with its beautiful landscapes, is also known for having one of the fastest Internet connections in the world. This country also boasts one of the highest number of Internet users in the world, with 85.2% of the population accessing the Internet every day.

Average Internet Speed: 14.5 Mbps

#4 Sweden

Moving up slowly, the Nordic nation of Sweden is also among the countries offering the highest internet speed. Sweden has best Internet speed in the whole of Europe, showing most year-over-year growth with 34 percent growth, 1 percent greater than next-door-neighbor, Finland. European countries surely have all the fun!

Average Internet Speed: 14.6 Mbps

#3 Japan

Known to the world as one of the leading digital giants, with companies like Sony, Toshiba, Nintendo, etc., fast Internet connections come naturally to this country. It maintains a reliable Internet speed that hardly seems to dwindle.

Average Internet Speed: 15.2Mbps

#2 Hong Kong

Another Asian country on the list, Hong Kong is first and only country that broke the 60 Mbps barrier back in 2013. This is due to advances in FTTH (Fiber To The Home) infrastructure and aggressive high-speed pricing, which now seems to be paying off.

Average Internet Speed: 16.8 Mbps

#1 South Korea

South Korea is the undisputed champion when it comes to Internet speed. The Internet connection here is so fast that the country is about to unveil its 10Gbps Internet service soon. The Internet has a higher standing for many Koreans than it does in the West, and the government actively encourages this. South Korea’s speed is roughly six times faster than the world average of 3.8 Mbps.

Average Speed: 22.2 Mbps

And the State Back Home..

Sadly, India comes in at number 52nd rank according to AkamaiTechnology in 2014 listing with an average speed of 2Mbps. But as a country, we are progressing at a great speed in the terms of economy and technology. With new businesses sprouting each day, the need for a connected economy has increased considerably. It’s time India should get high speed unlimited data plans.

Read more about it here.

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June 23, 2015