Tim Cook promises Apple will soon let you disable feature that slows down older iPhones | HT Tech

Tim Cook promises Apple will soon let you disable feature that slows down older iPhones

Apple last month admitted that it was slowing down older iPhones as the batteries wear out.

By: HT CORRESPONDENT
| Updated on: Jan 18 2018, 15:45 IST
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during his visit to Reno, Nev., for a ceremony celebrating a new Apple warehouse on Jan.17, 2018.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during his visit to Reno, Nev., for a ceremony celebrating a new Apple warehouse on Jan.17, 2018. (AP)
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during his visit to Reno, Nev., for a ceremony celebrating a new Apple warehouse on Jan.17, 2018.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during his visit to Reno, Nev., for a ceremony celebrating a new Apple warehouse on Jan.17, 2018. (AP)

A future iOS update will allow users to disable power management feature that throttled the performance of older iPhones.

Apple CEO Tim Cook in an interview with ABC News said that the company will also alert users when their iOS is starting to slow down their iPhones.

"We will tell somebody we're slightly reducing, or reducing, your performance by some amount in order to not have an unexpected restart. If you don't want it, you can turn it off," he said.

Apple has already promised to provide more insight into battery life of the iPhones in future iOS updates.

Heart of the matter

Late last December, Apple shocked the world with its admission that it was indeed slowing down some of the older iPhones, for long a rumour floating on the internet.

The company in its defence said the feature was introduced to "smooth out the instantaneous peaks" to increase the life of smartphones.

"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," the company said.

As expected, Apple drew major backlash from its users across the world.

Apology and battery price correction

Shortly after the revelation, Apple announced reducing the battery replacement prices across the world. For the Indian market, Apple said it will now charge 2,000 (plus taxes) for users with an iPhone 6 or later, whose battery needs to be replaced.

"First and foremost, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally to shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades. Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that," Apple said in a detailed post.

Lawsuits after lawsuits

Since December last year, Apple has been hit by multiple lawsuits in the US, including one in Israel.

Last week, the chairman of a US Senate committee overseeing business issues sought an explanation from Apple over slowing down older iPhones, Reuters reported.

In a letter to Tim Cook, US Senator John Thune wrote that "the large volume of consumer criticism leveled against the company in light of its admission suggests that there should have been better transparency".

The company is also facing a similar challenge in China. Earlier this week, a Chinese consumer group asked Apple to provide information about its power management feature. The Shanghai Consumer Council sought an explanation and information on when the company plans to address the problem, Xinhua reported.

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First Published Date: 18 Jan, 15:44 IST
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