Apple Will Soon Let You Disable iPhone-Slowing Battery ‘Feature’
If you were turned off by Apple covertly slowing down your iPhone because of its dying battery, CEO Tim Cook wants to make it up to you.
In an upcoming software update, Cook told ABC News users will be able to turn off the “feature” that was throttling old iPhones.
“We’re going to give people the visibility of the health of their battery so it’s very, very transparent. This hasn’t been done before,” said Cook. “We will tell somebody ‘We’re slightly reducing your performance by some amount in order to not have an unexpected restart.’ And if you don’t want it, you can turn it off.”
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Cook said the iOS update is going to “happen next month,” but he doesn’t necessarily recommend it.
Apple caught flak last month when it was revealed it had been slowing down several models of iPhone 6. The company said it was “misunderstanding” — something that had to be done due to a problem with its lithium-ion batteries degrading over time, which caused phones to unexpectedly shutdown during peak usage. Critics saw it as a sneaky attempt by the tech giant to force customers to ditch their old phones and upgrade.
Apple issued a mea culpa afterwards, offering to replace batteries for $29, rather than the usual $79.
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