Apple Developed Hardware Improvements for iPhone 8 and X to Avoid Unexpected Shutdowns
Apple admitted to throttling the CPU in the older iPhone models responding to the letter of US Senate. The company also said it considers offering rebates to the customers who had purchased new batteries for the full price of $79.
In his letter Senator John Thune, head of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, had called into question the company’s battery replacement policy and expressed concern about similar issues with upcoming devices. In the official response to Senator, the company explained the CPU-throttling had been enabled to prevent unexpected shutdowns due to battery aging. The feature was incorporated in iOS 10.2.1 update issued in January 2017, spanning a number of older iPhone 6, 6S and SE models. In February 2017, the description of the feature was also added to the ReadMe notes.
Commenting on the Senator’s inquiry regarding the upcoming iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X models, the Cupertino company says some “hardware updates that allow a more advanced performance management system” were made, implying throttling the performance won’t be necessary anymore.