After many users noticed that old iPhones with low-capacity batteries were slowing down, Apple officially confirmed that it does indeed slow down older iPhones with naturally degraded batteries. The company has been hit with multiple lawsuits over this and has now even issued an apology.
People are naturally wondering if other smartphone manufacturers do this as well. Samsung has confirmed that it doesn't slow down smartphones with older batteries.
The curious case of throttled iPhones
It had long been a conspiracy theory that Apple intentionally slows down older iPhones to get customers to buy a new one. In light of recent reports that contained sufficient evidence, Apple confirmed that it does do this but offered a different explanation.
Smartphone batteries output less power as they become older due to natural degradation. This can lead to the device shutting down unexpectedly if the processor comes under heavy load and demands more power to ramp up speed.
Apple decided to throttle the processor speed on older devices in order to prevent unexpected shutdowns resulting from the battery's inability to keep up. Whether or not that was the intention is another matter but it also ended up limiting how fast an iPhone can get without clarifying it to users. Apple introduced this behavior last year for the iPhone 6, 6S and SE.
Apple's top rival Samsung has confirmed that it doesn't do this. The company has categorically said that it doesn't reduce CPU performance through software updates over the lifecycle of a smartphone. It has sent out the following statement:
Product quality has been and will always be Samsung Mobile's top priority. We ensure extended battery life of Samsung mobile devices through multi-layer safety measures, which include software algorithms that govern the battery charging current and charging duration. We do not reduce CPU performance through software updates over the lifecycles of the phone.
