Apple cuts $50 off price for replacment phone batteries, sheepishly offers apology

"RichA" wrote

| I think there were two reasons they did it:
| 1. 300-500 dead to full charge cycles is enough to hobble a lithium
battery, even without fast charging and this would undoubtedly produce
warranty issues with people who do a lot of charging. $$$
| 2. It does make people want to go to a new phone if they perceive that
their current phone is "too slow."
|

Here's the investigation that led to their admission:

https://www.extremetech.com/mobile/2...d-battery-life

It was added with OS updates. In some cases the throttling
was with batteries only 16 months old. Which would mean
either #2 is true or their batteries are junk.

If #1 is true then why is it true? Is it normal for a cellphone
to go weak within 1 1/2 years? That doesn't seem to be the
case generally. If it were then people would be regularly
planning to replace batteries, perhaps once per year.

So it seems likely that they had a bad batch of batteries,
tried to cover it up, and #2 is also partially true.

In article , Mayayana
wrote:

Is it normal for a cellphone
to go weak within 1 1/2 years? That doesn't seem to be the
case generally.

you are mistakenly equating aging, which all batteries do, with weak
batteries.

all batteries age and there's no getting around that.

eventually, they age enough that they are very weak, but that's not the
issue here.

If it were then people would be regularly
planning to replace batteries, perhaps once per year.

nope. the issue is aging batteries that cannot supply peak demands.

So it seems likely that they had a bad batch of batteries,
tried to cover it up, and #2 is also partially true.

nope.

On 12/29/2017 1:11 PM, RichA wrote:


snip


Something about "two wrongs" comes up.
I presume they do the tests on this? So, what is the average battery lifespan, what is the decline in output based on use/time and why not just publish those figures so people would have a reasonable idea of how long the performance they paid for will work to 100%?


The rechargeable batteries for my strobe only have a limited number of
cycles.

Those interested in battery issues may find this article educational.
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/nickel_based_batteries


--
PeterN

On 12/29/2017 4:24 PM, nospam wrote:

snip



most people get a new phone in 2 years, so the battery will outlast the
useful life of the phone.


Cite please.
--
PeterN

On 12/29/2017 6:53 PM, nospam wrote:
In article ,
RichA wrote:

Something about "two wrongs" comes up.
I presume they do the tests on this?

far more tests than you can possibly imagine.

not only does apple do tests internally, but each phone is constantly
monitoring its own battery health, managing it on the fly.

plenty of other companies do the same or similar, including android.

Who is "android?"

all products running google android.

Do you mean Samsung?

everyone.

If so, they don't do it. They say.

except that the underlying android os does.

https://source.android.com/devices/tech/power/mgmt
Battery life is a perennial user concern. To extend battery life,
Android continually adds new features and optimizations to help the
platform optimize the off-charger behavior of applications and
devices.

not doing that risks sudden unexpected shutdowns and potential data
loss, which is *worse*.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2016/12...e-developed-a-
battery-early-shutoff-problem-and-its-becoming-a-safety-issue/
A number of Nexus 6P owners have reported an alarming battery problem
with their phones as of Android 7.0 being released for the handset,
which causes the phone to power down when the battery gauge still
shows anywhere from 10 to 60% battery remaining.


You're damn right they test the batteries. Yet no matter how much
testing they do, some slip through the cracks. There is a difference
between the required testing on a medical device and a phone. Yet the
battery on my defibrillator was recalled. It is being changed Thursday.
The surgeon put in a warning device if it fails between now and Thursday.

--
PeterN

On 12/29/2017 4:24 PM, nospam wrote:
In article ,
RichA wrote:

I'm not even saying their reasoning for slowing down the phones was wrong,
but they should have left it as an opinion.

nope, because end users don't have all of the necessary information to
make a proper choice.

the wrong choice may result in sudden unexpected shutdowns, potential
data loss and/or hardware damage.

it's also adaptive, based on the load at the time, so they'd be forever
enabling/disabling it.


i have an 8+. Outside of telephone calls, I notice a slowdown when I use
speech to text, and car play.

--
PeterN

In article , PeterN
wrote:


i have an 8+. Outside of telephone calls, I notice a slowdown when I use
speech to text, and car play.

based on what metrics?

and if you *really* think it's slow, take it back and have them test
it. you're still under warranty.

In article , PeterN
wrote:

most people get a new phone in 2 years, so the battery will outlast the
useful life of the phone.

Cite please.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-l...grade-phones-c
hart-2017-3
According to a recent report from the analyst firm Kantar Worldpanel,
American users held onto their smartphones for an average of 22.7
months before upgrading in 2016, up by nearly two months from 2014.
The difference is just as big in many major European markets.

and a nice pretty graph:
http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58b898a2be967306018b45dd-1200

On 1/1/2018 1:34 PM, nospam wrote:
In article , PeterN
wrote:


i have an 8+. Outside of telephone calls, I notice a slowdown when I use
speech to text, and car play.

based on what metrics?

and if you *really* think it's slow, take it back and have them test
it. you're still under warranty.


I plan to. As for metrics, I have been using the hidden Markov formulae
since 1991. Incorrect interpretations and slow speed of response
inaccuracy are indicia of power issues.
My 5s was a lot faster in speech to text.

--
PeterN

On 1/1/2018 2:15 PM, nospam wrote:
In article , PeterN
wrote:

most people get a new phone in 2 years, so the battery will outlast the
useful life of the phone.

Cite please.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-l...grade-phones-c
hart-2017-3
According to a recent report from the analyst firm Kantar Worldpanel,
American users held onto their smartphones for an average of 22.7
months before upgrading in 2016, up by nearly two months from 2014.
The difference is just as big in many major European markets.

and a nice pretty graph:
http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/58b898a2be967306018b45dd-1200


Average is not equal to most. The only reason I got a new phone is that
I wanted a larger screen, and am just starting to learn some of the
photo apps..

--
PeterN