Apple confirms it slows down older iPhones to conserve battery life

iPhone users have long suspected that  their devices slow down after a year with the latest iOS updates as Apple wants them to upgrade their device.

In a recent development a Reddit user complained about Apple's latest iOS 11 update slowing down his iPhone 6S. Primate Labs which followed up with benchmark tests confirmed that it was indeed the case.

Apple has now finally admitted that it does slow down older iPhones, but for an altogether different reason. (See: iPhone performance issues linked to battery: Geekbench developer)

In a statement today Apple sought to address the concerns, saying that in order for older iPhone models to work smoothly, it introduced a power management feature last year that would "smooth out" peak power draw affecting older lithium-ion batteries which would cause unexpected shut downs.

According to the company, the slowing down is not intended to make people upgrade, but to protect internal components from unexpected shutdowns. Older batteries are unable to handle peak current draws in the manner newer iPhone models with newer batteries are able to do.

"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components," Apple said in a statement.

Lithium-ion batteries tend to degrade over time, losing the power to store charge over time. The degradation happens more rapidly on devices like smartphones, which are powered on for nearly 24 hours and seven days a week.

According to Apple the objective here is to ensure that the iPhone does not shut down unexpectedly when the battery gets depleted completely.

Apple is trying to prevent such random shutdowns.

''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,'' Apple said in a statement shared with TechCrunch.