Sen John Thune quizzes Apple on iPhone battery issue

Apple today responded in detail to senator John Thune regarding its iPhone battery issue that it is ''considering'' offering rebates to those customers who paid full price for battery replacements, 9to5mac.com reported.

Thune, who heads the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent Apple a list of questions over its throttling of iPhone performance, its rollout of the feature, and more.

Thune has also questioned whether or not Apple plans to ''release a similar software update feature to throttle back processing performance for newer phone models.'' Further, Thune also wanted to know if it is so, ''what notice'' Apple planned to provide to customers beforehand.

In response Apple said that the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X all include ''hardware updates'' that allow for a better performance management system. According to Apple, this system, allows iOS to better anticipate and avoid the unexpected shutdowns associated with older iPhones.

Apple further noted that all iPhones include basic performance management features, such as temperature control and warnings, required for basic safety and functionality:

Q: Does Apple plan to release a similar software update feature to throttle back processing performance for newer phone models? What notice does it plan to provide to customers before doing so?

Apple: All iPhone models have basic performance management to ensure that the battery and overall system operates as designed and internal components are protected. And, in the case of hot temperature, the performance management ensures that the device stays within safety limits. Such basic performance management is required for safety and expected function, and cannot be turned off.

Meanwhile, starting with the second beta of iOS 11.3, Apple has launched a new "Battery Health" feature, which will provide users with more information about the state of their battery and whether or not it is impacting device performance, www.macrumors.com reported.

Users whose iPhone has a degraded battery leading to throttling issues, will get notification by the "Battery Health" section and it will provide an option to turn off performance management to put a stop to any throttling that is going on.