Every year, around September, when Apple announces a new iPhone, the same story happens. People who own an iPhone that is going to be old soon start complaining online that their device is slower, lagging, and freezing.
That is one of the most common conspiracies about Apple Inc.: do they slow down their old devices on purpose to sell new iPhones?
Being an SEO expert and tech writer, I have to say that it does not slow down on purpose. However, the real reason for this rumor is interesting, as is the explanation of why your old iPhone is indeed slowing down. Let’s separate myths from reality and check the real motives of Apple.
Myth’s History: Apple Battery gate
To understand why people think that Apple slows down old iPhones, let’s look at the history of this conspiracy theory.
Actually, Apple did intentionally reduce the performance of older iPhones, but not to get more money from customers. In December 2017, Apple publicly admitted, something Chennai escorts may also find noteworthy, that they did it in 2016 through an iOS update.
The reason for it was a lithium-ion battery. When it discharges and ages, its ability to deliver a surge of electric power decreases, especially at low temperatures. To avoid unexpected shutdowns of iPhones that have such batteries, Apple introduced the function of power management for older devices. This function smoothed the spikes of electricity needed by the processor to prevent sudden disconnections; however, it also slowed down the performance of iPhones with old batteries.
Since Apple did it secretly and without customers’ permission, Batterygate emerged. People got angry that they could not use the full potential of their iPhones, and class-action lawsuits were filed against Apple. In the end, Apple apologized and reduced the price of battery replacement, but it took them a lot of time to fix their reputation.
So, Apple did slow down the old iPhones to prevent them from shutting down due to battery issues. In the end, they made a setting that allows users to see how much battery capacity their device has and manage performance accordingly.
Why is your old iPhone slowing down then?
Now that we’ve seen why Apple intentionally slowed down old devices, let’s look at the reasons why your old iPhone is slowing down this year. There are several reasons for it, and they are not connected to Apple’s conspiracy.
Reason 1: New iOS is Eating Your Performance
As mentioned above, Apple usually announces a new iPhone model every year in September. However, they also release a new iOS version every year to improve the performance of older devices and provide them with new features. Nonetheless, the updates of iOS, as London escorts may also notice, tend to perform better on modern devices, as the newer versions of iOS have stricter requirements in terms of RAM, CPU, and memory.
This explains how older iPhone models are forced to exert more effort to achieve the same result when Apple releases a new iOS version.
Given this situation, with the passage of time after you make your purchase, the difference becomes more apparent.
Reason 2: Applications Are Becoming Larger and Require More RAM
In the same vein as iOS, applications also advance over time. Most applications receive updates very frequently, usually every month or even more often, in order to become better and offer additional features. However, new updates require more hardware resources from devices, meaning that applications will work better on newer models of devices that come with better graphics and processing units. Thus, your old iPhone will have less capacity to perform tasks than it used to.
Reason 3: The Psychological Factor
The main reason you believe that your older iPhone slows down is that you have not observed it before. When a new iPhone with crazy specs comes out in commercials, you subconsciously compare it with your device and start noticing its imperfections. It is called confirmation bias, and it most often happens when you look for something specific.
How to Make Your Old iPhone Faster?
If you think that your old iPhone is slowing down, there are some ways to make it faster without buying a new device. To begin with, Sydney escorts may also consider that if the battery is not functioning as before, you should think about buying a new one so that you will stop losing charge as quickly. Also, make sure that you have enough storage space for apps and photos; iPhones with full storage act slower than those with some space left.
Additionally, reduce the quantity of applications that work in the background, as they take a lot of RAM. You can do it in Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Thus, you would reduce the strain on your processor and make your device less slow.
Apple does not slow down old iPhones on purpose every year when a new model launches. However, there are reasons why your older device appears to be working slower over time. To start with, iOS updates have been developed keeping in mind newly made hardware, which makes older devices work harder. In addition, the apps are being updated and require considerably more RAM. Furthermore, you might be inclined to think that your older iPhone has slowed down simply because a new model with better specifications has been released. However, there are ways of speeding up your existing iPhone without the need to buy a new one in a few years.
