Is Apple Really Slowing Down Your iPhone? All Your Questions Answered!

There's been speculation for years that software and hardware manufactures purposely slow down old technology to get you to purchase new technology. Well, unfortunately that speculation has become true as Apple disclosed this week that they really do slow down their older devices. Their claim is they do it to allow consumers to continue to use older devices, but is this true? Keep reading and I will answer all of questions about this situation.

Why is Apple Slowing Down Old iPhones?

Starting with iOS 10.2.1, Apple began slowing down the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE. The reason Apple is slowing down iphone is the lithium battery installed in all iPhones. As newer versions of iOS are released, they require more processing power from your iphone and take a large strain on the Lithium battery. Lithium batteries have a short lifespan of about 500 charges or about 2 years. Apple's iOS software is designed to analyze your iphone to see if it's old or new. If iOS detects your phone is an older model, it will throttle your phone's performance. If Apple did not slow down your older phone, then your iPhone could experience random shut downs as it attempts to pull energy from your battery. Now it's important to note that your phone will only slow down when it needs to run at peak performance such as streaming video on social media, web sites and YouTube.

Why Didn't Apple Share This Information?

While slowing down your phones to make sure they don’t shut-down sounds like a good thing, Apple chose not talk about it because they want you to keep purchasing new iPhones. They don’t want you considering repair over replace because they want you to get a new iPhone every couple years, it’s why they can have such high sales numbers every year.

How Can You Keep Your Older Phone From Slowing Down? Replace Your Battery! If you have an iPhone 6 or older (I know that includes a LOT of you) your iPhone may begin to slow down. If you want your iPhone to feel fast and new again, but don’t want to drop hundreds of dollars on a new phone, replace the battery. The bad news is iPhone's are notoriously hard to take apart ... even to replace a battery. If you're covered under AppleCare+, Apple will replace your battery at no charge if it retains less than 80 percent of its original capacity. If your iPhone needs battery replacement and it's not covered, the service fee is $79. The downside that you have to leave your phone with Apple for 3-5 days. At Integral, we can come to your location to replace your iPhone battery for about $100.

What Else Can You Do to Speed Up Your Old iPhone.

1. Reboot. When your phone feels like it's running slow, try restarting your device. when your iPhone has been on constantly for days or weeks at a time, it helps to reboot. Rebooting clears out those digital cobwebs and gets your phone running like new again.

2. Close Some of Your Apps. Too many apps open on your device will slow it down. To close down some of your apps, double tap the home button to bring up the multi-tasking view. Swipe-up the screenshot of the app you want to exit.

3. Free up some space. When your phone is full of pictures and apps, it will run slow. Lighten the load by removing apps you no longer use and deleting photos and videos you no longer need. Google Photos is a great app to use to move those photos and videos to the cloud which will free up space on your iPhone. To delete apps, Just tap and hold any App icon until all the icons start wiggling. You'll notice that many will have a little X at the top left corner. Tap on the X to delete the app.

I hope this answers all the questions you may have about the controversy. Please feel to drop me a comment if you have any other questions.

Thank you for reading. Please share this information with everyone.Check in with Integral on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin , YouTube and Google+ for more tips on helping you get the most out of the technology you use in your home or office.

I'm Burton Kelso and I'm a Kansas City based Tech Expert and the Chief Technology Expert at Integral, providing on-site and remote support for computers, tablets, smartphones, routers, printers, and any device that connects to the internet. I regularly appear as a guest tech correspondent on ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS on shows such as Kansas City Live, Better Kansas City, FOX 4 Morning Show, offering viewers easy tips on technology, Internet lifestyle, Internet security and gadgets. You can find me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn , and Twitter and watch great tech tip videos on my YouTube channel. I can be reached at 888-256-0829 or email at burton@integralcomputerconsultants.comralcomputerconsultants.com