True or false: Apple and Google slow down older phones when a new model is released

Smartphones are responsible for our expectation of instant gratification. Whether you are or what you’re doing, you can whip out your phone and look up anything. Use Google to back up your argument with your spouse. Check out Yelp reviews to find the best sandwich in town. Place an online order for that trinket you saw in a store window and get it at a lower price.

When it comes to phones, we require speed. Upgrading to a newer phone will certainly help, but your old one might not be to blame if it’s running at a relative snail’s pace. Your favorite apps could be the main culprit. Tap or click here to check out apps that slow down your phone.

You’ve probably heard people say they noticed a decline in their phone’s performance when the next generation is released. It turns out that this is true, but it’s not part of a conspiracy to make you buy a new phone. The answer is a bit more technical than that.

Apple in hot water

In 2017, Apple admitted to slowing down older phones and paid for doing so in a series of lawsuits and settlements. While people claimed it was a scam to force customers to upgrade, Apple had its reasons.

When a new iPhone is released, it comes with a new iOS. The operating system is faster and more significant than the previous version and demands more processing power. When you update an older phone to the new OS, the higher demand degrades the battery and shortens its life. A more recent phone with beefier hardware won’t feel this strain.

Apple slows down older iPhone’s performance to preserve battery life in the long term. To appease the populace, the company introduced a performance management feature in iOS 11.3.

This system periodically assesses how well the battery can support the phone’s power requirements. If the battery is doing well, phone performance remains stable. If the battery is struggling or a shutdown occurs, the performance of the GPU, CPU and other functions will be lowered.

RELATED: Tap or click here to learn the truth behind quick charging apps

Turning off performance management

You can check out how your battery is doing by going to Settings > Battery > Battery Health. If your phone experienced an unexpected shutdown due to an overburdened battery, you’d see a message saying so under Peak Performance Capability. In this case, you can tap Disable to turn off the performance management feature.

Note that if you disable performance management, you can’t turn it back on. It will activate automatically if another shutdown occurs, at which time you will have the option to disable it again.

Continue reading

One thing you must do before you go out to eat during the pandemic

After a few long months of being stuck inside, it’s understandable that most of us are looking forward to getting back to at least a semblance of normalcy. Many states have started lifting restrictions over the past month, and businesses continue to reopen.

Continue reading

Have a Yelp page? Businesses that display their hours, phone number, website and a photo on Yelp get 7.6 times more pageviews per month. Dang. Log in and make sure yours is up to date!

Today, the US Supreme Court hears the internet's most important case ever

Open/download audio

Should social media outlets like Facebook, Yelp, and Instagram be held responsible for slander on their platforms? The Supreme Court is tackling this issue, and I’ll explain it in just 60 seconds.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

165% surge

In exterminator searches in the U.S., compared to 2023. Across the country, people are waging war with pests. Three times as many Yelp searches for cockroach exterminators have been completed than at this time last year. According to Yelp, California has the biggest rat problem. Bet you thought it was New York.

Have a Yelp page? Businesses that include their hours, phone number, website and a photo on Yelp get 7.6 times more pageviews per month. Dang. Log in and make sure yours is up to date!