Does iPhone 6, 6s Battery Replacement Issues Play Into Apple Conspiracy Theory?

An Apple conspiracy theory that never seems to die gets a minor boost thanks to what appears to be a deliberate slowdown of some iPhone 6 and 6s phones. According to many users, first spotted by AppleInsider, iPhone 6 and 6s owners with older batteries are seeing much slower processing speeds following constant battery drain issues. Those users say Apple is doing it on purpose.

In an r/Apple post, a user by the name of TeckFire said his/her iPhone 6s had been extremely slow for several weeks, even after updates. After using another family member's 6s that ran much fast TeckFire ran a benchmark test.

“I did a Geekbench score, and found I was getting 1466 Single and 2512 Multi. This did not change whether I had low power mode on or off,” TeckFire wrote. “After changing my battery, I did another test to check if it was just a placebo. Nope. 2526 Single and 4456 Multi. From what I can tell, Apple slows down phones when their battery gets too low, so you can still have a full days charge. This also means your phone might be very slow for no discernible reason.”

Following the post other users chimed in saying their phones had also experience the same battery problems but other users suggest it was just a bug with the iPhone 6 and 6s because other older models were working fine.

“... I know this is true for some of the older MacBooks. When the battery is faulty/dead or removed from the computer, the cpu is under clocked,” another user wrote. “Even though i just kept it plugged in, I noticed quite a big performance difference when I put in a new replacement battery.”

It has been long rumored that Apple, despite what the facts say, pushes users to newer models by making older iPhones obsolete. What is likely the case is that Apple, even though it still keeps users in the dark, makes iPhones with older/worn batteries slower so that the device still holds a charge for the entire day. Users on the reddit thread said Apple has done this several times before.

"Honestly, this is one of those things I wish Apple acknowledged instead of sweeping under the rug. This isn’t something that customers should have to find out for themselves.

“iOS 10.2.1 was released last year, as a “fix” for the sudden shutdown issues that a lot of devices were experiencing,” marinadefor3hours wrote. “Apple did this so by dynamically adjusting iOS system performance based on battery wear. Someone had a theory here that Apple did this because they were aware that there were a lot of faulty batteries that needs replacing, but instead of coming clean, they released iOS 10.2.1 which throttles our devices instead.”

So while yes, it appears Apple does intentionally slow down older iPhones, it does so with only older batteries. If you replace your battery it should return to normal speeds. And no, there is no Apple conspiracy theory … at least not on this topic.

“ Our benchmarking data shows that, rather than intentionally degrading the performance of older models, Apple actually does a good job of supporting its older devices with regular updates that maintain a consistent level of performance across iOS versions,” Futuremark wrote in its report.

iPhone 6, 6s Restarting? Here’s How To Fix

If you’re having trouble with your iPhone restarting constantly and without warning, you are not alone. Following the latest iOS 11 update, users across the country experience the annoying restart. Some iPhone 6, S models kept restarting even after just 60 seconds.

First, if your phone isn’t turning off every minute, is to backup your device. Secondly, try to update your phone the latest iOS 11 update. If those steps don’t work you can try a hard restart to your phone. Finally if that does not work it will be time to find an Apple Genius Bar location near you to set up an appointment. The tech support will likely do a hard reboot on your phone that should reset the device and solve the restarting bug.