Last month, Apple officially acknowledged that its iOS version 10.2.1 introduced unexpected power management options.
Once the battery integrity was compromised performance likewise slowed down. The issue apparently affected models starting from the iPhone 6, 6S, SE, 7, 7S, and onward.
The announcement came after several industry experts presented the public with extensive test results. The company wrote an open letter to apologize to its consumers and promised a new tool to monitor battery health in a future update.
Interview Revelation
Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, recently confirmed that users will be able to manually toggle the speed-throttling function. The top executive was reportedly in Reno, Nevada to visit one of the firm's data centers and had a quick interview with Rebecca Jarvis, a reporter from ABC News.
While the discussion was mainly on the company's economy-related plans, Cook eventually talked about the iPhone slowdown debacle. It appears that he wanted to clarify that it was not the company's intention to deliberately throttle performance to force consumers to upgrade.
Holding A Charge
According to experts, batteries are expected to chemically age over time. Once it reaches a point wherein it can only hold a fraction of what it was originally built to handle, it could cause the smartphone to restart unexpectedly.
The code that was included in the firmware version 10.2.1 was designed to minimize instances like these.
Giving Full Control
Apple users were apparently surprised when Cook confirmed another add-on feature. Alongside the battery monitoring tool, iPhone users will have the option to turn off the built-in power management controller.
"We're also going to... first in a developer release that happens next month, we're going to give people the visibility of the health of their battery. So it's very, very transparent. This hasn't been done before, but we've thought through this whole thing and learned everything we can learn from it," Cook explained.
Users will receive a prompt on the iPhones that gives them an overview of their degraded battery. It will be followed by a notice that the system will attempt to adjust performance levels to prevent unwanted restarts. However, the user will have the option proceed or to turn off the power management profile.
Other Updates From The Company
Meanwhile, Cook detailed Apple's plan to move a large chunk of the company's money back to the United States. An estimated $250 billion will possibly be put back into the US economy courtesy of the recent tax policy amendments.
Other than its Cupertino headquarters and newly opened Apple Park, the firm plans to open another one, which will potentially offer even more jobs.
