Apple offers apology for slowing down old iPhones; reduces battery replacement cost

Apple yesterday posted a public letter to their customers apologizing for slowing down old iPhone models with a feature implemented in the latest version of the iOS mobile operating system to prevent sudden shutdowns.

Apple makes it clear in the letter that there's been a big misunderstanding from both customers and the media about the fact that they slow down old iPhone models with damaged or almost depleted batteries, which may cause unexpected shut downs in cold weather. The Cupertino-giant also said that it wants to explain some things about this so-called feature.

"We've been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process. We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize," stated the post.

"There's been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, so we would like to clarify and let you know about some changes we're making," added Apple.

The company explains how batteries degrade over time with no longer being able to hold a full charge. This is the reason why we have seen some iPhone models suddenly shut down in cold weather if they have 20% lower charge.

Apple addressed this issue last year by rolling out an iOS update, but it didn't publicly mention or inform the customer that the update may affect the performance of the devices.

The iPhone maker pushed out the iOS 10.2.1 software update last year and implemented improved power management tweaks in order to prevent sudden shut downs of iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 6s Plus models.

Since the update reduced the incidents of unexpected shut downs, Apple decided to do the same to iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus devices in the form of iOS 11.2 update.

The statement by Apple also says that it was never the company's intentions to shorten the life of any of their products or degrade the user experience so that customers are forced to by newer models. Instead, it wanted to lengthen the life of their old devices.

To address the concerns of their customers and to recognize their loyalty as well as to regain the trust of those who may have doubted their intentions, Apple has slashed the price of out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements from $79 to $29 for iPhone 6 or newer models that need a battery replacement.

This new battery replacement program will begin in late January 2018 and will be available across the world until December 2018. Moreover, Apple will roll out a new iOS update in early 2018 for all supported iPhone devices, which will bring in new battery management features to let customers know in-depth details about the health of their iPhone's batteries.