It appears that Apple may have made hardware improvements in its 2017 iPhone models to mitigate the need for the controversial performance throttling experienced by users of iPhone 6, 6s, and 7 series models. A new section in an updated support document on “iPhone Battery and Performance” referenced in the second beta of iOS 11.3 notes:
iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X models use a more advanced hardware and software design that provides a more accurate estimation of both power needs and the battery’s power capability to maximize overall system performance. This allows a different performance management system that more precisely allows iOS to anticipate and avoid an unexpected shutdown. As a result, the impacts of performance management may be less noticeable on iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.
The support document doesn’t go as far as saying that performance won’t suffer as batteries age in these newer models, but it does suggest that the level of throttling may not be as severe, indicating that Apple was likely able to solve some of the power consumption issues that previously resulted in unexpected shutdowns from older iPhone batteries.
Apple came under fire last month when it came to users’ attention that recent versions of iOS had been significantly throttling performance on older iPhone models — some reports suggested by as much as half — as the batteries in those devices aged and became unable to sustain peak power consumption. Apple CEO Tim Cook later apologized for the lack of clarity and emphasized that the decision was to preserve the user experience on the assumption that most users would prefer a slower iPhone over one that would unexpectedly shut down at possibly inopportune moments. Cook conceding that while Apple had in fact disclosed the issue when it released iOS 10.2.1, they “should have been clearer” in their explanation of the issues surrounding it.
