Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has confirmed rumours that it deliberately slows down older iPhones with a feature introduced last year to protect the handsets against issued caused by ageing batteries.
The tech company released the feature through its iOS 11.2 software update to slow down phones that have older batteries, batteries with low charger or that are cold.
"Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, [when they] have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components," Apple said.
"Last year, we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions.”
Many customers have speculated for some time that Apple slowed down older iPhones to encourage them to upgrade to a newer model.
Apple fessed up to slowing down ageing models, but insisted that it only does so to prolong the life of devices.
It also comes in response to users finding that their iPhone 6S would turn off suddenly even with about 30-40% charge left on the battery.
A customer shared performance tests on Reddit, suggesting their iPhone 6S had slowed down markedly as it had aged but when they replaced the battery the speed returned to normal.
Technology website Geekbench also found some iPhones appeared to have been deliberately slowed down after analysing several handsets running different versions of the iOS operating system.