It’s your last chance to give an old iPhone a new lease of life
In the wake of the #iPhoneSlow debacle that flared up last December, in which Apple admitted that some iPhones throttled performance to avoid the random shutdowns that can come with aging batteries, Apple made some changes to improve the situation. It has since added a Battery Health section in iOS (find it in Settings > Battery) that tracks the natural degradation of your device battery and allows the user to switch off the automatic throttling.
However, the company is still adamant that its performance management systems are the best solution and most users should keep them on. Batteries slowly lose capacity over time, and it’s only natural that an older one can’t provide the peak levels of performance that a new one can. Trying to do so can sometimes cause crashes, and so iOS manages performance for you to avoid this.
This screen will let you know when the battery no longer runs at its peak
However, a more permanent fix is to replace the battery entirely once it dips below a certain level – around 80% of its original capacity. At the start of the year, in response to the throttling controversy, Apple knocked $50 off the price of a battery replacement, from $79 down to a bargain $29. However, that particular deal was for 2018 only, so if you want to get a new battery on the cheap you’ve only got until December 31.
The deal is open for most models – everything from the iPhone SE up to last year’s iPhone X – and even if your battery hasn’t degraded too much yet, it could be worth getting a new one anyway while it’s cheap. A new battery can give an aging iPhone a new lease of life. It could add another year to the usable life of the device and save you money down the line when you would otherwise have to upgrade. Head into an Apple Store or speak to Apple Support to initiate a replacement.