IOS 13.1 Brings Processor throttling to iPhone XS and iPhone XR

Apple’s iOS 13.1 was launched on September 24. According to an Apple Support page, this operating system makes iPhone XS and XR capable to initiate processor throttling.

This feature was added in 2017 iPhones and it has been, somehow, controversial. Its main focus has been to limit the processor performance in the iPhones to prevent them from shutting down due to weakening batteries. And the result of this feature is quite obvious, i.e. the iPhone runs slower than normal. With continued aging of the batteries, throttling becomes heavier. The phone starts working normally when the battery is replaced.

Apple didn’t talk much about power throttling in an effort to calm criticism after this feature was discovered. Moreover, the company offered discounted batteries to allow the iPhone users get their iPhones returning to full performance. A switch was also added in the setting to turn the processor throttling on or off. The major disadvantage that people noticed after disabling power throttling was that their iPhones would shut down in processor-heavy situations.

It now seems that Apple has made enormous effort to refine this feature a little. According to the company, newer iPhones are better at power management and monitoring. They also claimed that the impact of processor throttling is not going to be very obvious now. The updated software was first introduced on iPhone 8 and iPhone X. And then it was also used in iPhone XR and iPhone XS.

It has not been disclosed whether or not processor throttling is featured in the iPhone 11-series. Nevertheless, Apple Support page mentions that the new phones are going to get an advanced power management system. This system aims at managing performance based on the health of battery. So, it is quite possible that this system has got the mechanism to manage processing right from the start. And it is safer to presume that the new system will have to work more in case the battery ages. What’s more interesting here is that the effect of this processing management in response to battery aging is not going be felt as much as on the older iPhones.

Backlash from the iPhone users is understandable in this regard but one needs to understand the fact that batteries degrade over time. And a degraded battery is unable to provide power like a new battery does. In that case, there is the need for the performance to be affected because if it is not affected, it becomes difficult for the device to stay powered on.