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Your iPhone X or iPhone 8/8 Plus might one day get throttled by Apple

Bryan M. Wolfe ∙ October 31, 2018

Late last year, Apple was caught throttling iPhones that had degrading batteries. This lead to class action lawsuits, a discounted battery replacement program, and various meetings with regulators around the world. It also forced Apple to add a battery monitoring tool in iOS 11.3. With the 2018 iPhones now in stores comes word that last year's handsets might eventually be throttled too.

As first discovered by The Verge, the recently released iOS 12.1 update brings Apple’s controversial “performance management feature” to the iPhone X, iPhone 8, and iPhone 8 Plus for the first time. With this tool, Apple can dynamically throttle the devices (i.e. slow them down) as the battery degrades in order to stop random shutdowns.

An Apple support page explains:

With a low battery state of charge, a higher chemical age, or colder temperatures, users are more likely to experience unexpected shutdowns. In extreme cases, shutdowns can occur more frequently, thereby rendering the device unreliable or unusable. For iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus, iOS dynamically manages performance peaks to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down so that the iPhone can still be used. This performance management feature is specific to iPhone and does not apply to any other Apple products. Starting with iOS 12.1, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X include this feature, but performance management may be less noticeable due to their more advanced hardware and software design.

No doubt this news will lead to some more criticism against Apple. However, it's probably no longer justified. If you own one of last year's phones, you can turn off the performance management feature.

What do you think? Let us know below.

Image of iPhone X battery courtesy of iFixit

10.5-inch iPad Pro versus 11-inch iPad Pro: What’s the difference?

Bryan M. Wolfe ∙ October 31, 2018

Here's a look at the key differences between the 2017 10.5-inch iPad Pro and the recently introduced 2018 11-inch iPad Pro. Are the changes worth the higher price? That depends on what you want.

Nomad introduces all-in-one wireless charging hub for iPhone and Apple Watch

Bryan M. Wolfe ∙ October 31, 2018

Nomad introduced a new Base Station Apple Watch Edition charging pad today that allows you to charge up to three devices at once, including of course your Apple Watch and iPhone.

This platform makes Apple devices management easy [sponsor]

Sébastien Page ∙ October 31, 2018

Whether you’re just getting your small business off the ground or growing an already successful venture, onboarding and maintaining your employees’ tech gadgets are important steps. Unfortunately, IT can be expensive — and out of the question for many small businesses. Even if you can afford to purchase reliable Apple devices for your growing staff, it can be hard to find the time to keep them updated without a specialist. That’s where Jamf Now comes into play: it’s a cloud-based solution that delivers Apple management and security with just a few minutes of setup.

Malleus ports iOS 12’s Lock screen shortcuts to jailbroken iOS 11 devices

Anthony Bouchard ∙ October 31, 2018

If you have an iPhone X, XS, XS Max, or XR, then you’re already familiar with the 3D Touch-based Camera and Flashlight shortcuts on the left and right sides of the Lock screen. In some of the latest versions of iOS, these shortcuts make a tactile ‘clicking’ sound when actuated.

Unfortunately, there isn’t a jailbreak for iOS 12, but those using a jailbroken installation of iOS 11 can now emulate the sound heard on iOS 12.1 when using these shortcuts with a new free jailbreak tweak called malleus by iOS developer Sam Gardner.

What we didn’t see at Apple’s iPad Pro and Mac event

Bryan M. Wolfe ∙ October 30, 2018

During the past two months, Apple has substantially refreshed its iPhone, iPad Pro, and Mac lineups. Couple this with the earlier updates to the budget iPad and MacBook Pro, and 2018 turned out to be a great year for hardware refreshes. Here's the likely status of Apple's products that weren't updated during this year.

AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon won’t support eSIM until later this year on 2018 iPhones

Bryan M. Wolfe ∙ October 30, 2018

AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon won’t offer support for eSIM, at least for now. The support is necessary for dual-SIM functionality on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. The top three carriers in the United States each have different reasons for not supporting eSIM, according to MacRumors and PCMag.

Watch out: watchOS 5.1 update appears to be bricking some Apple Watches

Cody Lee ∙ October 30, 2018

Earlier today Apple released an update for watchOS, bringing the version number to 5.1. Users are typically encouraged to install software updates—they can bring about new features, security fixes and other improvements—but you may want to hold off on this one. We are seeing reports that watchOS 5.1 is bricking some Apple Watches.

1TB iPad Pro reportedly comes with 6GB of RAM, lower capacity models have 4GB

Cody Lee ∙ October 30, 2018

The well-known developer and tinkerer Steve Troughton-Smith has discovered evidence that you can get the new iPad Pro with 6GB of RAM. Unfortunately, it looks like you'll have to fork over quite a bit of money to get it: it's only available on the 1TB models.

Maxing out 2018 MacBook Air results in a $2,599 notebook

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 30, 2018

Apple today announced a major update to its popular MacBook Air line of notebooks. The computer has gone from a low-resolution screen to a 13.3-inch Retina panel with four times the pixels. The new Air also has a smaller footprint, includes Touch ID and sports upgraded internals like faster CPU and GPU models, Apple's enhanced T2 chip and more.

Shortcuts 2.1 is out with new actions for Weather, Clock, Photos and more

Cody Lee ∙ October 30, 2018

Alongside the laundry list of its other releases and announcements today, Apple has pushed out an update for its Shortcuts app. The move brings the app to version 2.1, and brings about a handful of improvements including new actions for the Weather, Clock and Photos apps.

Apple keeps previous-gen $999 MacBook Air, removes Rose Gold MacBook from lineup

Cody Lee ∙ October 30, 2018

Apple this morning announced the long-awaited update to the MacBook Air. It has just about everything users have been asking for—a Retina display, upgraded internals and a smaller footprint—but it all comes at a price. The new Air starts $1,199. The good news, though, is that it looks like Apple has decided to keep the previous-gen MacBook Air around at $999.