网易手机讯 2017年12月29日凌晨,苹果官方发表声明就其发表的降低老旧iPhone性能速度与电池稳定性的情况公开致歉,公开信苹果表示不是故意缩短电池寿命或降低用户体验来驱动消费者升级设备,同时对于用户所反馈的声音苹果在第一时间进行关注并采用了相应措施,苹果官方还称在这个问题出现后,消费者对苹果有诸多的误解。

与此同时,苹果官方还提出了解决方案:明年开始,对于过保的iPhone 6或之后的手机型号,电池更换费用从原来的608元降至218元(美国地区价格为79美元降至29美元)。并且将在明年早些时候推送一个新的系统更新,使得用户能知道更多有关手机电池的状态信息,持续时间为1月下旬到2018年12月。

以下为公开信原文:

(中文版)致广大用户关于 iPhone 电池及性能的说明

最近,对我们在使用较早期电池 iPhone 性能表现上的处理方式,以及对这一处理方式的沟通说明,我们一直都在听取用户的意见和反馈。有些用户因此对 Apple 感到失望,在这里,我们致以诚挚的歉意。关于这个问题存在着许多的误解,所以我们想向大家澄清其中原委,并向大家说明我们正在做出的一些改变。

首先也是最重要的一点,我们从来没有、也永远不会通过任何手段,来有意缩短任何 Apple 产品的使用寿命,更不会降低用户体验来迫使大家升级设备。一直以来,我们的目标都是创造备受用户喜爱的产品,而尽可能延长 iPhone 的使用寿命,正是其中的重要一环。

电池的使用寿命

所有充电电池都属于易耗部件,其使用性能会随着化学老化而降低,蓄电能力也会逐渐衰退。而电池充电的时间和次数,并不是影响其化学老化的唯一因素。

会影响到电池使用寿命的,还有设备的使用方式。例如,将设备放在高温环境下,或在高温环境下充电,电池就会老化得更快。这些都是电池本身的化学特性,也是整个行业内锂离子电池的共性。

化学年龄较老的电池应对峰值负载的能力也在衰退,特别是处于低电量状态的时候,在某些情况下,这就可能会导致设备突然意外关机。

为帮助用户更好地了解 iPhone 的充电电池,以及影响电池性能的各种因素,我们发布了一篇新的支持文章《iPhone 电池及性能》。

毫无疑问,这种突如其来的意外关机是不可接受的。我们不想让任何用户因此漏接电话,错过拍照良机,或是影响到他们任何其他方面的 iPhone 体验,我们希望能尽力避免这种情况发生。

防止意外关机

大约一年以前,在我们推送的 iOS 10.2.1 中包含了一项软件更新,其目的是用来改进峰值负载下的电源管理,以避免 iPhone 6、iPhone 6 Plus、iPhone 6s、iPhone 6s Plus 和 iPhone SE 意外关机。在这一更新中,iOS 能够在需要时对部分系统组件的最大性能进行灵活管理,以防止出现意外关机。这些变动通常察觉不到,但在某些情况下,用户可能会发现有些 app 的启动时间变长了,有些性能表现变弱了。

用户对于 iOS 10.2.1 的反馈是正面的,因为它成功减少了意外关机的发生。随着 iOS 11.2 更新的推出,我们还将这项支持扩展到了 iPhone 7 和 iPhone 7 Plus。

当然,如果用新的电池替换掉已经化学老化的电池,并在正常情况下使用,iPhone 就会恢复正常的性能表现。

近期得到的用户反馈

今年秋天,我们开始收到一些用户的反馈,他们发现在某些特定情况下,iPhone 的性能变慢了。基于我们的经验,我们最初认为是由这两个因素的结合所导致:当操作系统升级时, iPhone 安装了新的软件、更新应用程序对性能造成的一个正常的临时性影响,以及在系统更新的初始版本中已经修复的那些小错误。

我们现在认为,较早期的 iPhone 6 和 iPhone 6s 上电池的持续化学老化,是影响这些用户体验的另一个因素,这些设备中有很多仍在使用最初的那块电池。

解决用户的担忧

我们一直希望尽可能延长 iPhone 的使用寿命。Apple 的产品以经久耐用而著称,它们能够长时间保持原有价值,对此我们深感自豪。

为了解决用户的担忧,对他们的信赖表示感激,并让任何可能对 Apple 的出发点有过疑虑的人对我们重拾信心,我们决定采取以下措施:

Apple 将更换过了保修期电池的价格降低了 RMB 390 元,从 RMB 608 元降到 RMB 218 元。此举针对使用 iPhone 6 及后续机型的需要更换电池的用户,在全球范围内从 2018 年 1 月底持续到 12 月。详细活动信息将于近期在 apple.com/cn 上公布。

2018 年初,我们会发布一项 iOS 软件更新,其中的新功能可让用户更清楚地了解 iPhone 的电池健康状况,用户可以亲眼看到其状况是否影响了性能。

我们的团队正在一如既往地致力于让用户体验变得更好,这包括改进我们在性能管理和避免由于电池老化造成意外关机问题上的方式、方法。

对 Apple 来说,用户的信任意味着一切。我们将矢志不渝、努力赢得并呵护好这份信任。正是因为您的信念和支持,我们才能从事这份我们热爱的工作。我们永远不会忘记这一点,或认为这理所当然。

(英文版)A Message to Our Customers about iPhone Batteries and Performance

We’ve been hearing feedback from our customers about the way we handle performance for iPhones with older batteries and how we have communicated that process. We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down. We apologize. There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, so we would like to clarify and let you know about some changes we’re making.

First and foremost, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades. Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love, and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that.

How batteries age

All rechargeable batteries are consumable components that become less effective as they chemically age and their ability to hold a charge diminishes. Time and the number of times a battery has been charged are not the only factors in this chemical aging process.

Device use also affects the performance of a battery over its lifespan. For example, leaving or charging a battery in a hot environment can cause a battery to age faster. These are characteristics of battery chemistry, common to lithium-ion batteries across the industry.

A chemically aged battery also becomes less capable of delivering peak energy loads, especially in a low state of charge, which may result in a device unexpectedly shutting itself down in some situations.

To help customers learn more about iPhone’s rechargeable battery and the factors affecting its performance, we’ve posted a new support article, iPhone Battery and Performance.

It should go without saying that we think sudden, unexpected shutdowns are unacceptable. We don’t want any of our users to lose a call, miss taking a picture or have any other part of their iPhone experience interrupted if we can avoid it.

Preventing unexpected shutdowns

About a year ago in iOS 10.2.1, we delivered a software update that improves power management during peak workloads to avoid unexpected shutdowns on iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. With the update, iOS dynamically manages the maximum performance of some system components when needed to prevent a shutdown. While these changes may go unnoticed, in some cases users may experience longer launch times for apps and other reductions in performance.

Customer response to iOS 10.2.1 was positive, as it successfully reduced the occurrence of unexpected shutdowns. We recently extended the same support for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in iOS 11.2.

Of course, when a chemically aged battery is replaced with a new one, iPhone performance returns to normal when operated in standard conditions.

Recent user feedback

Over the course of this fall, we began to receive feedback from some users who were seeing slower performance in certain situations. Based on our experience, we initially thought this was due to a combination of two factors: a normal, temporary performance impact when upgrading the operating system as iPhone installs new software and updates apps, and minor bugs in the initial release which have since been fixed.

We now believe that another contributor to these user experiences is the continued chemical aging of the batteries in older iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s devices, many of which are still running on their original batteries.

Addressing customer concerns

We’ve always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible. We’re proud that Apple products are known for their durability, and for holding their value longer than our competitors’ devices.

To address our customers’ concerns, to recognize their loyalty and to regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple’s intentions, we’ve decided to take the following steps:

Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, starting in late January and available worldwide through December 2018. Details will be provided soon on apple.com.

Early in 2018, we will issue an iOS software update with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.

As always, our team is working on ways to make the user experience even better, including improving how we manage performance and avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.

At Apple, our customers’ trust means everything to us. We will never stop working to earn and maintain it. We are able to do the work we love only because of your faith and support — and we will never forget that or take it for granted.

公开信链接:https://www.apple.com/cn/iphone-battery-and-performance/