On March 15, 2020, Apple finally released the official version of iOS 15.4. From the perspective of version number, iOS 15.4 is just a "small update" under the big version; but from the perspective of functions, iOS 15.4 is undoubtedly the most important feature update since Apple released the iPhone X in 2017: we can finally use Face ID normally while wearing a mask, and in shopping malls or other places where it is inconvenient to take off the mask, the majority of iPhone users can finally use Face ID to brush their faces to give money.
Of course, brushing your face with a mask also has a prerequisite: First of all, you must use an iPhone model equipped with Face ID, and the iPhone SE or iPad cannot use this function even if the system is updated to version 15.4. Second, this feature is only available to iPhone 12 or newer iPhones. We don't know whether this is the limitation of the Face ID algorithm or Apple simply does not want to arrange new features for the old model, after all, the iPhone 11 is already the oldest model on sale by Apple's first party.
However, from the feedback of netizens on the new system of the iPhone in the past few days, the official version of iOS 15.4 hurts not only the hearts of old users, even the latest iPhone 13 Pro series users, after upgrading to iOS 15.4, they have also encountered some "technical problems":
Some users feedback that after upgrading their mobile phones to iOS 15.4, the battery life of the mobile phone has declined significantly, and some iPhone 13 Pro Max can only maintain half a day's battery life, which may be converted into three charges a day; some iPhone 11 even if the screen time is only 2 hours, it also loses 80% of the phone power within 24.
In fact, after each version of iOS update is released, there will be a large number of comments on the Network about the "sharp reduction in battery life", and these true or false, mixed with jokes also strengthen the public's existing impression that "the iPhone battery is not durable". But unlike in the past, this time iOS 15.4 affects the battery life of the comments are very wide, from the iPhone 13 Pro Max to the iPhone 13 mini, to the iPhone life myth - iPhone 11, the battery life of these phones seems to have been affected.
So from the feedback of these users, who snatched the battery life from the hands of users?
What is the battery "crash"?
In Xiao Lei's view, the reason why the iPhone 13 Pro series mobile phones will decline in battery life after the update, ProMotion dynamic high refresh rate can be said to be "indispensable". Although interrupting the word ProMotion (promotion, promotion, promotion) to ProMotion (professional dynamics) seems more like a marketing concept for user marketing, in apple's screen system, ProMotion can be regarded as one of Apple's most important display technologies before XDR. With the combination of iOS's excellent touch driver and high refresh rate screen, ProMotion technology brings excellent display effects and operation experience to the iPad Pro series products, and also makes the iPad Pro the preferred handheld for many audio gamers.
However, the high refresh rate screen panel will increase the power required for the display from two different dimensions: at the hardware level, a higher refresh rate will increase the burden and power consumption of the display surface; at the software level, the mobile phone SoC also needs to draw more frames for the screen, and the power consumption will also increase. These extra power consumption is not worth mentioning for the iPad Pro with a larger battery, but it is a rather difficult account for a mobile phone with a small space layout.
In order to balance the display effect of the mobile phone with the battery life, in the original iOS firmware, the screen refresh strategy adopted by the iPhone 13 Pro series models is different from that of the iPad Pro: in iOS 15, Apple has made certain restrictions on the frame rate of third-party software for the sake of battery life, and will not open the permission of high refresh rate by default. If developers want their software to call the high refresh rate in ProMotion, they need to add the "CADisableMinimumFrameDurationOnPhone" declaration to their App's properties file to manually lift the low frame rate limit.
But in the iOS 15.4 (starting with Beta 1) release, Apple has removed the default low frame rate limit for third-party software, which also means that third-party software can also directly call ProMotion high refresh rates like iOS's own software. And this sudden third-party high refresh rate software, just like when it crushed the high refresh rate Android phone, crushed the battery life of the iPhone 13 Pro series.
Seeing this, some people may ask "iPhone 11 does not have a high refresh rate does not also crash in battery time?" What is the reason for this? "There is a saying that the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 series of battery life decline really can not throw the pot to ProMotion technology. But if we put aside the possibility of the battery being white overnight, according to the statement that "the battery of the iPhone 11 phone has been reduced by 80% in 24 hours, and the screen on time is only 2 hours", this is likely to be the reason why Apple quietly modified the background mechanism of iOS.
Under normal circumstances, if the user does not manually turn on the "background App refresh" permission, the regular application can not run in the background for a long time, only Apple exempts the background restrictions of several types of software can run normally in the background. This is also the reason why the iPhone's WeChat often displays "Receiving" after popping up a notification prompt: the new message notification is responsible for Apple's push service, and WeChat can only connect to the WeChat server to download new messages after the front desk is opened.
The reason why the iPhone 11 described in the report consumes so much power without turning on the screen is, in my opinion, most likely the reason why the background app is refreshed. Either iOS believes that a certain software has a legitimate reason and necessity to allow it to continue to run in the background, or the user manually opens the background refresh permission of some apps, allowing some large power users to continue to work in the background.
In the feedback, the user said he only used four apps, Safari, Youtube, Instagram and Uber, but did not attach the corresponding battery usage information or battery activity information. According to Xiao Lei's experience, Uber is likely to be the real culprit behind the power consumption of this iPhone 11.
In front of Android, did iOS "panic"?
Of course, we can't easily rule out the last possibility – what if there's really a problem with iOS 15.4's power management? Every year when iOS launches an update, there will be people on the Internet who will catch the wind and shadow and draw the conclusion of "XX finished exploding Apple" through a series of unknown inferences. However, judging from the frequency and content of iOS updates in recent years, in the face of the step-by-step approach of the Android camp, iOS does seem to be a little confused.
For example, in the privacy field that iOS is best at, the mobile phones in the Android camp have found their own route. Under Apple's strong control, iOS software generally does not appear to be used without permission, and the characteristics of differential privacy and hardware encryption of iOS are also worth learning from the majority of Android mobile phone brands. But such a tough management method also makes some software or services choose to abandon the iOS client, and iPhone users can only use the web version of the program.
But in the Android camp, the brand has developed another way to develop the function of blank permissions and fake data, and curve to protect the user's data in another way. In particular, the function of providing fake data to the App is the envy of me, an iPhone user.
On the other hand, the iOS system, although behind the bland iOS conference is likely to be the next "big move" that Apple is preparing, but in terms of the more and more micro-operated Apple release or point of view, Apple seems to have really lost the direction of development. If this is true, then the problem of battery life is also likely to be a "technical adjustment" behind the iOS 14 duck on the shelves.
Considering Apple's overly Buddha-like attitude when repairing iOS, it is likely that there will be more and more news that the iOS 15.4 battery is not durable in the future, and then think of apple has not solved the problem that Apple Watch synchronously closes the mobile App network permission, if excessive power consumption is really a bug, I am not optimistic about the repair speed of iOS. But then again, although Apple's software and hardware competitiveness are in place, in the past few years, Apple still relies on strong user stickiness to maintain its user base.
Unlike other domestic mobile phone brands, Apple has begun to form its own ecosystem since the birth of iOS, firmly grasping every aspect of users' digital life in their own hands. In the eyes of Android users, the uncompetitive iPhone SE3 can get tens of thousands of bookings on the e-commerce platform is the best example, under the invisible bundle of iCloud, whether the iPhone and iOS will be better or worse in the future, when the iPhone battery in their hands runs out, iPhone users sit there. Affectionate eyes look at the past, are their future use of the new iPhone.