Users of Apple's new 16in MacBook Pro have started reporting problems with the unit's MagSafe charging mechanism.

As first spotted by AppleInsider, a user complained on Reddit that when their MacBook Pro was shut down, the MagSafe charger would flash orange, which is often an indication that it is not charging correctly.

Apple instructed the user to reboot the system in recovery mode, but this only solved the problem temporarily. "This should not happen on such an expensive device. I'm worried about the negative effects this may have on the battery and the device overall," the customer said.

Commenters also reported the same problem. "I have the EXACT same issue," said one. "Went to the Genius bar and they tested with a cable and charger that they have and it still had the same problem."

Apple bought back the MagSafe charger to the MacBook Pro in when it unveiled the redesigned units in October. The company has is advising owners of the laptop to either charge their MacBook in sleep mode or with the lid open, or to attach the MagSafe cable first before shutting the machine off.

This would not be the first time that Apple has faced problems for its MacBook Pro laptops, which tend to carry a price premium. It was forced to fix its redesigned butterfly-mechanism keyboards in 2018 after repeated hardware failures that prompted a customer lawsuit, and had to recall units over worries about overheating batteries the following year. Users sued again last year over a flaw in MacBook Pro displays that caused backlights to fail.

Users have also reported problems with external monitors when using the company's new macOS Monetery operating system. The reports span different devices, ranging from the iMac to the MacBook Pro and Mac Mini. Some report flicking screens, while others report difficulties getting an external monitor to work with Apple laptops at all.

Windows 11 may come with a strict list of hardware requirements, but that doesn't mean things won't go wrong if you still meet them. It is, after all, an operating system that can still get slow over time.

Thankfully, there are a number of straightforward steps you can take to speed up performance and keep your Windows 11 PC firing on all cylinders.

Disable Windows 11 startup programmes

One of the first problems users might notice is software loading in the background during the startup routine. This could load whether it's being used or not, slowing the start process, as a result. If you do find Windows 11 taking longer than usual to load after you start your machine, or if it's taking too long for the system to become usable, an unwanted startup programme could be the issue.

This, thankfully, is a simple fix: Go to settings, then 'Apps', and 'Startup', where you'll find a list of software that automatically loads during the bootup process. You need to switch off any non-essential software, particularly apps marked as "high impact". However, not all of these labels will be reliable.

Another way is to simply press CTRL + Shift + ESC to access the Task Manager window, where the same Startup menu can be found, but with an older UI.

It's important to not be overzealous here. Avoid uninstalling online backup services, like OneDrive or Dropbox, which could end up preventing your files from being synchronised properly. The same goes for security software, which could end up weakening your machine for the sake of a minor performance boost.

Windows 11 did add new software to the default startup, including Microsoft Teams - so feel free to disable that if it’s something you don’t use.

Migrate Windows 11 from hard drive to SSD

If your PC is still running on an old-fashioned hard disk, by far the biggest performance boost you could give it is to switch to an SSD. Solid-state disks have no moving parts, unlike those spinning hard-disk platters, meaning that applications load in a flash and files are retrieved near-instantly.

We’ve got a separate article showing you how to upgrade a Windows 11 PC from hard disk to SSD. It’s the kind of upgrade you can tackle yourself, but if you’re not confident, any PC repair shop will do the job for you.

The most immediate change you’ll see is that Windows will boot in a fraction of the time it took on your mechanical hard drive. What’s more, you’ll also be able to start using your system immediately, rather than wait for background apps to load. Beyond that, overall responsiveness for most activities should increase substantially on an SSD. We've also got plenty of reviews of the latest SSDs to hit the market, in case you need help picking one out.

Install Windows 11 apps from safe places

A good number of Windows performance problems are caused by app installations that bring all kinds of unwanted cruft with them: extra applications, browser toolbars, or even malware.

We’ve all been caught out by installers that have pre-ticked boxes for additional software in the rush to install a new app. However, there are ways to avoid them.

Only install software from reputable, well-known sources. Microsoft’s own app store – now called the Microsoft Store and found on the Windows 11 Taskbar – has been a vacuum in recent years, but Microsoft has made a big effort to make the Store a one-stop shop for all kinds of applications in Windows 11. If you’ve struggled to find the applications you need in the past, it might be worth another look. You can be assured that any app installed via the Microsoft Store won’t come with any unwanted baggage.

Alternatively, those more comfortable with the Command Line might prefer the Windows Package Manager. Those familiar with Linux should be right at home with the Package Manager. Once installed, it essentially allows you to install applications using a simple line of code, again avoiding any risk of something undesirable being bundled in with the application you wanted.

Installing an application becomes as simple as opening a Command Prompt and typing: winget install < appname > (without the spaces before and after appname).

Only certain apps are available via this route. You can find out more about the Windows 11 Package Manager here.

Don’t shut down Windows 11

Windows used to have a poor reputation for chewing through laptop batteries, even when the lid was shut and the computer was supposed to be sleeping. With help from modern hardware, things have massively improved in this department, meaning there’s really no need to fully shut down your PC if you’re not going to need it for a while – even for a whole weekend.

The graph displayed above shows the battery depletion for a Windows 11 laptop that was left in sleep/hibernation for almost four days. As you can see, the battery barely depleted at all during that period, and when we picked it up on the fourth day, it was ready to go from the instant we logged in. That’s much quicker than going through the full startup routine that a full shutdown would have required.

All that said, if you do find performance is getting a bit sticky with your PC, sometimes a shut down and restart is all it needs to restore its zip.

Tweak Windows 11's performance settings

Windows 11 has a selection of performance settings that are well hidden, but could make a noticeable difference to the responsiveness of the PC if you’re running the OS on a computer that just scrapes past the minimum hardware requirements.

To find these settings, open the Control Panel and then use the Search Control Panel bar in the top-right of that window to search for ‘performance’. Click on Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.

Here, you’ll get a whole host of options to choose from, but if you choose to tick Adjust for best performance it will turn everything off. That’s overkill, as it switches off features such as ‘smooth edges of screen fonts’, which can make the onscreen typefaces very jagged and difficult to read.

Experiment with different options, but the ones most likely to boost performance are things such as animations, menu fades, and shadows under windows.

Switch Windows 11 into Best Performance battery mode

If you’re running a laptop on battery power, Windows 11 will, by default, throw the laptop into a ‘balanced’ power mode that compromises on performance to avoid the battery taking a hammering.

However, if your battery is fully charged and you need all the processing power you can lay your hands on to complete an intensive task, such as video rendering, you might want to throw the laptop into ‘best performance’ mode. To do this, go to Settings > Power & battery, and under Power mode select ‘best performance’.

This should give you the same level of performance as if the laptop were plugged in. Do keep an eye on the battery though, as it can dwindle pretty quickly when the system is being pushed to limit.

Alongside this tweak, we also have a few tips for improving laptop speed overall, which might also help improve your experience using Windows 11.

Apple is working on a new feature that will help your device conserve battery life if you are not paying attention to it, according to Apple Insider,

Current Apple devices already have a feature that sort of handles this, although the current system works more like a countdown since you last interacted with the device. The new system will reportedly focus more on if you are paying attention to certain functions the device is engaging by monitoring peripheral devices and various sensors.

Say you are listening to Apple Music via your AirPods and set the phone on your desk. The newly patented “attention detection service” will use a gaze sensor to detect you are not looking at the screen and shut down the screen to cut battery consumption. However, it will not impact your Apple Music session because it knows you are actively listening via the AirPods.

The device will reportedly use multiple sensors, such as detection and touch detection, to determine which unnecessary functions to shut down.

Other functions could spread to Apple TV 4K, which currently uses a timer to decide when to shut down. With Apple TV 4K, the “attention detection service” could theoretically sense when you’re in the car via Apple CarPlay or in the kitchen getting a snack via the location sensor on your Apple Watch and pause the show you are watching or shut down the device altogether.

According to the report, this feature will be active whether the device is running only on the battery or plugged in. While it may not make sense to shut down functions when a device is not running on battery alone, shutting down unnecessary functions when you leave the device plugged in will conserve energy and reduce heat.

There is no timeline for this new feature’s release, as it was just granted its patent on August 31.

With the next Apple smartphone right around the corner, it makes sense to align the function’s release with the new iPhone 13’s unveiling. The latest iPhone will reportedly have a 120Hz ProMotion screen, so the screen deactivation alone could be instrumental in boosting the device’s battery life.

Intel has launched its 11th-gen Tiger Lake CPUs built on the 10nm process, promising greater power and efficiency in approximately 150 ‘thin and light’ devices expected to launch by the end of the year.

Nine new CPUs across Core i3, i5 and i7 variants will feature in devices with Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6 support, offering a 20% performance boost on day-to-day office tasks, as well as a roughly 20% improvement to system-level power. These improvements will translate roughly to an additional hour of video streaming on battery.

These new systems are also being launched alongside the company’s Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, which the firm claims performs much better in conjunction with 11th-gen chips compared to the current output you get when you have a 10th-gen chip working alongside Nvidia’s GeForce MX350.

The graphics chip allows for support for 8K HDR displays, as well as four 4K HDR displays simultaneously. This is in addition to the GPU’s AI engine, which Intel claims offers performance improvements to features, such as background blurring on video calls.

“11th Gen Intel Core processors with Intel Iris Xe graphics are a major leap forward in real-world processor performance and are the best laptop processors we have built,” said Gregory Bryant, Intel’s executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group.

“From productivity and content creation to entertainment and gaming, when you pick a system powered by 11th Gen Intel Core – especially one of our new Intel Evo co-engineered and verified designs – you know you are getting the best laptop experience possible.”

The Evo certification will also be attached to new devices that meet a certain threshold. This bar comprises support for Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6, as well as up to nine hours of battery life, fast-charging with up to four hours in under 30 minutes, as well as system wake-up from sleep in less than a second.

The next generation of Dell XPS 13 and XPS 13 2-in-1 laptops, which will launch during the Autumn, and Acer's upcoming Swift 3 14in, Swift 5 14in and Swift 3 13.5in models, will all be running 11th-gen chips at launch.

The announcement has also been made alongside a logo refresh and new jingle for the company, as it hopes to turn over a new leaf following a rocky few months.

The firm was recently forced to delay its 7nm CPUs for at least six months, with customers and investors warned not to expect products fitted with these chips until 2022 or 2023. This was due to a “defect mode” in the 7nm process that caused degradation in yield. As a result, the company ousted its chief engineering officer Dr Venkata “Murthy” Renduchintala.

This all happened alongside news that Nvidia finally overtook the company as the most valuable US chipmaker.

Intel's new 11th-gen chips are still built on the 10nm architecture, although they are based on the company’s ‘SuperFin’ process technology, meaning they offer better performance at lower power consumption levels.

Apple made the controversial, and ultimately very costly decision back in 2017 to throttle its older iPhone models, limiting the power of the device in an attempt to mitigate a pervasive battery discharge issue.

Its intentions were supposedly innocent but by slowing down the devices of its users, unsurprisingly, this was met with widespread anger as users suddenly had to wrestle with a noticeably worse user experience every time they wanted to perform a task like texting, making a FaceTime call, or playing a game on the commute to work.

Indeed, users were unhappy that they had what was essentially a fraction of the phone for which they initially paid a sizeable sum. Apple defended its decision by saying the throttling feature helped to maintain the user experience in older iPhones but complaints escalated into a class-action lawsuit which Apple ultimately settled with a $500 million (£368.4 million) payment.

With the throttling feature still in place, iPhones running iOS 11.3 or later are able to switch it off, though it’s worth mentioning Apple does not recommend doing this. We’ll explain the possible consequences of this and why the feature works in the sections below.

What is iPhone throttling?

Throttling is a term used across the computer hardware industry and in this case, it refers to a manufacturer deliberately forcing an update to a device telling it to not perform at its maximum capabilities.

Theoretically, this will prolong the device’s lifespan - allowing it to function at a usable level for a longer period of time. Apple once introduced this on MacBooks to stop them from overheating, but iPhones can also be throttled to preserve battery life.

Elsewhere in computer hardware, throttling can also be a term used to refer to computer components limiting the performance of other components. For example, a higher-performance computer usually requires a robust cooling system in order for the CPU to operate at maximum capacity. If a CPU is not adequately cooled, it can lead to poorer processing performance in a process known as ‘thermal throttling’ - the cooling system here throttles the CPU.

Why does Apple throttle its iPhones?

While it’s no fun to suddenly have your iPhone running at a fraction of its power, there’s a good reason why Apple throttles its iPhones past a specific age. The iPhone’s battery capacity reduces with each charging cycle and gradually loses its ability to offer peak power. Once the battery reaches a certain threshold, your iPhone might also randomly turn off after a few hours of usage.

Apple created software to throttle the iPhone’s performance and reduce the load on the battery. The throttling may prolong the battery's lifespan and help it retain its charge, but performance is noticeably reduced.

How to turn off battery throttling on the iPhone

In the light of the controversy, Apple allowed users to manually disable the throttling feature, starting with iOS 11.3 via the Battery Health feature.

In order to access the battery throttling menu, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the “Battery” tab and tap the “Battery Health” button.
2. Check under the “Peak Performance Capability” section to see if your battery supports normal peak performance or if performance management has been enabled. If it shows that performance management is active, the iPhone throttling software is enabled.
3. If your iPhone throttling is enabled, you’ll see an option to toggle it to the “Off” position to disable the throttling.
4. Toggle performance management to “Off” to disable it.

How to install the latest version of iOS on your iPhone

The option to disable iPhone throttling is only available in iOS 11.3 or later versions, so you may need to upgrade to take advantage of it.

Here’s how you can upgrade to the latest iOS on your iPhone:

1. Open “Settings”
2. Under “General,” tap on “Software Update.”
3. The “Software Update” screen will either tell you whether you have the latest iOS installed or prompt you to upgrade to the newest iOS. If you are on an iOS older than version 11.2, you’ll have to perform more than one update to bring your phone up to date.

Should you turn off iPhone throttling?

If you prefer performance over extended battery life, then switching off the performance management makes sense. However, this will shorten your battery's lifespan.

Instead of buying a new phone, another affordable option is to replace the battery for $49 or $69, depending on which model you own.

If you own a reasonably modern iPhone, like the iPhone 8, battery replacement may make more sense than buying a brand new iPhone. After all, $49-$69 is a lot lower than the price of a new iPhone.

The new Optimized Charging Feature

Apple released another battery-focused feature in iOS 13 called “Optimized Battery Charging.” The feature reduces the wear on your iPhone battery and improves its lifespan by reducing the time your iPhone takes to charge fully.

When you enable this feature, your iPhone learns your daily charging routine and delays charging past 80% in specific situations.

For instance, if your iPhone predicts you’ll charge it for an extended time or overnight, it’ll automatically activate Optimized Battery Charging to delay charging. The algorithm prevents the battery from overcharging and losing its capacity.

The Optimized Battery Charging feature is on by default when you update to iOS 13 or later. To turn the feature off, go to Settings > Battery > Battery Health > Optimized Battery Charging.

When the Optimized Battery Charging activates, a notification will appear on the lock screen to inform you when your iPhone will charge fully. If you want your iPhone to charge sooner, touch and hold the notification and tap on “Charge Now.”

Just days after teasing its incoming smartphone charging tech, OPPO has officially announced its new lineup of flash chargers. The lineup includes the 125-watt flash charge, the 65-watt AirVOOC wireless charger, the portable 50-watt mini SuperVOOC charger and the 110-watt mini flash charger. The 125-watt flash charge can charge a phone in just 20 minutes, signifying another breakthrough in charging tech for OPPO.

Building off OPPO’s proprietary SuperVOOC technical design, the 125-watt flash charge supports 20-volt charging at 6.25 amps and can charge a 4,000 mAh battery up to 41% in five minutes and fully charge it in 20 minutes. It also boasts significantly improved power density properties to reduce charging time without increasing the size of the charger itself. Added safety protection features such as temperature sensors monitor the charging status and ensure maximum charging safety too.

The 65-watt AirVOOC wireless flash charge, on the other hand, uses isolated charge pump technology and parallel dual-coil design to increase wireless charging efficiency for super-fast wireless charging. At its quickest rate, the 65-watt AirVOOC wireless flash charge can charge a 4,000 mAh battery from 0 to 100% in as little as 30 minutes.

Today’s launch also included the debut of the 50-watt mini SuperVOOC charger, the world's smallest 50-watt charger, and the 110-watt mini flash charger.

Developed through multi-radian curve processing, OPPO’s 50-watt mini SuperVOOC charger is only 1.05 cm (0.41 inches) thick, making it convenient for commuters and travelers to slide in their pocket or purse when they’re on the move. The 50-watt mini SuperVOOC charger is also compatible with VOOC protocols, supports mainstream protocols such as 27-watt PD and 50-watt PPS, and can charge mobile phones and laptops.

OPPO's 110-watt mini flash charger builds upon the 50-watt mini SuperVOOC charger and uses its dual-level architecture to achieve high-efficiency power conversion and temperature-rise control. The charger also uses a combination of laminate and compact structures to minimize its size to 35.76 cubic cm (14.08 cubic inches), which is similar to the size of a normal 18-watt charger.

Jeff Zhang, OPPO chief charging technology scientist commented: “OPPO has been leading the development of fast charging ever since VOOC flash charge was launched in 2014. Now, we are committed to continuing to build on our expertise and advantages in the field of high power, wireless and ultra-small charging technologies in order to provide users with a safe, efficient and convenient ultra-fast charging experience.”

Barring a licensing deal with a smartphone seller in the U.S., it’s unlikely these chargers will be available in the States, as OPPO phones are only available in select areas of Africa, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

Owners of iPhones that Apple admitted to throttling back in 2017 can now start claiming their $25 payout, MacRumors reports.

At the time of "batterygate," Apple admitted it throttled the speed of aging iPhones to help conserve battery. iPhone owners took issue with the slowdown and launched a class-action lawsuit that was settled for up to $500 million earlier in 2020.

The settlement website is now live and places the official settlement amount at between $310 million and $500 million, depending on the number of people who put in claims. Given the payout doesn’t exceed $500 million, each claimant will get around $25 for their troubles.

The settlement covers owners of iPhone 6, 6 Plus, 6s, 6s Plus, 7, 7 Plus or SE devices that ran iOS 10.2.1 or later. It also covers iPhone 7 and 7 Plus devices that had iOS 11.2 or later. The other qualifier is you purchased the smartphone before Dec. 21, 2017.

You also need to have the qualifying iPhone’s serial number, which will prevent most user’s who sold or destroyed their iPhones from submitting claims.

According to the settlement website, this payout is only valid if Apple pays out $500 million or less. That means it covers only 20 million iPhone 6, 7 and SE owners. Given Apple sold hundreds of millions of iPhones in the U.S. from 2014 through 2017, that $500 million threshold will likely be crossed quickly.

Once the claims reach that threshold, the payout reduces to a prorated amount. So, if 100 million iPhone owners put in valid claims, each would get just $5. Chances are high the final payout will be closer to that $5 mark than $25.

You can claim your settlement until Oct. 6 at Apple’s iPhone settlement page.

So, the latest iPhone isn't selling as well as Apple predicted, and the excuses are plentiful: a strong dollar, weak demand from China, fewer subsidies from mobile networks and "macroeconomic challenges".

However, there was one line, slipped it at the end of Tim Cook's flowery list of excuses, that really caught my eye. iPhone sales are tumbling because of "some customers taking advantage of significantly reduced pricing for iPhone battery replacements".

That noise you can hear is the chickens coming home to roost.

Do you remember why Apple started offering cheap battery replacements in the first place? That's right: because the company admitted it was throttling the performance of older handsets in order to preserve their fading battery life. Or, as others saw it at the time, deliberately crippling older phones so that people would be more tempted to buy a new one.

I suspect the truth is somewhere between those two extremes: it makes sense for Apple to put the brakes on battery-sapping tasks to improve battery life, but if that forces a few customers to take a trip to their local Apple Store sooner than they might otherwise, so be it.

Yet, the unpleasant truth for Apple is that customers are seeing fewer and fewer reasons to buy new iPhones. Stick a 25 new battery in an iPhone 7 and revitalise its performance, and the idea of paying a grand or more for a new iPhone X suddenly seems as attractive as a timeshare on Tooting Common.

How does Apple get itself out of this fix? It does, of course, have plenty of headroom to cut iPhone prices and still make a handsome handset profit, but that's not Apple's style. The starting price of everything Apple - including Mac Minis, iMacs and iPhones has risen sharply in recent years.

Discounting is a dirty word. If you want reasonable prices, you have to buy the older models and accept second or third best.

Instead, Apple will turn the screw. Those 25 battery replacements? They've already bitten the dust. They were only scheduled to be offered until the end of 2018 in the first place, and now that Cook's admitted they're harming sales of new handsets, there's no chance they're coming back.

You're now looking at 45 for an out-of-warranty battery replacement for older iPhone models and 65 for the latest generation handsets. It's still a relatively cheap way to breathe new life back into a perfectly serviceable older iPhone, but I'd expect Apple to keep inching those battery replacement costs back up to the point where it starts to become a dilemma once more. Check out the cost of out-of-warranty iPad battery replacements, for example. They can cost more than 600!

If you're nearing the end of your iPhone contract and are dithering over whether to stick with what you've got or pay the upgrade ransom, I'd start giving it some serious thought. Get the battery replacement while it's still halfway reasonable and spend the grand on something else.

Just don't invest it in Apple shares. I hear they're not faring too well at the moment.

Dozens of lawsuits alleging that Apple intentionally slowed down older iPhone batteries to get customers to upgrade to newer models will likely be consolidated into one big court case, a US judicial panel has said.

The battery performance-related complaints filed against Apple will be heard at once during a hearing scheduled for 29 March in Atlanta, Georgia, the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said, a commonplace decision for cases spanning multiple states.

Apple was accused of intentionally slowing down the performance of older iPhone handsets back in January, with people suggesting the Cupertino firm did it so users will be more likely to upgrade to the latest model out of sheer frustration.

Apple faces 59 putative class actions across 16 district courts in the US. The total includes 30 before Judge Edward J. Davila in the Northern District of California, which, according tocourt documents obtained by MacRumors, states the lawsuits will likely be centralised given their overlapping claims.

Apple has denied the accusations, saying it did slow down the batteries but only to make them able to run newer software. It has since cut the costs of replacement batteries for affected users and created a patch to prevent battery throttling on iOS.

The accusations arrived via research conducted by benchmark firm GeekBench, who looked into the theory after a Reddit thread suggested iPhone performance reduces as battery life drains.

The conclusion of the research was that while battery life is expected to dwindle the more a device is used due to increased recharging cycles, it shouldn't really affect performance.

So Geekbench took it upon itself to benchmark the performance of iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 devices running on different versions of iOS to see how the kernel density changes as the operating system is updated.

The firm discovered that the iPhone 6's score for iOS 10.2.0 didn't change in performance - but when it studied the iPhone 6 running iOS 10.2.1, the phone's performance peaked at the average performance score and several others peaked around some of the lower scores. It reported that there was even more of a disparity when the iPhone 6 was tested on the later version of iOS 11.2.0.

01/02/2018:Apple responds to US probes into battery slowdowns

Apple has again said it would neverintentionally "degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades," in response to theJustice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission's investigations into the firm's practices.

The company said it would roll out a software update that offers users more information about how their iPhone performance is affected as their devices age.

"We know that iPhones have become an important part of the daily lives of our customers and our intention was to improve the customer experience," the company said in a statement.

It has already offered discounted battery upgrades for iPhones that were suffering from performance problems, while promising to introduce a software feature in devices that shows battery health and recommends when a user should replace the battery in their device.

"These actions were taken to further assist our customers and help extend the life of their iPhones," Apple's statement said. "In addition, users will be able to see if the power management feature is being used to prevent unexpected shutdowns, and turn it off if they so choose. These features will be included in a developer release next month and a user release this spring."

Apple then went on to apologise again to those affected by the controversy.

"Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love. Making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that," Apple said."We have received questions from some government agencies and we are responding to them."

18/01/2018:Tim Cook: Users can turn off iPhone battery throttling in next iOS patch

Apple CEO Tim Cook has revealed that a future iOS update will allow users to switch off the battery throttling feature introduced to prevent system failures on older hardware, although he warned that this would increase the likelihood of unexpected crashes.

Speaking out on the battery issue, Cook added that the feature will become optional in next month's iOS developer build, with a public release scheduled shortly afterwards.

He added that Apple had the "purest" intentions when it came to limiting the power output of older batteries, although he admitted the company could have been more transparent with its customers.

"Our actions were all in service of the user, I can't stress that enough our actions were always the purest," said Cook, speaking to ABC News. "We've listened to the feedback very carefully and what we're doing now is... we're going to give people the visibility of the health of their battery, so it's very, very transparent."

He added that the company will tell users when it's reducing iPhone performance in order to reduce crashes, but that this can be toggled off.

"If you don't want it, you can turn it off," added Cook. "We don't recommend it, because we think people's iPhones are really important to them and you never can tell when something is so urgent."

In December Apple was accused of deliberately slowing down older iPhones after benchmark tests revealed a noticeable degradation in performance, with many believing the company was trying to pressure customers into buying newer models.

Apple later publicly addressed the accusations, admitting that a feature introduced in iOS 10.2.1 was indeed reducing the power output of older batteries, although this was done in order to protect devices from unexpected crashes as the hardware aged, it said.

The company later issued an apology for the debacle, but Cook remains adamant that customers were told about the feature when it first released.

"When we did put it out, we did say what it was, but I don't think a lot of people were paying attention," said Cook, speaking to ABC News. "Maybe we should have been clearer as well. We deeply apologise for anyone who thinks we had some other motivation."

Apple has faced criticisms from customers, regulators and government officials over its handling of the issue. US Senator and chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, John Thune, has probed Apple's complaint procedures and questioned whether the company will offer rebates to its customers, while eight lawsuits have also been filed in three US states.

French consumer watchdog DGCCRF has also launched an investigation into allegations the company operated a policy of planned obsolescence with its iPhones, something that if found to be true would carry a multi-billion dollar fine under French law.

On top of the battery issue, Apple has also faced criticisms over a string of software bugs recently discovered on iOS and MacOS High Sierra, and a number of botched patchesthat fixed one issue only to create another.

The latest bug has been described as a "Text Bomb", a crashing fault that can be triggered when a user sends a text message containing a specific link to a line of code, even if the user did not clink the link.

Apple has yet to comment on this latest problem.

10/01/2018:Now US Senate questions Apple over iPhone battery slowdowns

Apple is now facing questions from the US Senate over its recent admission that it deliberately throttled the power output of batteries in older iPhones, adding to legal pressures from lawsuits and an investigation by the French government.

Senator John Thune, chair of the Senate commerce committee, yesterday questioned the company's practices and its handling of the slowdown issue, in a letter sent to Apple CEO Tim Cook, seen by the Wall Street Journal.

The company has come under fire from customers, regulators and governments over the revelation that it deliberately reduced the power output of batteries in older phones, which resulted in lower CPU performance.

While some accused Apple of using planned obsolescence of older devices in order to spur customers to buy newer models, in December Apple said that the power management feature helps reduce the strain on older hardware ill-equipped to deal with the demands of modern software.

"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," an Apple spokesperson said at the time.

In a copy of the letter, seen by the WSJ, Thune asked how Apple has managed the complaints it has received from customers, and asked whether the company has considered offering full refunds to those customers who paid the full battery replacement cost before the reduced scheme came into effect.

"Apple's proposed solutions have prompted additional criticism from some customers, particularly its decision not to provide free replacement batteries," said Thune, imposing a deadline for answers by 23 January.

Apple announced it would offer customers an out-of-warranty subsidised battery replacement for $29, down from $79 (25, down from 79 in the UK), however, those who had already purchased a new battery earlier in the year, possibly as a result of Apple's throttling practice, do not qualify for the scheme.

Customers have also reported having to wait up to a week to schedule appointments at their local Apple Store, while others said that a supply shortage has meant the company has struggled to honour commitments to provide replacements.

French consumer watchdog DGCCRF, which is part of the government's finance ministry, yesterday said it was investigating whether the company deliberately deceived customers and operated "planned obsolescence" practices, which under French law carries a fine of up to 5% of annual sales.

With the majority of Apple iPhone customers currently using older phones from the iPhone 6, 6s and 7 ranges, even a small percentage of customers deciding to replace their batteries instead of upgrading could significantly impact sales of new models, said Barclay's analyst Mark Moskowitz earlier this week.

The company also faces eight lawsuits brought by customers, filed in courts in New York, Illinois and California.

09/01/2018:France investigates whether Apple slowed batteries to boost upgrades

A French prosecution team is reportedly investigating Apple's practices following consumer organisations' allegations of planned obsolescence of its iPhone products.

French consumer watchdog DGCCRF, which is part of the economy ministry, launched the preliminary investigation last Friday with the aim of discovering whether the US technology giant deliberately deceived its customers in order to sell more hardware, according to judicial sources speaking to Reuters.

Reports emerged in December that Apple was deliberately throttling batteries in older iPhones following the addition of a new power management feature in the iOS 10.2.1 update. Benchmark tests revealed this resulted in poorer performance from a device's processor, but Apple hadn't made it clear to users that the feature would reduce their phones' power output, nor did it explain why the feature was added.

Apple was initially suspected of doing this in an effort to push customers towards buying newer smartphones, but Apple later claimed it was to reduce the strain on older hardware that was unable to cope with demands from modern software.

The tech giant has since issued a rare apology for its handling of the battery issue, adding that it would never intentionally shorten the battery life of any Apple product.

France's investigation will seek to clarify whether Apple deliberately manipulated older products to spur demand on its newest range of smartphones, something that carries a fine of 5% of annual sales if a company is found guilty. In Apple's case, that would be a fine close to $15 billion given its most recent quarterly report.

IT Pro has contacted Apple for comment on the investigation.

Apple has been hit by multiple legal challenges following the company's acknowledgement of the battery issue, including a complaint by French consumer group HOP, which works to fight against planned obsolescence of products, and a number of lawsuits in the US that claim the company defrauded its customers.

The company has since launched a replacement scheme that allows users to apply for new batteries for devices outside of their warranties. It also reduced the price of the replacement from 79 to 25 in December, although it's strictly on a one-per-iPhone basis.

However, the fine print in the agreement says that if a user has had a replacement battery in the past year, the current hardware has to fail a diagnostic test in order to qualify for the replacement.

02/01/2018:Apple's $29 iPhone battery replacements are now available

Apple has said it will make its replacement batteries immediately available for iPhone customers, in an attempt to get in front of severe backlash over its throttling practices in older hardware.

Users with an iPhone 6 or a newer model are now able to purchase a new battery for their devices at a reduced price of $29, according to a letter to customers on 28th December. Apple's out-of-warranty battery replacement programme, which normally costs customers $79, will run worldwide at the reduced rate until December 2018.

Apple had previously said the new batteries wouldn't be available until late January, but development has proceeded far quicker than anticipated, according to a statement to TechCrunch.

"We expected to need more time to be ready, but we are happy to offer our customers the lower pricing right away," the statement read. "Initial supplies of some replacement batteries may be limited."

Apple was hit with a wave of public backlash after it was claimed the batteries on older iPhone models were being throttled in order to drive customers to upgrade to newer smartphones.

It was later discovered that iOS 10.2.1, released in February 2017, contained a feature that capped the power output of older, less capable batteries in an effort to prevent unexpected failures. The justification was that the older hardware was unable to support some of the features introduced in later iOS updates, however, the company was blasted for its lack of transparency.

While the rollout is ahead of schedule, Apple has made it clear initial supplies will be limited, so customers will need to act fast if they want to get their new batteries. Unfortunately, those customers who applied for a battery replacement before the announcement will not qualify for the $50 reduction.

Customers can begin the battery replacement process by contacting Apple directly through their customer service portals, or by visiting an Apple Store.

22/12/2017:Apple hit with legal action over iPhone performance slow-down

Apple is facing legal action following revelations that it does indeed slow down older phones to keep the devices alive for longer.

The tech giant was yesterday hit by a class action lawsuit, led by Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, which cites "Breach of implied contract" and "Trepassto chattel" as the two complaints.

"As a result of Defendant's wrongful actions, Plaintiffs and Class Members had their phone slowed down, and thereby it interfered with Plaintiffs' and Class Members' use or possession of their iPhones, Plaintiffs and Class Members have otherwise suffered damages," the suit claims.

It is expected that other class action lawsuits are likely to follow on from this initial filing.

Earlier this week, Apple confirmed it slows down older iPhones that have lithium-ion batteries in order to prolong their life.

"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices," the tech giant said in a statement seen byThe Verge.

"Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.

"Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We've now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future."

Replacing an old battery with a new one is assumed to return the phone to its former speed, as Reddit user krazydavid highlighted the difference in results after the battery was replaced in his iPhone 6 Plus. For his old battery, the Geekbench tests resulted in an 838 single-core and 1390 multi-core score. With the new battery, these scores shot to 1499 and 2579 respectively.

Furthermore, in a post from 2015 on Statista, Felix Richter found that worldwide Google searches for the term "iPhone slow" peaked when a new iPhone was released.

Image source: Statista

20/12/2017:iPhone battery problems? Apple accused of slowing down older iPhones

Apple has been accused of deliberately slowing down older iPhones, essentially forcing users to upgrade their handset.

So claims research, carried out by Geekbench, off the back of a Reddit thread that suggested iPhone performance reduces as battery life dwindles.

Although it's expected that battery life tends to dwindle as a device gets older, due to the increased volume of recharging cycles, associated performance shouldn't grind to a halt too.

Geekbench has benchmarked the performance of iPhone 6 and iPhone 7 devices running on different versions of iOS to see how the kernel density changes as the operating system is updated. It discovered that the iPhone 6's score for iOS 10.2.0 appears 'unimodal' (ie., doesn't change) in performance, but when it studied the iPhone 6 running iOS 10.2.1, the performance peaked around the average score and several other peaks around some of the lower scores. It reported that there was even more of a disparity when the iPhone 6 was tested on iOS 11.2.0.

For the iPhone 7, scores were pretty much identical across iOS 10.2.0, iOS 10.2.1, and iOS 11.1.2. However, when using iOS 11.2.0, the graph showed more peaks again, suggesting the performance is impacted the older the device becomes.

"First, it appears the problem is widespread, and will only get worse as phones (and their batteries) continue to age," Geekbench explained. "Second, the problem is due, in part, to a change in iOS. The difference between 10.2.0 and 10.2.1 is too abrupt to be just a function of battery condition."

Apple apparently rolled out an update to devices that limits the performance when battery life starts to dwindle, according to the Geekbench, because iPhone 6 devices, in particular, were shutting down unexpectedly even when the user had taken advantage of its battery replacement programme.

"Because degraded batteries last much less and end up with a lower voltage Apple's solution was to scale down CPU performance, it doesn't solve anything and is a bad experience but it's better than having your device shutdown at 40% when you need it the most," one Reddit user said.

Apple has admitted it implemented such an update to prevent devices shutting down unexpectedly, but didn't say whether this impacts the performance of the devices.

So it's not just paranoia Apple does deliberately hamper the performance of older iPhones. Except this isn't a ruse to sell you a grand's worth of new iPhone perish your cynicism! Instead, Apple's doing you a favour, preventing your knackered old battery from crashing the phone when it's doing something demanding. And yet that's not quite the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It's a Cupertino-varnished version of the truth that still doesn't explain why every Apple device I've ever owned has been slowly reduced to landfill.

Apple's admission that it's crippling the performance of older iPhones will come as little surprise to anyone who's ever owned one of the things. Get past the two-year mark conveniently, when most contracts come to an end and you're lucky if the battery gasps on until tea time. Performance becomes so sluggish that you begin to wonder if Apple's been taken over by Southern Rail.

Having been caught in the hobbling act by some clever folk and their inconvenient benchmarks, Apple is now trying to spin this as a feature. "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," Apple pleads in a public message to customers.

Instead, to prevent the phone from suddenly blacking out, "iOS dynamically manages the maximum performance of some system components when needed to prevent a shutdown," Apple explains. "While these changes may go unnoticed, in some cases users may experience longer launch times for apps and other reductions in performance."

What Apple fails to mention is that it's the successive updates to iOS that cause performance problems in the first place. When I first bought my iPad Air, apps would open in the bat of an eyelid. Now, three major versions of the operating system later, I have to wait several seconds for anything to happen, often longer. Scrolling through web pages is juddery, app crashes are frequent, battery life is dwindling faster than my chances of winning Miss World -- and the exact same thing happened to my iPad 2, which is now barely operable.

Apple's relentless almost compulsory operating system updates do more damage to device performance than anything else. You could argue that's the price of progress and a better state of affairs than the Android market, where devices are often left to drift on outdated versions of the operating system within a year of being launched.

But for Apple to pin the blame for slumping performance on the "characteristics of battery chemistry" is at best disingenuous, at worst a cold deception. If it took greater care to ensure operating system updates for older devices were less demanding of ageing hardware, iPhones and iPads would last a great deal longer.

Apple is now trying to make amends by offering owners of ageing iPhones replacement batteries on the cheap. Us owners of older iPads can seemingly go whistle.

It's time to stop thinking that we "own" devices such as iPhones and iPads. You're really buying a two-to-three-year lease on a piece of hardware that Apple can and will effectively cripple at a time of its choosing. Apple says its "customers' trust means everything to us". Apparently, their repeat custom means a whole lot more.

Main image credit: Web User|Dennis Publishing

Come on, own up - who's still buying BlackBerry phones? After all, someone must be because despite a string of sub-par devices, the company is still releasing products. Its last couple of devices have been disappointing, but the company is aiming to win back some fans with its latest release, the BlackBerry Motion. Claiming a hefty battery life and (as always) top-notch security, can the Motion reverse the company's ailing fortunes?

Design

Measuring 156mm x 75mm, this phone is decidedly on the larger side - which is accentuated by the fact that it's bordered on three sides by a wide aluminium frame as opposed to the rounded edges used by many manufacturers. The edges have a slight chamfer to them, but not enough to stop the phone feeling much thicker than its 8.1mm depth would suggest. It also feels fairly heavy, despite the fact that at 167g, it's not too far above the rest of 2017's flagship crop.

Like most of BlackBerry's products, the Motion features a soft-touch plastic back, inlaid with a textured carbon fibre-style pattern and the trademark BlackBerry logo. The soft-touch back is a feature that we actually quite like on a phone - it's grippier than glass or metal, and it's more resistant to picking up fingerprints and scratches.

Another feature it has in common with the company's other devices is that BlackBerry has gone for a starkly utilitarian design aesthetic for the Motion, rather than the snazzier looks sported by most other phones. It has more in common with the visual language of industrial machinery than with high-end flagship devices.

That's not to say that the Motion is unattractive though - its carbon fibre and brushed aluminium style has a certain appeal, and it definitely stands out from the rest of the market. On the downside, it doesn't feel nearly as comfortable in the hand as we'd like it to. A combination of its large footprint and wide aluminium frame means that it feels slightly too large and unwieldy to use - even given our comparatively large hands.

Display

BlackBerry has kept the Motion's IPS display fairly modest, with a resolution of 1080p across its 5.5in screen and a pixel density of 403ppi. This reasonably basic screen isn't really anything to write home about; while its maximum brightness of 401cd/m2 is above average, the panel itself is on the oversaturated side.

It doesn't make a huge amount of difference to the experience of watching video clips or viewing images and photos, but the screen definitely isn't as picture-perfect as the likes of the Galaxy S8.

On the other hand, BlackBerry has fitted it with a 'proprietary nano-diamond anti-scratch coating', meaning that if you've got it in the same pocket as your keys, it supposedly won't get too scratched up.

Specs and Hardware

The Motion is rather unimpressive when it comes to hardware and performance. BlackBerry has used a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor paired with 4GB of RAM, and the Motion shares its processor with a variety of lower-end budget devices. In fact, it's got the exact same internal configuration as the Lenovo P2.

Accordingly, it racked up near-identical scores to the P2 in our benchmark tests, with a GeekBench single-core score of 821 and a multi-core score of 3558. That's not terribly impressive compared to modern flagships; the Galaxy S8 managed to score double that, as did the OnePlus 5T - which is less than 100 more expensive than the Motion.

Admittedly, we found the phone to be generally capable in day-to-day use and didn't experience many problems with stuttering or lag, but performance definitely isn't up to the standard of top-of-the-line devices.

Battery life

A lower-powered processor also confers some benefits - namely a hefty battery life. After a full day of use, the BlackBerry Motion still had a very comfortable amount of battery left, and it racked up an impressive score of 18hrs 20mins in our battery tests.

Admittedly, that's not quite as good as the chart-topping P2 (and it's still some way off the 35-hour figure claimed by BlackBerry), but it's up there with the current crop of Android flagships, and it's certainly nothing to be sniffed at.

It's set up to take advantage of Qualcomm's Quick Charge 3.0 technology should you need to juice up in a hurry, and you can also use BlackBerry's 'Boost Mode', which switches off features and limits performance for increased charging speed.

Features

As a BlackBerry phone, the Motion includes a bunch of enhanced security features designed to keep IT managers happy. This includes all of BlackBerry's trademark security software, as well as a special, encrypted 'Locker' section protected by biometric authentication.

These biometrics come courtesy of a fingerprint reader housed in the Home button. Unfortunately, it isn't quite as accurate as some sensors we've tried. It frequently took us two or more tries before we could unlock the Motion, which is a disappointment.

Elsewhere, there's a couple of welcome additional features; IP67 waterproofing makes the cut, as does a MicroSD card slot supporting a theoretical maximum volume of 2TB. That's in addition to the 32GB storage that comes as standard.

BlackBerry has also included a programmable 'convenience key' as seen on some of its other devices. This button can be mapped to any shortcut you choose, allowing you perform tasks like turning on silent mode, launching apps or start composing an email.

You can even program it with different behaviours based on where you are, such as launching navigation when you're driving, bringing up your calendar when you're at the office or opening Netflix when you're at home. This may be a timesaver for busy executives, but we're not totally convinced that it's saving that much time compared to other methods like using a digital assistant.

Verdict

The BlackBerry Motion isn't impressive in any particular area; everything about it is average. It's not bad, it's just not doing anything to set itself apart from the rest of the competition, and in a market full of outstanding smartphones, it's nothing special.

BlackBerry's stock-in-trade has always been business-grade devices, but there's nothing here to entice businesses beyond the security features BlackBerry offers - and even in this regard, the iPhone has a better reputation. All of BlackBerry's productivity and collaboration tools are available on the Google Play Store too, so there's no reason to buy the Motion if you want to use those, either.

Its sole saving grace is the sub-300 price (before tax), but considering that the OnePlus 5T is less than 100 more expensive and offers double the performance along with heaps more features, you're far better off spending a bit more and getting a far, far superior device.

Verdict

While it may have a wallet-friendly price and a respectable battery life on its side, there's not much else to recommend the BlackBerry Motion. It's functional, but it isn't particularly impressive.

Processor	Octa-core 2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625
Screen size	5.5in
Screen resolution	1,920 x 1,080
Rear camera	12 megapixel
Storage (free)	32GB
Wireless data	4G
Dimensions	156 x 76 x 8.1mm
Weight	167g
Operating system	Android 7.1

As we've already seen with Apple's iPhone X, and Samsung's Galaxy S8 before it, ultra-slim bezels are this year's standout design craze. It's seemingly the only way that a smartphone is able to truly stand out in the market. The latest to embrace this trend is OnePlus with its 5T smartphone, an updated version of the excellent OnePlus 5, which was released back in June.

The ultra-slim bezel design has so far generally featured on higher-end devices, which unsurprisingly have had premium price tags slapped onto them. However, OnePlus, true to its reputation for quality at a budget price, is offering that same design experience at a much more affordable 449. Not only that, you're getting performance to rival the Galaxy S8, with a battery that lasts twice as long.

Display

The standout feature of the 5T is its screen. It's a 6in, 1,080 x 2,160 AMOLED display with a pixel density of 401ppi, which, at least on face value, is beautifully sharp and vibrant. It also uses a default theme that is a mix of sunset oranges, pinks and blues, which produce a pleasing effect that's immediately eye-catching. The effect covers almost the entirety of the front face of the phone, as the display stretches almost entirely to the left and right edges while leaving only half a centimetre of bezel at the top and bottom.

The panel is equally impressive from a technical perspective. It managed to hit 98.4% coverage of the sRGB colour space, which makes it incredibly accurate and a joy to watch video or look at images on. Sadly, its 420cd/m2 maximum brightness isn't quite as impressive as other devices. It's more than capable of handling bright conditions however - especially with it glare-beating polarised layer.

Design

Aside from the screen, the 5T essentially uses the same chassis as the OnePlus 5, only with its physical home button snipped off. The 5T is fractionally taller and wider than the 5, but it features the same rounded edges and same button placements as its younger sibling.

The changes are even more discrete on the back of the device, as the camera, flash, the OnePlus logo, and even the antenna bands are identically placed to those on the OnePlus 5, although the dual camera housing does stick out slightly further. The only obvious difference is the presence of a circular fingerprint scanner just above the OnePlus logo, which was evicted from the front of the phone when OnePlus ditched the physical home button.

OnePlus has also decided to keep the headphone port once again. With the use of USB-C for charging the phone, the temptation is to follow the likes of Apple and ditch the headphone port for an all-in-one slot, yet it's nice to see that giving customers more options is still something OnePlus believes in, at least for this generation.

It's also worth mentioning that OnePlus has opted for a Midnight Black colour for the 5T. Apparently, the back panel of the phone undergoes two lots of sandblasting before receiving an anti-fingerprint layer. Whatever OnePlus had done to create the finish, we wholeheartedly approve of it - the smoothed surface on the back of the phone is a joy to hold, and that anti-fingerprint layer works like a charm.

The only disappointment is the lack of any microSD expansion slots, a hangover from the OnePlus 5 that continues to irritate.

Hardware & Performance

Internally, the OnePlus 5T is essentially the same as the 5. It features the popular Snapdragon 835 processor, found on most of today's market-leading phones, backed up by 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage - although there is a model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage available.

Given that there have been relatively few hardware changes in the 5T, it's unsurprising that it's almost identical to the OnePlus 5 in terms of performance and battery life. That is to say you once again get solid performance with one of the best batteries available on the market.

In our single and multi core benchmark tests the OnePlus 5T performed as well as expected for a Snapdragon 835, with scores of 1903 and 6658 respectively. There's almost an imperceptible difference between other leading phones using the Snapdragon 835.

However, when it comes to the battery, it destroys the competition. It uses the same 3,300mAh battery with 'Dash Charge' support as the OnePlus 5, and promises "enough power for the day". In our benchmark tests, the 5T managed to last 20hrs 52mins - longer than the already impressive score of the OnePlus 5. Translating to nearly a full day between charges, the OnePlus 5T lasted almost twice as long as the HTC U11, and considerably longer than the Galaxy S8.

Software and features

There are a handful of quality of life improvements with the OnePlus 5T, which runs the company's own version of Android, known as OxygenOS. Things like expanded screenshots, dark themes and auto night mode have all made their way over to the 5T from the 5.

Unfortunately, the 5T does not ship with Android Oreo, Google's latest OS version, instead opting for Android 7 Nougat. This is slightly surprising given the number of recently launched devices appearing with Oreo pre-installed, however it's likely that the 5T will receive the update in the near future.

There's also a handful of new additions, most notably a soft-key shortcut bar to replace the physical button and lights of the old bezel. This is hidden by default, creating a pleasing full-screen effect on apps, but can be revealed by swiping up and can even be pinned in place if you prefer.

Another handy feature is the ability to open multiple versions of the same app, which is primarily designed for users who want to have more than one social media account open at once. It's an idea that's already built into services like Google, but it's still great to see for apps like Facebook, Twitter and Skype, particularly when switching between business and personal accounts.

Facial recognition has also made its way to the 5T, which OnePlus claims uses over 100 facial features to create a user's profile, and is one of the fastest examples on the market. We can confirm it's incredibly speedy when it comes to scanning your face and unlocking the phone (OnePlus claims this is under 0.4 seconds), and setting it up through the template is a fast and straight-forward process. Another highlight is that, unlike the iPhone X, the device unlocks straight to the home screen without having to swipe a second time.

It's important to note that facial recognition on the 5T is only deployed as way to unlock the device, and the company confirmed that things like authorising payments are not supported, although this may change in the future.

Camera

Some significant changes have been made when it comes to the dual camera, which has been revamped for use with low light photography. Replacing the telephoto lens of the first phone, you get a main 16-megapixel camera with an aperture of f/1.7, with a 20-megapixel lens as a secondary, which is able to produce some better-looking portrait shots than on the OnePlus 5.

These changes have paid off across the board. The OnePlus 5T's camera is exceptional for the money, producing shots that are only very slightly behind the excellent Google Pixel 2 in terms of quality. Video is excellent too, with 4K capture at 30fps looking smooth and stable.

Verdict

Our initial impressions of the 5T already pegged it as one of the best smartphones to release this year, and our benchmarks have cemented this claim. It performs just as well as the other Snapdragon 835 smartphones on the market, including the excellent Galaxy S8, while giving you the peace of mind that it will last almost a full 24 hours before needing to be charged.

The 5T sticks to what works while introducing a fresh design that reignites that same enthusiasm you felt for the original. What's sure to be a winner among existing fans and new customers, OnePlus has given the 5T the flavour of a high-end smartphone, at a price you can stomach. It's the ideal marriage of design, performance, and longevity, pitched perfectly at the mid-range customer.

Verdict

The OnePlus 5T is everything an upgrade should be. It takes the best bits of its predecessor and adds a modern looking design that rivals the best smartphones on the market. You’ll struggle to find anything else on the market that offers similar value for money.

One major qualm about modern smartphones is that their battery life just isn't what it used to be. Smartphones have got smarter but battery technology has remained at a standstill, with every new feature zapping the life out of devices.

However, some devices are still hanging onto their basic roots and it'll come as no surprise to hear that it's these devices that have the most impressive battery life. There are, however, some devices that can survive longer than lunchtime. They're few and far between, but they will change your life if you're forever reaching for the charger.

We delve into the world of battery longevity, suggesting the devices you should buy if you're fed up of your smartphone running out of battery by the time you get to the office.

Lenovo P2

Probably not many peoples' choice because Lenovo isn't best known for its smartphones, the Lenovo P2 eclipses every other phone's battery life, offering up a whopping 28.5 hours of usage.

This extensive battery life is made possible thanks to the 5100mAh battery squeezed into the P2's shell. Although this means it's a little chunkier than some of the other market leaders, the fact its battery life is so amazing will wow the majority of those looking for their device to last day without needing to charge.

Motorola's Moto Z Play

Motorola's Moto Z Play's battery will last almost a full 24 hours for average usage including making and taking calls, using email and apps including always-on social networks such as Facebook. This also includes watching video, making it a perfect companion if you commute to get to and from work.

The battery doesn't have a huge capacity in comparison to the Lenovo P2 at just 3510mAh, but that doesn't matter because the smaller screen takes less to power and it's more efficient with the power it holds.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus

One issue with smartphones boasting a long battery life is that they more often than not are larger than you'd like from a smartphone. That's because the only way to get more juice out of a battery is by making it physically bigger.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus is certainly no shrinking violet, measuring 159.5x73.4x8.1mm, but that extra beef certainly goes some way towards making the device last all day. Its 3500 mAh will last around 18 hours if you're using it on and off all day, including making and taking calls, sending emails and texts, a little gameplay and video playback, making it one of the most powerful smartphones around in terms of battery power.

iPhone SE

If you're desperate for an iPhone with top battery life, it's worth checking out the iPhone SE, which boast more than 16 hours of juice - mostly because its slimmed-down features won't drain the battery like its iOS counterparts.

Although it only packs in a 1624mAh battery, which is significantly less than the other devices in this roundup, at least it will last all day, unlike any other iPhone on the market, making it a perfect option for those wanting the best of Apple without compromising on battery life.

No matter which smartphone you own or how long you think its battery will last, Sod's law says that it will run out when you need it most. There's no need to worry though, if you're carrying a USB power bank.

These lifesavers are basically big batteries with a USB port so you can plug in any mobile device to quickly top up its charge. There are hundreds of different power banks available, including many suspect no-name bargain basement models.

Luckily, we've sifted through all the chaff for you. Our battery life tests not only show you which USB power banks last the longest, but which ones have the most useful features too.

Amazon Basics

When it comes to tech's no-frills essentials, the Amazon Basics range is hard to beat and the company's power banks are no exception. Available in seven different capacities from 2,000mAh all the way up to 16,100mAh, there's no fancy features on display here.

In fact, there's barely any features at all. There's just one USB port, along with four indicator lights to show what capacity the battery is at. It makes up for this, however, by being incredibly affordable, coming in at just 11 for the 5,600mAh model.

Amazon Basics key specs

Price when reviewed : 11

Cobra Jumpack CPP 8000

Cobra's latest USB power bank only' added an extra 24 and a half hours of extra usage to our test phone, but it has an additional trick up its sleeve. It also comes with jumper cables so you can jumpstart most cars with it too.

The CPP 8000 doesn't have the built-in flashlight of earlier models, but unlike its predecessors you can recharge it using a standard micro USB cable instead of having to use a proprietary power adapter.

If you're on the road a lot, this power pack could be a life saver in more ways than one.

Cobra Jumpack CPP 8000 key specs

Price when reviewed: 80

Enerplex Jumpr Slate 5K

This slender power pack is just thick enough to accommodate a full-size USB port and is similar in overall surface area to a pamphlet. A built-in tethered Lightning cable allows you to charge your iOS devices even if you've forgotten your usual lead a separate micro USB version is also available.

Due to its waif-like dimensions, it only added an extra 20 hours and 18 minutes of video playback time to our first-generation Moto G. Still, its lightweight and thinness means you should be able to fit it into all but the most crowded of bags and even some large coat pockets.

Enerplex Jumpr Slate 5K key specs

Price when reviewed: 70 from www.amazon.co.uk

PNY PowerPack HD 5000

PNY's sleek and glossy black power pack is one of the cheapest here, although it only added just over 19 hours of extra battery life to our test phone. It does have a handy light-up display though, showing exactly just how much battery charge is left. Plus it has two full-size USB ports, a 1A port for phones and a 2.1A port for tablets.

PNY PowerPack HD 5000 key specs

Price when reviewed: 22

PowerTraveller PowerMonkey Extreme

If you're a fan of both mobile gadgets and the outdoors, then you'll appreciate the PowerMonkey Extreme. This ruggedly made battery pack is water resistant with flaps protecting its various ports. This also means you can simply wash it down if it's grubby or just plain dusty.

A huge range of adapter cables are included in the box for antiquated feature-phones alongside the now standard micro USB lead as well as a rather bizarre multi-part lead necessary for charging the now discontinued iPad 4. It even comes with a solar panel for topping up its charge in the wilderness, but this is very much a measure of last resort as this can take a very long time to fully charge the PowerMonkey's huge battery.

You shouldn't need to do this too often though as it added 30 hours and 40 minutes of extra video playback time to our Moto G.

PowerTraveller PowerMonkey Extreme key specs

Price when reviewed: 60

Samsung External Battery Pack (11300mAh)

Samsung's chunky power bank is available in plain as well as animal-decorated versions. There is, unsurprisingly, a built-in retractable micro USB lead for charging your Android or Windows phone and a full-size USB port for everyone else. It didn't disappoint when it came to longevity, adding a staggering 47 hours of extra battery life when playing video on our Moto G.

Samsung External Battery Pack key specs

Price when reviewed: 40

Tylt Energi 12k

The only power bank that can rival Samsung's for sheer endurance was Tylt's thick and chunky Energi 12k which added an extraordinary 51 hours and 23 minutes of extra video playback time to our test phone. That's plenty of charge to go around, so there are three built-in full-size USB ports as well as a series of LED lights acting as a simple charge indicator.

Tylt Energi 12k key specs

Price when reviewed: 40

Tylt Energi 6k

Although this smaller Tylt power bank can't rival the Energi 12k for sheer longevity, managing just' 16 hours, it has other tricks up its sleeve. Not only does it have a built-in lead for connecting your phone (separate micro USB and Lightning versions are available), it has a built-in US plug with slimline UK and European adapters included in the box.

That means the Energi 6k is both a power bank and a wall charger in one, charging both its internal battery and your mobile device when plugged in. Genius.

Tylt Energi 6k key specs

Price when reviewed: 60

Google's latest edition of Chrome has been released, which almost included a throttling feature that could "break the web".

The latest version, Chrome 56, brings a host of smaller performance improvements, including faster page loads and unsecure page alerts, but narrowly avoided adding a tab-throttling feature, which could have made it impossible for some apps to run.

The well-intentioned addition, designed to reduce the strain on battery life from background web apps, would in fact limit the ability for applications to sync and "massage" data to create alerts.

"Avoiding expensive CPU work is not a panacea; that some applications must do significant work in the background, including syncing data, reading delta streams, and massaging said data to determine whether or not to alert the user," said Samuel Reed, CTO at BitMex, on the STRML blog.

This approach to background apps is "ignoring the new reality" that Chrome is no longer used to simply read webpages but is the "world's largest application platform", according to Reed. "This will break the web."

Popular web-based applications, including communication platforms like Slack and Discord, are heavily reliant on the ability to process notifications in the background and would be "hugely and adversely affected" by a throttling feature.

Thankfully, Google responded to feedback prior to the launch of Chrome 56, although the idea of throttling background apps has not entirely disappeared.

"Unfortunately, our current implementation throttles WebSockets. Because of this we are not shipping this intervention in M56," a Google response read.

"The current plan is to disable time-budget background timer throttling for the pages with active connection (websocket, webrtc and server-sent events) and to ship M57 (subject to further feedback). We will keep you updated with the progress.

It appears the move is the latest in the attempt to reduce the amount of drain the browser places on battery life. Microsoft recently fueled the on-going battery life war with Google after claiming that Chrome's power consumption was 45% higher than that of Edge.

MIT has developed a technology that could double the battery life of gadgets including smartphones, tablets, drones and even electric cars.

The rechargeable battery is made from lithium metal rather than lithium ion and works without an anode, replacing it instead with graphite to make a super-thin, high-energy lithium metal foil. This part can hold more ions, which in turn, makes the battery last longer.

"With two-times the energy density, we can make a battery half the size, but that still lasts the same amount of time, as a lithium ion battery. Or we can make a battery the same size as a lithium ion battery, but now it will last twice as long," co-inventor of the battery and CEO of SolidEnergy, Qichao Hu, said.

The batteries, now in development by Hu's firm SolidEnergy, can be manufactured using existing techniques too, so it shouldn't be that much more expensive to make them or for device manufacturers to integrate them into consumer electronics.

They are even powerful enough to keep electric cars running for longer.

"Industry standard is that electric vehicles need to go at least 200 miles on a single charge," Hu added. "We can make the battery half the size and half the weight, and it will travel the same distance, or we can make it the same size and same weight, and now it will go 400 miles on a single charge."

The batteries could be in use by early 2017, in certain gadgets such as smartphones and wearables.

A chip has been developed that could make waiting hours to charge a phone a thing of the past.

Nanyang Technological University Professor Rachid Yazami, said the chip could cut recharging times down to ten minutes and increase battery life as well as decrease the risk of battery fires.

The news comes after the announcement that similar research by Oxford University into smartphone screens could cut charging needs down to once a week.

Yazami said that the chip has gained the interest of the likes of Sony, Sanyo and Samsung as well as car maker Tesla.

The smart chip sports a proprietary algorithm developed by Yazami that is based on electrochemical thermodynamics measurements (ETM technology). At present, lithium-ion batteries have a chip in them which only shows voltage and temperature readings. Today's battery chips are unable to detect a malfunction and can also show only the estimated amount of charge the battery is holding.

But the chip has a patented algorithm that is able to analyse both the state of health and the state of charge. This produces a chart that looks rather like a ski route down a mountain.

"The ski route' of a brand new battery looks different from those of a degraded or faulty battery just like how two fingerprints will look quite different," he said.

"In addition to knowing the degradation of batteries, our technology can also tell the exact state of charge of the battery, and thus optimise the charging so the battery can be maintained in its best condition while being charged faster."

He envisaged every battery containing the chip, "which will in turn reduce the risk of battery fires in electronic devices and electric vehicles while extending their lifespan."

The chip took five years to develop and is marketed by Yamazi's start-up in Singapore KVI Pte.

It is expected that the technology will be made available for licensing by chipmakers and battery manufacturers before the end of 2016.