@ucbalumnus — my beef is really about the expectation that people will replace their phones every 2 years and therefore manufacturers and Google don’t have to support them for any reasonable length of time. I doubt there’s a cause of action for a lawsuit, but in a different era, government might have stepped in to require companies to stand by these very expensive and toxic (when discarded) products for a longer period of time.
Google at least lists its software update policies: https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705
Some of the other Android phone manufacturers do not appear to list their policies, and do not appear to be very consistent about the length of time they continue to issue software updates for the devices.
I’m pretty annoyed that my iPad which still works and holds a charge has been decided to be obsolete.
If you go to the Apple store they can test your battery and tell you if it is “fully consumed”. For my 6, a new battery was $80 and got me through until I got my new iPhone X and makes the 6 saleable. Batteries don’t last forever, especially with the heavy use many of our phones get.
The combo of the new ios 11 and the slowdown has affected many things- not only isn’t phone painfully slow, but it messes with bluetooth and many apps are very glitchy. More annoying than the horrible phone slowdown and constant freezing up is the freezing up and non responsiveness to touch of my ipad. ITs the brand new ipad- less than 6 mos old. It should not do this. Will consider having apple do a remote diagnostic. Its intermittent, but annoying.
Four in our family have iPhones—3.5 year old 5s. Two have had battery replacements and work great. DH had been having a lot of battery related shutdowns. Mine was still ok but we were heading on vacation and I wanted all-day battery life back for the trip. The others have some other issues so we haven’t replaced the batteries. One shuts down frequently and it’s a frustrating problem. The kid with that phone would likely welcome being slowed down to avoid the shutdowns but as I understand it, the slowdown software doesn’t affect models as old as ours. The two kids with old battery phones are getting newer phones for Christmas. Lucky them. DH and I are keeping our old-but-new-battery phones. If I replace my phone soon it will be because that tiny 5s screen is getting harder and harder to see. 
I’m not sure I trust Apple to always be working in my best interests and not the best interests of profit, but I can see how this software could legitimately be helpful.
A while ago when my kid’s iPhone 6 was having issues (maybe following an update), Apple had admitted that certain lot numbers from around Nov 2015 for the 6S needed battery replacement and Apple apparently was replacing those. My kid’s 6 had one of those lot numbers, even though it wasn’t a 6S, but Apple would only replace batteries for the 6S. I took it to the local phone repair place - they put in a new battery for 40 bucks and all has been well ever since.
Why would you need a dongle to listen and charge? You charge and listen with a dongle. You could use a dongle if you insist on using old earphones but the earphone that come with the phone do not require a dongle. To me, people seem to get mad with no reason. Why complain about a dongle when you don’t need it? My daughter didn’t keep her dongle when she got 7 and never misses it. And what debacle of the AirPods? They work like a charm. Expensive but lovely in every aspect. You can hear better with them and you don’t get tangled in the wire.
That would be me. I’d much prefer slow down to shut down. When I was in Yosemite last summer, my very old phone shut down. Usually not a problem except I loaded the trail map and directions on the phone to lighten my backpack. I managed to get down. Would I have loved it to slow down instead of shutting down? You bet.
Grrrrrr…well THAT explains the 5+ second lag between selecting a photo, clicking on the message icon, and an actual response from the phone. We are an all Apple all the time household, but this sucks. It’s rude!
My old iPhone 5 had a problem where it would shut down randomly. Turns out is was one bad battery cell. If the phone happened to be in a certain state and hit that particular cell in the process it would just shut off. A $40 battery replacement by a third party solved the problem.
My techie son loves the AirPods and says they are life-changing. Only issue is they are easy to lose…
Only issue I have had with any of the ios 11 versions on either iPad or iPhone is that Yahoo email wasn’t loading and wouldn’t “push” on the phone (X), which is apparently an issue. I think I fixed it by deleting and re-adding the mail account. It doesn’t always push, but I can bring in the mail.
I love AirPods. You can hear better with them than with regular wired earphones. Usually wireless is convenient but doesn’t work as well. Not AirPods. It’s more convenient and it works better.
As to batteries–my ipod (almost an original) still works fine and has outlasted every phone since. Daily use.
My last Android phone had a battery that was super easy to swap out, I used to own 3 so I had extra for camping, etc…and they were like $10 each.
Keep in mind I am not tech-savvy. I had to look at the “about” option on my devices just to see what I have. I am using an iPhone 6 128GB that my husband purchased in September 2014, and an iPad Air 2 64GB that he purchased in October 2014. Both are still going strong, though I’ve noticed my phone battery is no longer holding a charge more than 24 hours. I’ve got the 10.0.2 iOS on the phone. The iPad is using the 11.0.2 iOS (I didn’t purposely update, but I think this happened automatically several months ago). I also have an iMAC 27" desktop from mid 2010 that is using the OS X 10.9.5. All three devices are working well, so I see no reason to update and take a chance that they will slow, but perhaps I’m missing something.
Is there any real benefit if I update my devices to the newest iOS? I use very few apps and certainly don’t use any of the devices to their full capacity.
When I updated IOS on my old Iphone5S, it ran noticeably faster. That was a couple of moths ago.
They are slashing battery replacement cost,
Went to the Apple store—they were replacing batteries today at the regular price and not mentioning you could get a $50 discount by waiting until late January to replace. A lot of the employees seemed unaware of the upcoming price frop for battery replacement. They scanned my phone and said my battery is 86%, Up from 80% they had said when it was checked months ago. Hmmm
They helped me go into my settings and turn off apps I’m not using regularly. Also turned off location services for most apps, to save battery life.
Fir $29, I will definitely have Apple change my battery before the end of 2018 and the offer expires.
IOS 11.2.1 has lots of excess power consumption issues. I’ve had my battery drop to from 100 to 1% in less than an hour. 11.5 is supposed to fix the problem, and the public beta does not have the same issues.
My son is very attached to his 6S. He has been having battery issues, though, with shut downs, and short battery life. He can’t get thru a whole day without charging. If the temp outside is below 50 degrees, his phone shuts down until he warms it back up.
We went to the Apple Store the week before Christmas.
They told him he did not qualify for the defective replacement based on his serial number.
They tested his battery and said it had 83% capacity. They would not replace it. They told him to come back in a few months and see if it has dropped to below 80%. I found that just ridiculous. We were willing to pay full price for the battery replacement and they refused to help.
I will mention a third party battery replacement to him as an option. Thank you for the suggestion.
Regarding software updates…he heard the new one was slowing down older phones and hasn’t updated.
Apple announced they will replace batteries for $29 starting in late January. I am going to make an appointment.