“At first, I thought it was my imagination. Around the time the iPhone 5S and 5C were released, in September, I noticed that my sad old iPhone 4 was becoming a lot more sluggish,” writes Catherine Rampell in The New York Times. She noticed her batteries were being drained more quickly than before, too. She called some tech analysts who blamed it on iOS 7.
I have an iPhone 4s. The battery life is terrible. But it was bad before I upgraded to iOS 7. Is it worse now? Maybe — I have a bunch of battery cases that I am constantly snapping on to my energy-gorging phone, so I’m not really sure.
Rampell goes on to explore the idea that Apple is intentionally obsoleting older iPhones by releasing operating systems designed to slow down earlier models and drain their batteries. But I think the battery life of iPhones, old and new, just suck. I’d prefer a thick phone that runs all day without needing a recharge, than a thin, lightweight phone that you have to put in a thick case to protect anyway.