Maker Geekbench: Many iPhone 6s have started to score lower

Primate Labs, the maker of benchmark Geekbench, has posted score distributions of various iPhones under various iOS versions online. This shows that there are more iPhones that have started to score lower on the benchmark, a strong indication that Apple has indeed clocked back the processor in that iPhone.

Founder John Poole has put the breakdown of Geekbench’s scores online. It shows that almost all tests of the iPhone 6s under iOS 10.2 gave the same result, while under 10.2.1 there are several peaks in the graph. Under iOS 11.2, the effect seems to be greater. The same effect can be seen to a small extent with the iPhone 7.

The fact that the effect has only been visible since 10.2.1 and seems to get worse after the release of an iPhone suggests that suspicions about the processor clocking itself back more as the battery decreases in maximum capacity are correct. The fact that it has only happened since 10.2.1 indicates that the manufacturer has built this in to solve the problem of the iPhones turning itself off.

It is the first time that large-scale data is available on the long-term performance of iPhones. Until now, there have only been many anecdotes pointing out that iPhones performance declines over time. Apple has not commented on the matter and has not explained why users experienced last year why their iPhones have become slower.