Apple iOS 9's Low Power mode enables longer battery life by processor throttling

Apple iOS 9's Low Power mode is able to extend battery life on your iOS device by throttling the processor. By what extent is performance affected? Read on to find out more.

Image source: Apple

Image source: Apple

 

Apple may have introduced a new feature, Low Power mode in iOS 9, but what actually happens behind the scene is similar to the battery-saving modes we've seen on some Android devices. 

According to MacRumors, there is a noticeable drop in performance when Low Power mode is activated on the iPhone 6 Plus running Geekbench 3. When Low Power mode was disabled, the iPhone 6 Plus scored 1,606 and 2,891 on the single-core and multi-core processor tests respectively. When Low Power mode was enabled, the score dropped to 1,019 and 1,751 in the respective categories.

The same set of benchmark tests was done on an iPhone 5S and performance dipped by about 40%. This suggests that Low Power mode throttles the processor to squeeze out extra battery mileage. The Low Power mode is only activated when an iOS 9 device hits 10 or 20% battery level. Besides reducing the processor's speed, Low Power mode also disables email syncing, background app refresh, motion effects and animated wallpapers.

Source: MacRumors

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