舊款手機(jī)運(yùn)行慢，蘋(píng)果的“陰謀”？

For years, some consumers have suspected Apple of a nefarious plot: The company, they said, was slowing down their older iPhones to get them to buy new ones. Now, many of them feel vindicated.

多年來(lái)，有些消費(fèi)者一直懷疑蘋(píng)果公司(Apple)有一個(gè)邪惡的陰謀：他們認(rèn)為，蘋(píng)果公司在降低舊款iPhone的速度，迫使用戶(hù)購(gòu)買(mǎi)新款。現(xiàn)在，他們中的很多人覺(jué)得自己的猜測(cè)得到了證實(shí)。

In a statement on Wednesday, Apple said that it had released a “feature” that occasionally reduces processing power on older devices to prevent them from unexpectedly shutting down. The reduction, Apple said, was necessary because older batteries could otherwise periodically overload. The statement came after reports on Reddit and Geekbench were picked up by technology news sites.

在周三發(fā)布的一項(xiàng)聲明中，蘋(píng)果表示，它發(fā)布過(guò)的一項(xiàng)“功能”會(huì)偶爾降低舊設(shè)備的處理能力，以防止設(shè)備突然關(guān)閉。蘋(píng)果表示，這種降低是必要的，因?yàn)椴蝗坏脑?，舊電池可能會(huì)經(jīng)常超負(fù)荷。這項(xiàng)聲明是在Reddit和Geekbench的報(bào)告被科技新聞網(wǎng)站轉(zhuǎn)載后發(fā)布的。

Some users saw the announcement as proof that the company had engaged in “planned obsolescence,” a scheme to degrade the old devices to force users to upgrade. Others felt betrayed. And still others were simply confused.

有些用戶(hù)認(rèn)為，這項(xiàng)聲明證明，該公司在進(jìn)行“計(jì)劃報(bào)廢”，這種陰謀是為了讓舊設(shè)備降級(jí)，迫使用戶(hù)升級(jí)。有些人認(rèn)為這是一種背叛。還有些人只是感到迷惑。

Here is a Q. and A. with Brian X. Chen, the lead consumer technology writer for The New York Times, about what the announcement really means.

以下是《紐約時(shí)報(bào)》首席消費(fèi)技術(shù)撰稿人布賴(lài)恩·X·陳(Brian X. Chen)就那項(xiàng)聲明的真正含義做出的解答。

Can you translate? Is Apple saying that it intentionally slows down older iPhones as new ones are released?

你能翻譯一下嗎?蘋(píng)果公司是承認(rèn)自己在發(fā)布新一代iPhone時(shí)，故意降低舊設(shè)備的速度嗎?

What Apple is acknowledging is a power management technique in which the iPhone scales back processing power to keep the device running for longer when its battery health is low. Lithium ion batteries have a limited number of charge “cycles” before they can no longer be recharged properly. Apple’s website says the battery loses about 20 percent of its original capacity after 500 charge cycles.

蘋(píng)果只是承認(rèn)自己使用了一種電源管理技術(shù)，這種技術(shù)會(huì)在電池健康狀況不佳的情況下，降低iPhone的處理能力，保證設(shè)備運(yùn)行更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。鋰離子電池的充電“周期”是有限的，超過(guò)那個(gè)次數(shù)就無(wú)法再正常充電了。蘋(píng)果公司的網(wǎng)站稱(chēng)，在500次充電循環(huán)后，電池的容量會(huì)降到原來(lái)的80%。

In other words, if your iPhone is beginning to run out of battery capacity, these slowdowns might kick in to keep it running for longer or prevent it from shutting down unexpectedly.

換句話說(shuō)，如果你的iPhone電量快耗盡了，這些減速程序就會(huì)啟動(dòng)，讓你的iPhone運(yùn)行更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間，或者是阻止它突然關(guān)機(jī)。

Apple is not admitting to planned obsolescence. If Apple explicitly said that they injected code into older iPhones to slow them down because new ones came out, that would be admission. All it is admitting to now is trying to keep the old iPhones running for longer.

蘋(píng)果公司并沒(méi)有承認(rèn)在做計(jì)劃報(bào)廢。如果蘋(píng)果公司明確表示，他們是因?yàn)樾驴钌鲜胁虐呀档退俣鹊拇a寫(xiě)入舊款iPhone中，那才是承認(rèn)?，F(xiàn)在，它承認(rèn)的只是，試圖讓舊款iPhone運(yùn)行更長(zhǎng)時(shí)間。

Does this change your conclusion last month that this is not a conspiracy to force users to buy new phones?

這是否改變了你上個(gè)月的結(jié)論?那時(shí)候，你認(rèn)為，這不是一個(gè)迫使用戶(hù)購(gòu)買(mǎi)新手機(jī)的陰謀?

The premise of my previous column was that the vast majority of slowdown problems are fixable without buying a new phone. That point stands, and now we have even more information supporting that premise: a battery replacement also helps.

我之前那篇專(zhuān)欄文章的論點(diǎn)是，絕大多數(shù)減速問(wèn)題都是可以解決的，不需要購(gòu)買(mǎi)新手機(jī)。我依然堅(jiān)持這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)，現(xiàn)在我們有更多的信息支持這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)：更換電池也有幫助。

How many users does this affect? 這影響了多少用戶(hù)?

Apple has said the power management technique works on iPhone 6, 6S, SE and 7.

蘋(píng)果公司表示，電源管理技術(shù)適用于iPhone 6、6S、SE和7。

What else could be slowing the older phones down?

還有哪些因素會(huì)導(dǎo)致舊款手機(jī)的速度變慢?

Often, a buggy operating system upgrade can cause glitches when running apps. Another common cause is having little available device storage. Smartphones rely on flash storage, which keeps data in the cells of semiconductor chips. When stored, that data is scattered across the drive. So when you call it up by opening an app or a document, you are retrieving it from multiple parts of the drive. If lots of space is occupied, the data gets crowded and the device may feel sluggish.

通常，一個(gè)有漏洞的操作系統(tǒng)升級(jí)會(huì)導(dǎo)致運(yùn)行應(yīng)用程序時(shí)出錯(cuò)。另一個(gè)常見(jiàn)的原因是，幾乎沒(méi)有可用的設(shè)備存儲(chǔ)空間。智能手機(jī)依靠的是閃存，這個(gè)部件負(fù)責(zé)把數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)在半導(dǎo)體芯片的單元里。存儲(chǔ)后，數(shù)據(jù)是分散在存儲(chǔ)器各處的。所以當(dāng)你打開(kāi)一個(gè)應(yīng)用程序或文檔時(shí)，你是從存儲(chǔ)器的不同區(qū)域提取那些數(shù)據(jù)。如果大量空間被占用，數(shù)據(jù)就會(huì)很擁擠，設(shè)備可能就會(huì)顯得遲鈍。

Some users say that installing bigger batteries seems to fix the problem. Does that make sense? What else can users do to, short of buying new phones?

有些用戶(hù)表示，安裝更大的電池似乎就能解決這個(gè)問(wèn)題。這話有道理嗎?除了買(mǎi)新手機(jī)，用戶(hù)還能怎么辦?

I would recommend paying a third-party repair shop to replace the aged battery with a fresh one. This will cost between $20 and $70, depending on where you live and which iPhone you own. Repair shops will probably recommend against installing a battery that has a larger capacity than the original, as there can be risks of damage.

我會(huì)建議你去第三方維修店換掉舊電池。這可能要花費(fèi)20至70美元，取決于你的居住地和iPhone型號(hào)。維修店很可能會(huì)建議你不要安裝比原電池容量大的電池，因?yàn)槟强赡軙?huì)帶來(lái)?yè)p壞風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

The other solutions I wrote about in my last column included doing a clean install of the operating system and freeing up storage on the device. There is a scenario where you absolutely can’t get around buying a new phone: App and game makers design their software to work better on newer, faster devices. So if you have an older smartphone and you want a brand-new game with heavy graphics to work as well as it possibly could, you’ll want a new phone.

我在上一篇專(zhuān)欄文章中提到的其他解決方案包括重裝操作系統(tǒng)和釋放存儲(chǔ)空間。不過(guò)在有一種情況下，你就只能買(mǎi)新手機(jī)了，那就是，如果應(yīng)用程序和游戲制作者設(shè)計(jì)的軟件在更新更快的設(shè)備上運(yùn)行得更好。所以，如果你有一部舊款智能手機(jī)，而你又想讓一個(gè)全新的含有大量圖形的游戲達(dá)到最佳運(yùn)行效果，那么你需要一部新手機(jī)。

Is this unusual? Do other smartphone makers — or, more broadly, electronics companies — do this, too?

這是個(gè)例嗎?其他的智能手機(jī)廠商——或者更廣義上說(shuō)，電子企業(yè)——也這么做嗎?

I don’t find the power management technique that surprising or unusual. You have probably noticed that when your smartphone (iPhone or Android) is running out of battery, like when there is less than 10 percent, the device begins to run more slowly. That is partly to keep it running for longer.

我不覺(jué)得這個(gè)電池管理技術(shù)有多意外或很少見(jiàn)。你可能已經(jīng)注意到，當(dāng)你的智能手機(jī)(蘋(píng)果或安卓)電量不足時(shí)，比如說(shuō)，只剩不到10%的電量時(shí)，設(shè)備運(yùn)行就會(huì)開(kāi)始變慢。一定程度上這是為了讓手機(jī)能使用更久。

Could Apple have avoided this by, say, using a different type of battery?

蘋(píng)果能不能通過(guò)比如說(shuō)使用其他類(lèi)型的電池，來(lái)避免這個(gè)情況?

We all dream about the day that the tech industry will adopt a longer-lasting, smarter battery than lithium ion. But battery technologies have to pass rigorous safety testing — if something goes wrong, they are miniature bombs. (You saw what happened with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7.) Lithium ion, though flawed, is still the safest and most easily reproducible battery technology on the market.

我們都?jí)粝胫幸惶炜萍计髽I(yè)會(huì)能采用續(xù)航時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)也更加智能的電池，而不是鋰離子電池。但電池技術(shù)需要通過(guò)嚴(yán)格的安全測(cè)試——如果哪里出了差錯(cuò)，它們就會(huì)是一個(gè)微型炸彈。(三星蓋樂(lè)世[Galaxy]Note7的情況你們也看到了。)鋰離子電池盡管有缺陷，但仍然是市面上最安全也最容易復(fù)制的電池技術(shù)。

Apple is known for its masterful marketing. Do you think it has handled this controversy well?

蘋(píng)果以其高超的市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷(xiāo)手段出名。你認(rèn)為他們對(duì)這個(gè)爭(zhēng)議處理得好嗎?

No, it could have avoided controversy by being more transparent to begin with. It could have notified people that a power management mode was kicking in to keep their iPhones running for longer because their batteries are running out of juice. That would also inform people that they should be getting their batteries replaced. Because Apple was not transparent, it’s natural for people to suspect it of deliberately crippling their devices to get them to buy new ones.

不好，如果一開(kāi)始他們就能更加透明，這個(gè)爭(zhēng)議本來(lái)是可以避免的。這或許提醒了人們，他們的iPhone開(kāi)啟了電池管理模式使手機(jī)運(yùn)行時(shí)間更長(zhǎng)，是因?yàn)殡姵乜鞗](méi)電了。這也是在告訴人們他們?cè)撊ジ鼡Q電池了。因?yàn)樘O(píng)果沒(méi)有做到公開(kāi)透明，人們自然會(huì)懷疑他們?cè)诠室馄茐娜藗兊脑O(shè)備，使人們?nèi)ベ?gòu)買(mǎi)新手機(jī)。

This episode is a good reminder that even digital devices need maintenance. Many people believe that because gadgets lack moving parts, they should keep working as intended. But we still need to take care of them. Last year I wrote a column about maintaining our devices, which included tips like replacing aging batteries, freeing up storage and, in the case of desktop computers, removing the cover and blowing out dust.

這次事件能很好的提醒人們，即使是電子設(shè)備也是需要保養(yǎng)的。許多人認(rèn)為，裝置里沒(méi)有什么活動(dòng)部件，所以理應(yīng)按既定方式一直運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)下去。但我們?nèi)匀恍枰獝?ài)護(hù)它們。去年，我寫(xiě)了一篇有關(guān)設(shè)備保養(yǎng)的專(zhuān)欄文章，文中提供了一些有關(guān)比如替換老化電池、釋放儲(chǔ)存空間以及——對(duì)臺(tái)式電腦來(lái)說(shuō)——如何拆卸機(jī)箱掃除灰塵的建議。