AppleInsider Staff
A benchmark test performed on an iPhone 6 Plus running Apple's latest iOS 9 beta puts numbers to the upcoming operating system's Low Power mode, which throttles down processor performance to preserve battery life.
Using Geekbench 3 for iOS, which was recently updated with support for iOS 9 builds, MacRumors found Low Power mode dropped an iPhone 6 Plus' multi-core score from 2,891 to 1,751, while single-core performance fell from 1,606 to 1,019. Results were similar on an iPhone 5s, which saw a 40-percent decrease in performance.
It should be noted that the tests were performed using beta software and results will likely change when a final build is released this fall.
With iOS 9, Apple promises up to one hour of extra battery life using a combination of power saving tactics and new technologies. For example, iOS 9 will poll ambient light and proximity sensors to check when an iPhone is facedown on a table to prevent the screen from turning on.
More ambiguous, though is Apple's description of a Low Power mode that "lets you extend your battery life even further." When activated, Low Power mode disables a number of power hungry services like Mail fetching, background downloads and app refreshes. Networking capabilities are also affected, though Apple has yet to detail when or how these changes are implemented.
Users can choose to enable Low Power mode from system settings or the familiar "low battery" dialogue box that shows up when an iOS device's battery hits 20 percent and 10 percent charge.
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Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
10 Comments
So they update for iOS 9 and low power mode. When are benchmarks going to update for Metal?
So they update for iOS 9 and low power mode.
When are benchmarks going to update for Metal?
http://www.anandtech.com/show/9223/gfxbench-3-metal-ios
Hope somebody will make detailed benchmark of WIFI/3G-LTE browsing a video watching without and with Low power mode utilized. With comment on performance influence of Low power mode especially on video a web browsing fluency. Update: I forgot mention that I hope that in iOS 9 will be battery usage monitoring working since it is not in iOS8 for number o people. A no info/fix from Apple.
Ideally they would offer a setting to allow the user to indicate when low power mode would kick in. I'd set it at 50% battery remaining, so it would automatically start using low power mode whenever my battery was below 50%. That would be better, I think, then having to remember to enable it manually when you feel you need it.
[quote name="RadarTheKat" url="/t/186933/benchmarks-detail-processor-throttling-in-ios-9-beta-low-power-mode#post_2740760"]Ideally they would offer a setting to allow the user to indicate when low power mode would kick in. I'd set it at 50% battery remaining, so it would automatically start using low power mode whenever my battery was below 50%. That would be better, I think, then having to remember to enable it manually when you feel you need it.[/quote] Perhaps they'll add that based on feedback. At least there's an option to toggle it in the 20/10% warning boxes.