VOA慢速英語(yǔ)：真相大白：蘋(píng)果公司承認(rèn)讓一些老款iPhone手機(jī)變慢

Mystery Solved: Apple Admits it Slows Some Older iPhones

真相大白：蘋(píng)果公司承認(rèn)讓一些老款iPhone手機(jī)變慢

Many people have long believed Apple intentionally slows down performance of iPhones in an effort to get users to buy new ones.

很多人早就認(rèn)為蘋(píng)果公司為了讓用戶(hù)購(gòu)買(mǎi)新的手機(jī)，故意拖慢iPhone手機(jī)的性能。

For the first time, Apple has admitted to slowing some iPhones down. But the company explained it only took the action last year to prevent battery-related shutdowns.

蘋(píng)果公司首次承認(rèn)減緩了一些蘋(píng)果手機(jī)的運(yùn)行速度。但是該公司解釋說(shuō)，只有去年為了防止電池導(dǎo)致意外關(guān)機(jī)才采取了這一措施。

Apple's action – and the company's decision to keep it secret - led to widespread criticism from industry analysts and iPhone owners.

蘋(píng)果公司的行為以及對(duì)此保密的決定引起了行業(yè)分析師和iPhone用戶(hù)的廣泛批評(píng)。

Owners of iPhones in several states are suing Apple. They accuse Apple of violating fraud laws by purposely limiting performance without informing iPhone owners that the problems might have been fixed by replacing the device battery. This, they argue, forced them to spend more money to buy new iPhones.

美國(guó)幾個(gè)州的iPhone用戶(hù)正在起訴蘋(píng)果公司。他們指控蘋(píng)果公司故意限制iPhone手機(jī)性能，而不告知用戶(hù)可以通過(guò)更換電池來(lái)解決這一問(wèn)題，這違反了反欺詐法。他們認(rèn)為，這迫使他們花了更多錢(qián)購(gòu)買(mǎi)新的iPhone手機(jī)。

The issue of iPhone slowdowns in certain phones was recently noted in an online post by the founder of software maker Primate Labs. In his post, John Poole cited test results suggesting repeated reductions in iPhone performance over time.

某些蘋(píng)果手機(jī)變慢的問(wèn)題是軟件制造商“靈長(zhǎng)實(shí)驗(yàn)室”(Primate Labs)創(chuàng)始人最近在一篇網(wǎng)文中爆出來(lái)的。約翰·普爾(John Poole)在這篇網(wǎng)文中例舉的測(cè)試結(jié)果表明，iPhone手機(jī)隨著使用時(shí)間增加其性能會(huì)不斷下降。

The tests included the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7, with several different operating system versions. Results of the tests blamed aging batteries for causing the reduced device performance.

測(cè)試的手機(jī)包括安裝了不同版本操作系統(tǒng)的iPhone 6S和iPhone 7。測(cè)試結(jié)果將設(shè)備性能下降歸咎于電池老化。

Poole said his company's software that measures processor performance found that some users who replaced their iPhone batteries reported much improved results.

普爾稱(chēng)他公司開(kāi)發(fā)用于檢測(cè)處理器性能的軟件發(fā)現(xiàn)，一些更換了電池的iPhone用戶(hù)報(bào)告其手機(jī)性能有所改善。

But he was not convinced that old batteries were the whole problem. He came up with a theory. He believed Apple must have made changes to the iOS software to limit iPhone performance when battery capacity reached a certain point.

但是他不相信舊電池就是全部問(wèn)題所在。他提出了一項(xiàng)理論，他認(rèn)為蘋(píng)果公司肯定對(duì)iOS軟件動(dòng)了手腳，以便在iPhone手機(jī)的電池容量達(dá)到某個(gè)數(shù)值時(shí)限制手機(jī)性能。

A few days later, Apple released a statement admitting it made the software change. It said the action was needed to prevent certain devices from suddenly shutting down.

幾天后，蘋(píng)果公司發(fā)表聲明承認(rèn)對(duì)軟件做了變動(dòng)。該公司表示，此舉是為了防止某些設(shè)備突然關(guān)機(jī)。

The problem, Apple said, was connected to lithium-ion batteries inside the iPhone. The batteries can fail in certain conditions – such as hot or cold - or as they age over time. This can sometimes cause older iPhones to shut down, Apple said.

蘋(píng)果公司表示，這個(gè)問(wèn)題跟iPhone內(nèi)部的鋰電池有關(guān)。這種電池可能會(huì)在某些情況下發(fā)生故障，例如熱和冷的情況下，或是電池隨著時(shí)間推移老化而發(fā)生故障。蘋(píng)果公司表示，這可能會(huì)導(dǎo)致一些老舊的iPhone手機(jī)關(guān)機(jī)。

Apple said it released the new feature last year for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE. It later added the iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2 and plans "to add support for other products" in the future.

蘋(píng)果公司表示，該公司去年針對(duì)iPhone 6、iPhone 6S和iPhone SE手機(jī)發(fā)布了這一新功能，隨后又加上了安裝iOS 11.2系統(tǒng)的iPhone 7 手機(jī)，并計(jì)劃加入對(duì)未來(lái)其它產(chǎn)品的支持。

"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices," the Apple statement said.

蘋(píng)果公司發(fā)表的聲明稱(chēng)：“我們的目標(biāo)是為用戶(hù)提供最好的體驗(yàn)，其中包括整體性能和延長(zhǎng)其設(shè)備的使用壽命。”

But many iPhone owners were not very forgiving of Apple's decision, as evidenced on Twitter:

但是很多iPhone手機(jī)用戶(hù)對(duì)蘋(píng)果公司的這一決定并不買(mǎi)賬，正如推特上所展示的那樣：

In his reporting of the latest developments, Wired magazine's Jordan McMahon pointed out several ways Apple could have handled the situation before deciding to secretly slow the phones.

連線(xiàn)雜志的喬丹·麥克馬洪(Jordan McMahon)在報(bào)道最新動(dòng)態(tài)時(shí)指出，蘋(píng)果公司在決定偷偷減慢手機(jī)速度之前，可以采取多種方式來(lái)處理這種情況。

He suggested Apple could have informed iPhone owners about the lithium-ion issues beforehand and given them a chance to get the batteries replaced. Or the company could have even launched a program to sell owners battery replacement kits.

他提出蘋(píng)果公司可以事先告知iPhone手機(jī)用戶(hù)關(guān)于鋰電池的問(wèn)題，讓他們有機(jī)會(huì)更換電池。或者該公司甚至可以推出一個(gè)計(jì)劃，向用戶(hù)出售電池更換套件。

Apple has always strongly resisted having owners buy and replace their own iPhone batteries. There are many companies that sell do-it-yourself kits or will do the service for you.

蘋(píng)果公司一直強(qiáng)烈反對(duì)讓用戶(hù)購(gòu)買(mǎi)和更換自己iPhone的電池。有多家公司出售自助更換電池套件，或者向用戶(hù)提供更換電池的服務(wù)。

Apple has its own battery replacement service – either in Apple stores or through the mail - and charges $79 for any iPhone model that is no longer under warranty.

蘋(píng)果公司自身也提供電池更換服務(wù)，無(wú)論是在蘋(píng)果商店還是通過(guò)郵件都可以實(shí)現(xiàn)，并對(duì)任何保修過(guò)期的iPhone型號(hào)收取79美元的費(fèi)用。

But based on the huge negative reaction to Apple's change, it seems many people are not aware of that possibility. They have complained about being forced to either buy a new, expensive iPhone, or switch brands to fix the problem.

但是根據(jù)人們對(duì)蘋(píng)果公司這一變動(dòng)的巨大負(fù)面反應(yīng)來(lái)看，似乎很多人都沒(méi)有意識(shí)到更換電池的這種可能性。他們抱怨被迫要么購(gòu)買(mǎi)了昂貴的新iPhone手機(jī)，要么換了其它品牌手機(jī)來(lái)解決問(wèn)題。

Several economic analysts have lowered predictions for 2018 shipments of the iPhone X as some news reports also suggested there will be much lower demand. Taiwan's Economic Daily reported Monday that Apple could cut its sales targets for the iPhone X in the first quarter from 50 million to 30 million.

一些經(jīng)濟(jì)分析師已經(jīng)下調(diào)了對(duì)2018年iPhone X手機(jī)出貨量的預(yù)測(cè)，一些新聞報(bào)道也暗示需求將會(huì)降低。中國(guó)臺(tái)灣的《經(jīng)濟(jì)日?qǐng)?bào)》周一報(bào)道稱(chēng)，蘋(píng)果公司可能會(huì)將2018年第一季度iPhone X的銷(xiāo)售目標(biāo)從5千萬(wàn)臺(tái)降至3千萬(wàn)臺(tái)。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布萊恩·林恩報(bào)道。