Apple explains CPU throttling to Canadian government, denies planned obsolescence

Apple released a statement today to Canada's committee on industry, science and technology. The letter, from Apple Canada Manager of Legal and Government Affairs Jacqueline Famulak, pointed out that Apple felt that it had to throttle the CPU on affected units so that users won't have their iPhone shut down in the middle of an emergency call, taking a photo of a loved one, or during other activities. "The sole purpose of the software update in this case was to help customers to continue to use older iPhones with aging batteries without shutdowns - not to drive them to buy newer devices," said the Apple Canada executive.
"We do not want our customers to experience interruptions in the use of their iPhones, whether that is making an emergency phone call, taking a picture, sharing a post, or watching the final minutes of a movie. To address the issue of unexpected shutdowns, we developed software that dynamically manages power usage when, and only when, an iPhone is facing the risk of an unexpected shutdown."-Jacqueline Famulak, Manager of Legal and Government Affairs, Apple Canada
While beta versions of iOS 11.3 have been released, the final version of this build will include a battery monitor allowing iPhone users to know the strength of their battery. In addition, iOS 11.3 will allow those with throttled units to disable the slowdown.
source: AppleInsider