Samsung was found guilty of artificially inflating the performance of their smartphones by using a hidden software called the Game Optimizing Service (GOS). The GOS limits the performance of many apps and games, but exempted benchmarking apps from these limitations, making it seem like the phone was more powerful than it actually was. This practice is not unique to Samsung, as other smartphone companies such as Apple, OnePlus, Huawei, Xiaomi, and Realme have also been caught manipulating benchmark scores.
The root of the problem lies in the fact that modern smartphones are not capable of sustaining the peak performance of their chips due to cooling and battery life constraints. Chipmakers continue to push for yearly peak performance improvements, but this leads to a mismatch between the chip's capabilities and the phone's ability to handle it.
To solve this issue, manufacturers should be required to include a minimum level of cooling to allow the chip to sustain close to its peak level of performance, and chipmakers should focus on making more battery-efficient chips that can keep temperatures under control. Additionally, manufacturers should not be allowed to claim that their phones are powered by a certain chip if they cannot provide the necessary environment for it to work as advertised.
Samsung has since issued a software update to allow users to turn off the GOS, and other companies have faced fines and penalties for similar practices. However, the problem is widespread and will only get worse if not addressed.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Samsung has been found guilty of artificially inflating the performance of their smartphones.
2. The company uses a piece of software called the Game Optimizing Service (GOS) to limit the performance of many apps and games.
3. GOS is hidden and runs in the background, but it does not limit the performance of benchmarking apps.
4. Benchmarking apps are used to measure the performance of a device, and they are often used to compare the performance of different devices.
5. The use of GOS means that the performance of Samsung devices may be lower in real-world use than it appears to be in benchmarking tests.
6. Samsung is not the only company to use performance-limiting software; other companies, such as Apple, OnePlus, Huawei, Xiaomi, and Realme, have also been found to use similar techniques.
7. The use of performance-limiting software is a widespread problem in the smartphone industry.
8. Chipmakers, such as Qualcomm and Samsung, are pushing to increase the peak performance of their chips, but this can lead to overheating and reduced battery life if the chip is not properly cooled.
9. The physical space inside smartphones for cooling and batteries is not increasing at the same rate as the performance of the chips.
10. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is 30% faster than its predecessor, but it also consumes more power when running at its maximum performance.
11. Samsung's GOS limits the performance of the chip to prevent overheating and reduce battery life.
12. The use of GOS can lead to a poor user experience if the chip is not able to run at its maximum performance.
13. Samsung has issued a software update to allow users to turn off GOS on the Galaxy S22 series.
14. Geekbench, a benchmarking app, has delisted Samsung devices from its service due to the use of GOS.
15. Apple was fined $113 million for slowing down iPhones without disclosing it to customers.