End of Year Christmas Function
Members and Partners are invited to attend the end of year Christmas function to be held at the Learning Centre, 200 Matai Road on Wednesday 12th December from 4:00pm to 6:30 pm. Please RSVP to Teresa on 021 169 6256 if you are able to attend. There is no charge but there will be “door prizes”.
Cleaner for the Learning Centre
If you are interested in the paying job of cleaning the Learning Centre starting in the New Year, please call Teresa (04) 298 3132 or (021) 152 8404 for details.
Courses & Workshops for the remainder of Term 4
We have the following Courses and Workshops coming up in the next few weeks
| Course | Start Date | Time | Duration | Fee | ||
| iPad & iPhone set up | Tue 13/11/2018 | 1:30 | 1 Week | $5 | ||
| iPad & iPhone basics | Tue 20/11/2018 | 1:30 | 4 Weeks | $25 | ||
| Introduction to Computers | Fri 16/11/2018 | 9:30 | 4 Weeks | Free | ||
| Introduction to Windows 10 | Mon 26/11/2018 | 9:30 | 2 Weeks | $15 | ||
Booking is required for all courses – contact Teresa on 021 169 625
| Workshop | Date | Time | Free | * Need to book? | |
| iPad & iPhone | Mon 12/11/2018 | 1:30 | $5 | ||
| Tutors workshop | Thu 15/11/2018 | 9:30 | Free | ||
| Smartphone & Tablet Basics | Thu 15/11/2018 | 1:30 | $5 | ||
| Advanced MS Word Workshop | Thu 22/11/2018 | 9:30 | $10 | Yes | |
| Introduction to MS Power Point | Mon 26/11/2018 | 1:30 | $10 | Yes | |
| How do I…? | Thu 29/11/2018 | 9:30 | $10/hr | ||
| Excel spreadsheets | Thu 29/11/2018 | 1:30 | $10 | Yes | |
| Questions and Answers | Thu 6/12/2018 | 9:30 | $2 | ||
| iPad & iPhone | Mon 10/12/2018 | 1:30 | $5 | ||
| How do I…? | Tue 11/12/2018 | 9:30 | $10/hr | ||
* Booking is only required for selected workshops – contact Teresa on 021 169 625
Car parking at 200 Matai Road 
Please note that the off-street parking around SeniorNet, the Arts and Crafts Centre and the playground is a public car park, which can be used by anyone at any time.
Yellow Pages – message from Veronica Kemp our Membership Coordinator
Did you know that the Regional WHITE PAGES phone books will not be automatically delivered as was the norm previously. You now have to opt ‘in’. So if you wish to have the latest Regional Phone Book delivered to your door, you now have to ring
0800 031103.
A very pleasant person will take you details and the phone book will then be delivered to your letterbox or PO Box at the appropriate time (sometime in November or December). Warning – you may have to wait some time on the phone for that pleasant person to answer.
Message from the Chair
Not much makes its way onto the newsletter regarding Apple products but after learning a bit about batteries and iPhones this week at the How Do I…?, I did a bit of digging and ran across an article about iPhones and battery life.
Last year, Apple acknowledged that it had purposefully inhibited iPhone performance (called throttling) when the battery neared the end of its useful life and they will continue the practice with the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X.
Apple said it had started the practice in 2016 as a way to lengthen the lives of iPhones. As a lithium-ion battery degrades over time, cold weather or high current demands can lead to a device shutting down altogether. Apple pushed a software update intended to keep iPhones from sporadically turning off, by limiting how much strain they could put on the battery in the first place.
However, Apple also failed to make it extremely clear to tens of millions of iPhone owners that an invisible boot would slam on the brakes as the battery aged. It further neglected to give those iPhone owners the option to turn that throttling off, in the event that they wanted the phone that they bought to work at the speeds they expected, regardless of the trade-offs. In addition, they apparently had not considered that the solution to an old battery might just be a new one.
After an uproar, Apple did eventually address those concerns. It instituted a battery replacement program; the price of a new battery for an iPhone 6 or later dropped from $149 to $49 even if you are out of warranty (plus P&P!). In addition, in iOS 11.3, released in March, Apple included the option to turn off what it calls “peak performance capability,” which is another way of saying throttling.
While Apple has made tweaks to its hardware and software that make the performance slowdown less noticeable this battery throttling is still in place.
However, if you find your aging iPhone too slow to use, it is easy enough to find out if the battery is the culprit. Just head to:
Settings > Battery > Battery Health.
There you will see your battery’s maximum capacity, an indicator of how far it has degraded. If your iPhone has had a battery-related shutdown—but not before—you will see the option to disable the throttle.
The other option: Get a new battery. Apple offers software support for iPhones for years; 2012’s iPhone 5 only became officially obsolete this month. While plenty of other factors will make your device sluggish over time, giving it a new battery could help you squeeze extra months or even years out of it. Besides, spending $49 for an iPhone that feels new beats spending much, much more on one that’s actually new.
To learn about the New Zealand program for battery replacement check out this website:
https://support.apple.com/en-nz/iphone/repair/service/battery-power
The site details the eligible devices and the cost based on the device. A note though, the $49 cost is only good through 31 December 2018. After then the price goes up to $85 and $119 for the iPhone X. Remember also that there is no Apple Service Centre in Kapiti so you will have P&P costs to add to the repair unless you take it into Wellington at the pre-determined date/time.
It may not be surprising that Apple will continue throttling iPhones as it does serve a purpose. However, at least now you are aware that it is happening—and more importantly, have the ability to stop it.
Happy Computing
Teresa Urutia
Chair SeniorNet Kapiti Inc.
Kapiti SeniorNet 
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