This site may earn affiliate commissions from the links on this folio. Terms of use.

Tim Cook

Over the years, iPhone owners have often wondered aloud if Apple was doing something to slow downwardly older devices. Now, we know that yes, information technology does do that. Simply a few days subsequently albeit that information technology has been quietly throttling older iPhones with degraded batteries, a pair of lawsuits have been filed against Apple alleging fraud and deceptive practices.

Information technology became clear during the last few iOS version updates that Apple had opted to apply performance throttling to older devices. It wasn't until Geekbench ran comparisons with various iOS versions that iPhone owners had any proof. Apple was forced to issue a statement in which is admitted to slowing down iPhones. In some ways, its position makes sense, only the way it handled the state of affairs is terrible.

The state of affairs has to do with how lithium-ion batteries age. Nosotros're all familiar with batteries losing chapters as they get old, but they likewise have less voltage. Information technology turns out Apple didn't include plenty headroom for the battery, and its voltage can autumn below what is needed to power the custom A-serial organisation-on-a-flake. Without plenty voltage, the phone can simply close down without warning. Apple's solution to this was to add performance throttling to iOS based on battery voltage. So, if your battery is degrading, your phone gets slow.

The first class-action lawsuit filed in Illinois accuses Apple of violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business organisation Practice Fine art. Specifically, the filers point to Apple's decision not to notify users it was going to throttle their phones. Equally had been pointed out, very few would suspect a battery issue every bit the root cause of sluggish performance. That could lead consumers just to buy a new telephone, which is to Apple'southward advantage.

iPhone-6s

Another accommodate filed in Los Angeles claims Apple'southward telephone throttling plan "was never requested or agreed upon." This suit also suggests Apple is hoping to become consumers to upgrade by slowing down their phones rather than merely reporting that the hardware might demand service.

It looks like Apple's decision to introduce this "feature" secretly is the master issue here. Even if Apple's intentions were pure (which is certainly up for debate), making these performance changes in undercover looks very suspicious. For a company that claims to intendance about the user feel, this whole fiasco makes Apple look quite asunder from the concerns of its customers. Grade actions like these are notoriously slow to litigate, so iPhone owners might end up with a small settlement in a couple years.