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Apple Hit With Class Action Lawsuit After Admitting To Slowing Down Old iPhones (appleinsider.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the didn't-see-that-coming dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Apple Insider: A day after Apple acknowledged slowing down iPhones with degraded batteries, a Los Angeles man is pursuing a class action lawsuit in the matter. Owners didn't agree to the prospect, and it hurts the devices' value, according to a filing by plaintiff Stefan Bodganovich, cited by TMZ. The case is said to be particularly concerned with the impact on iPhone 7 users. The suit asks that Apple stop throttling older devices, and pay compensation to affected people. Over the course of December, a number of people on Reddit and elsewhere have speculated that iPhones perform faster after battery replacements, mostly citing anecdotal evidence. Apple effectively confirmed that situation on Wednesday, but with the provision that it only throttles phones to prevent sudden, potentially damaging shutdowns. UPDATE: A second lawsuit has been filed against the company. Chicago Sun-Times reports "five customers have filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago against the tech giant for what they're calling 'deceptive, immoral and unethical' practices that violate consumer protection laws."

5 of 244 comments (clear)

  1. Buy a newerer fasterer one by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Slow down old phones, customers see how much faster the new ones are....profit!

    1. Re:Buy a newerer fasterer one by torkus · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I also have to wonder if this was partly in response to the battery issues they had with the 6-series (or 6s, i forget) where they'd get unexpected shutdowns and battery capacity under ~40% was a complete crapshoot. I had one and regularly saw the phone power off at 20% battery...or go from 30 to 5 and then power off and back to 40% when powered back on.

      My guess is iffy battery performance messed up their capacity algorithms when it couldn't handle minor spikes in power due to CPU...so they basically just cut out the spikes in CPU to avoid further need of replacing batteries. And from there...it becomes a logical step to apply this to any device which might have anything similar happen. A slower phone is easier to accept than one which powers off somewhat randomly after all.

      I'd put my money on them being linked. It was a business decision to help limit battery replacement...and a "good idea" spread it to all devices.

      --
      You can get rich if you own a politician, but you have to be rich to buy one in the first place.
  2. SERIOUS QUESTION... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Does the slow-down also happen when the phone is plugged into the wall?

    If yes, then this lawsuit has a huge case here! Still, it should be noted in the manual at the minimum of this 'feature'.

  3. Re:No fan of apple but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    This kind of thing merits a prompt on every reboot.

    "The OS has detected that the battery has deteriorated to the point that it may affect device stability. Should battery saving mode be enabled to attempt to work around this issue? (Battery saving mode will slow down all phone operations.)"

    If you click no, they can either prompt you where to get a battery replaced, if that is at all feasible, or rather give you a small coupon on the discount of a new phone. If the phone crashes after that point, well you were warned.

    That would be the ethical way to handle it... I'd rather know the true state then wonder if the phone is infested with malware.

  4. Re: Unsurprising by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I would prefer to be notified so I can make an informed choice. Not have my iGadget mysteriously degrade performance in a time period when it would encourage me to buy a new unit. Perhaps it should prompt for three choices:

    1. Accept performance degradation.
    2. Accept reduced battery life.
    3. Come in to replace battery.