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US Government Investigates Apple Over iPhone Battery Slowdowns (phonedog.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from PhoneDog: The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating Apple about its updates that slowed performance on iPhones with older batteries. Sources speaking to Bloomberg say that the agencies are looking into whether Apple violated securities laws regarding disclosures about its updates that throttled older iPhones. So far, the DOJ and SEC have requested information from Apple. Because the investigation is still early, it's unclear if the agencies will actually take an action against Apple. Apple apologized for not being more clear about its actions after the news of its performance-throttling updates came out, but we've still seen class action lawsuits and now this investigation come out. The good news is that Apple will be more transparent about iPhone battery health and performance in the future, but for now, it'll have to deal with the DOJ and SEC.
What's there to investigate, really? They admitted that they did it. The information is public. Is it illegal to write software which could be construed to have a useful purpose even if it negatively impacts performance? That could describe features of just about any software out there. Is this something we really want the government doing?
I think they might be overstepping their charter a bit. About the SEC from the horses mouth. I guess someone with too much money that happens to know someone high up, and owned one of the effected phones got all butt hurt.
Apple has refused to repair any of our nearly forty affected devices at work. They give excuses like the finish is rubbed off therefore they cannot replace the battery. On my personal 6S Plus, there's a ding on the corner, and they said they can't replace the battery at any price because of that.
There is an update in the works to shut the part of the PM system off that caused this, it will put you where you would have been if this feature had not been implemented. After that there is a $29 battery replacement on offer:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/...
Did they said no to you showing up with a box containing every single iPhone you could find and angrily demanding forty free battery replacements?
That's because they don't "replace" the battery in iPhones. They copy the data from the old one on to a new one, hand your that, and then ship your old one to be "refurbished" (which is, of course, basically just replacing the battery).
Because they can't do the battery replacements in-store (because the phone is glued shut and impossible to open without special tools), that's the best they can do to enable a "quick" repair. (Still takes a couple of hours to do the copy.)
Did they said no to you showing up with a box containing every single iPhone you could find and angrily demanding forty free battery replacements?
Well when you put it like that you make me sound like a real asshole!
it will put you where you would have been if this feature had not been implemented.
It will give people back all the time they lost waiting for their slow-assed phone all this time? No? Yeah.
It won't. It does not people people where they would have been. Stop apologizing for apple using insane bullshit logic.
"His name was James Damore."
I just don't get all the rage over throttled CPUs.
Everyone is fine with throttled bandwidth. Gov won't even investigate that.
Gov is just mad at Apple because they don't help the gov spy on iPhones. Oh! I do get it.
That is, that's what they're doing on those off and extremely rare days when they're not investigating the president to throw his ass in prison for treason.
The government "investigates" a lot of things. However, Tim Cook was recently seen kissing The Donald's ass. No connection of course.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
More transparent? lol?
More than half the people posting here defend their actions, saying throttling without notification is a perfectly acceptable behaviour. They've never been transparent before... what makes anyone think they'll change now?
It's better to use android over iPhone. I know it is style, it looks better but for better benefits android should adopt. If you have money but you don't know where to spend, then the Apple store is for you. https://brillins.com/
Apparently the rumors about "DOS is not done till Lotus wont run (in DR-DOS)" has reached the ears of the government. It will start an investigation anytime soon.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
it will put you where you would have been if this feature had not been implemented.
It will give people back all the time they lost waiting for their slow-assed phone all this time? No? Yeah. It won't. It does not people people where they would have been. Stop apologizing for apple using insane bullshit logic.
Congratulations, by trashing Apple for not extending your lifespan by the same amount of minutes you feel you lost waiting for apps to load you have finally taken Apple hatred beyond what the laws of physics can deliver.
How about you skip this and spend time investigating Drumpf for treason.
Did they said no to you showing up with a box containing every single iPhone you could find and angrily demanding forty free battery replacements?
Well when you put it like that you make me sound like a real asshole!
I merely attempted to confirm whether or not you had done what your comment made it sound like you had done.
i guess they saw a opportunity to squeze the billions they did not have to pay on tax reductions.
they will always get you in the end no matter what.
That's because they don't "replace" the battery in iPhones. They copy the data from the old one on to a new one, hand your that, and then ship your old one to be "refurbished" (which is, of course, basically just replacing the battery).
Because they can't do the battery replacements in-store (because the phone is glued shut and impossible to open without special tools), that's the best they can do to enable a "quick" repair. (Still takes a couple of hours to do the copy.)
This is nonsense. An IPhone 6 battery replacement is a ten minute job for someone who knows how.
Why are haters always the latest to get the news? I mean, if you're gonna parry some "facts". at least let it be recent enough to be true.
The last iPhone to be glued shut was the iPhone 3GS. Circa 2009. The iPhone 4 (from 2010) and onwards are not glued shut and can be opened by removing 2 screws. Yes, 2 screws. Granted, replacing a battery in an iPhone 4 is a royal PITA, but the iPhone 5 and onwards is easy.
Apple does it all in-store nowadays - takes 15 minutes. And since the affected iPhones so far are the iPhone 6 and similar, it's not too hard.
Hell, that cellphone repair shop in every mall ought to be able to do it as well for $30 long before Apple offered it. And even iFixit will sell you a kit to replace your battery for $20.
It ain't hard. And the battery has been easier to change for most of the iPhone's history, too. There's plenty of true things you can use to hate about Apple, so stick with true facts, not what's fake news today.
This is nonsense. An IPhone 6 battery replacement is a ten minute job for someone who knows how.
Well, yes, but we're talking about Apple "geniuses" here. (No, really, that's what Apple calls their support people.) Is it any surprise that they don't know how? Or at the very least aren't allowed to?
Actually the iPhone 3gs was not glued shut either. It required you to remove two screws. You did need a suction knob to pull the glass from the body because it was pushed in quite tight.
However the battery was glued to the housing of the phone.
Yes, I repaired my own 3gs, the headphone jack was broken.
It does suck they used the $29 battery replacement as a way of ducking a class action lawsuit then they refuse to honor that for the vast majority of people for any excuse they can find.
Awwwww poor apple worshipper upset? Kneel before jobs!
...stupid fucking idea for stupid fucking apple pawns.
Do you remember how Apples PR team quickly jumped at offering customers a solution of replacing their cell phone battery for cheap?
Well what good is a solution if the company will not "act" on it?
I have two clients that were turned away from Apple after attempting to get their battery replaced for their IPhone 6.
They were told by the reps that there are no batteries available, "they may come in April". Then the rep immediately tried to encourage my client to buy a new phone.
Has anyone else experienced this?
It is becoming tiring that companies can say whatever suites them to make problems go away.
Will we ever live in a world of corporate accountability?
So then don't take it to an Apple Store.
There are two places in my town that replace iPhone batteries in minutes. They're probably a lot cheaper than the Apple Store too.
Anyone can buy replacement batteries, apparently stupid fucking apple pawns have opposable thumbs.
Because you are dumb.
it will put you where you would have been if this feature had not been implemented.
It will give people back all the time they lost waiting for their slow-assed phone all this time? No? Yeah.
It won't. It does not people people where they would have been. Stop apologizing for apple using insane bullshit logic.
You know the one thing you can't receive in any Court Judgment?
Time.
So, in that sense, no Court Judgment can make anyone "whole".
So give it a rest.
I just don't get all the rage over throttled CPUs.
Everyone is fine with throttled bandwidth. Gov won't even investigate that.
Gov is just mad at Apple because they don't help the gov spy on iPhones. Oh! I do get it.
Exactly!
Awwwww poor apple worshipper upset? Kneel before jobs!
Sez the Anonymous COWARD about the LOGGED IN User.
Slashdot REALLY needs to figure a way to reign-in the ACs. Perhaps Slashdot's comment system could keep track behind the scenes of who the AC TRULY is, and have the Karma against their particular Postings be visited upon the AC's REAL account.
That way, those who wish to remain anonymous could still do so; but it could no longer be used as a way to spew hatred and bigotry (I'm looking at you, "NIGGAS" poster-person!); which is EXACTLY is what it is used for 99.999999999999% of the time on Slashdot.
That's because they don't "replace" the battery in iPhones. They copy the data from the old one on to a new one, hand your that, and then ship your old one to be "refurbished" (which is, of course, basically just replacing the battery).
Because they can't do the battery replacements in-store (because the phone is glued shut and impossible to open without special tools), that's the best they can do to enable a "quick" repair. (Still takes a couple of hours to do the copy.)
You're full of shot, Hater!
If every third party cellphone repair shop can do it nearly while-you-wait; so can someone in the back of an Apple Store.
Stupid fuck.
This is nonsense. An IPhone 6 battery replacement is a ten minute job for someone who knows how.
Well, yes, but we're talking about Apple "geniuses" here. (No, really, that's what Apple calls their support people.) Is it any surprise that they don't know how? Or at the very least aren't allowed to?
The Geniuses don't do it. They have a dedicated repair tech in the back.
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Fuck off and die, you stupid COWARD, or log in and take your Karmic whipping like an adult!
and you are not a whole lot brighter.
Another awww. Useless shills like you should be outright banned. Your worse than paid advertising for apple. If you dont like it here maybe /. isnt for you. Spread your lies elsewhere; appleinsider seems pretty tech ignorant, try your luck there.
Yeah, that must be why I got +1 as AC with no bonus.
Meanwhile you just get +1 because you have them an email address to sell.
The last iPhone to be glued shut was the iPhone 3GS. Circa 2009. The iPhone 4 (from 2010) and onwards are not glued shut and can be opened by removing 2 screws. Yes, 2 screws.
Did replace the battery on my SO's iPhone 5.
- Those two screws are shitty Apple pentalobular proprietary stuff, requiring you to buy special tools, because "fuck standards".
- The glass still requires you to use custom tools to pull it out (luckily, any object with enough suction that you have laying around would do : car dashboard GPS holder, kitchen towel holder, etc. combined with a guitar pick/plectrum for lever. But in theory that would have been even more tools to buy).
- The battery is still glued inside the case.
At least the good news is that you can easily source good quality replacement for really cheap prices from reputable 3rd party source, so you don't need to rely on some shady sellers from Shenzen on ebay or alibaba.
My phone at the exact same timeframe (Jolla 1 - JP1301) :
- unclip plastic cover
- remove old battery
- put new battery
- close plastic cover
(Again, battery from 3rd party source, because Jolla doesn't have any more in tock).
Any other gadget without a clip-on back cover (wireless mouse, etc.) :
- unscrew the back cover (often standard screws like philips, sometime weird but common stuff like torx)
- unplug the old battery's connector
- plug the the new battery's connector
- screw back everything into place.
But yeah, the iPhone is 1mm thinner than the other gadgets thanks to all the stupid stuff.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Another awww. Useless shills like you should be outright banned. Your worse than paid advertising for apple. If you dont like it here maybe /. isnt for you. Spread your lies elsewhere; appleinsider seems pretty tech ignorant, try your luck there.
Dang, it's been a while since I came across somebody who sucked as much ass at trolling as you do.
Another ignorant ass hat that wants to cover up apples design flaw with some apple only physics bullshit.
Lies. Look at this guide to replace an iPhone 8 Plus battery: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/i...
Two screws, then you have to remove the display (!) which is _glued_ in. They recommend a hairdryer to soften the glue prior to removal, and caution that removing the screen destroys the waterproof seals. There there are bunch more screws and cables, and the battery is stuck down with adhesive too.
It's by no means easy for an ordinary, unskilled person to do.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
Another ignorant ass hat that wants to cover up apples design flaw with some apple only physics bullshit.
We seem to have hit a Fuckface Von Nervestick.
-- Jon Stewart
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