Chinese Consumer Group Demands Answers From Apple Over Older iPhone Slowdowns

[MacRumors]

Apple's iPhone slowdown controversy extended to China on Tuesday after a Chinese consumer group asked the tech giant for information about iOS updates that reduce the performance of older iPhones (via Reuters).

The Shanghai Consumer Council has written to Apple and requested an explanation for the slowdowns and information about what Apple planned to do to rectify the problem. The consumer group, which is a non-government organization approved by the Chinese authorities, demanded a response by Friday, according to state news agency Xinhua.

The council explained that its query came in response to consumer feedback that old iPhones became sluggish after upgrading the operating system to iOS 10.2.1. It said it had received 2,615 complaints about Apple products and services in 2017, compared to 964 complaints in 2015.

Last month Apple confirmed that it introduced power management features in the update to improve performance and prevent unexpected shutdowns as the battery in the devices starts to degrade. The company faces an increasing number of lawsuits that either accuse the company of intentionally slowing down older iPhones, or of failing to disclose power management changes it made starting in iOS 10.2.1.

For more information about the power management system that Apple implemented in the update, check out our frequently asked questions.

Article Link: Chinese Consumer Group Demands Answers From Apple Over Older iPhone Slowdowns

 

[-BigMac-]

Why not. Everyone else is cashing in on this

 

[Novecento]

I wouldn't want to be the guy at Apple who decided not to make this change public

 

[keysofanxiety]

The Shanghai Consumer Council has written to Apple and requested an explanation for the slowdowns and information about what Apple planned to do to rectify the problem.

Do they have difficulty reading? Apple have already done this.

Apple should just copy and paste their last statement on the matter.

 

[Fzang]

...a simple Google search is obviously beyond their expertise.

Reach*

 

[macs4nw]

I wouldn't want to be the guy at Apple who decided not to make this change public

That would probably be Tim.... you know where the old buck stops, right?

 

[keysofanxiety]

Reach*

Oh boy, I forgot that Google Search is banned in China. No offence or twisted pun intended with my original statement.

 

[Mc0]

Guys, it’s Apple so expect more publicity hehe. It’s still good for us consumers you know. We may now get high quality batteries on the next iPhone.

 

[Bawstun]

Yikes. They’re going to lose billions for selling defective phones.

Here’s the proof: degraded iPads are not throttled. Apple released a statement saying it “only applies” to iPhones and that the iPads, regardless of degradation, are not throttled by the “fix”, or, what it really is: the recall workaround.

They got caught. Simple as. Recall every iPhone after the 6 and make this right, Apple! The courts are going to suggest it anyway, once you start losing every lawsuit.
[doublepost=1516098714][/doublepost]

That would probably be Tim.... you know where the old buck stops, right?

Tim Cook will be fired shortly. I don’t expect him to make it to 2019, if very far into 2019. Consumer backlash hasn’t begun yet, once the media blows up with reports of Apple losing, or settling all of these lawsuits - he’s out.
[doublepost=1516098928][/doublepost]

Do they have difficulty reading? Apple have already done this.

Apple should just copy and paste their last statement on the matter.

The United States House of Representatives also want more answers. They want to know what fix is in store other than the software throttling. France government is also involved.

Three different countries GOVERNMENTS are involved now, as well as 34 separate law firms. LMAO!! @ anyone who thinks Tim isn’t being dismissed.

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

I want to know why my 4S can’t type letters on a screen. It was lightning fast for the first 3 OSes. Then each update made it slower and slower.

Now it’s completely useless.

No one will convince me that this wasn’t done on purpose. No OS optimization for newer phones would cause a perfectly fine device to take 10 seconds per letter to type. My old VIC 20 from 1980 can type letters on a screen with no lag.

Purposeful slowing of older devices has been happening long before this particular issue.

 

[msephton]

Interesting to see this is far from over.

 

[mrzz]

Why not. Everyone else is cashing in on this

as IP6 user you would talk differently. This crap just half killed perf. of phones which were COMPLETELY FINE and without any reboots etc. before they introduced this trash. They just more than deserve it.
[doublepost=1516106463][/doublepost]

Do they have difficulty reading? Apple have already done this.

Apple should just copy and paste their last statement on the matter.

their explanation is unsatisfactory

 

[69Mustang]

Do they have difficulty reading? Apple have already done this.

Apple should just copy and paste their last statement on the matter.

I think part of the problem is the statement that Apple released. It introduced more questions than it answered. Plus it was pretty deflective. Batteries degrade over time? Well yes, yes they do. No one was questioning that. Why are Apple's batteries randomly shutting down? Why didn't they institute the program they have now? Why be so secretive when they were already thought to be obsoleting phones? The situation was compounded by Apple refusing to replace batteries unless the phone passed a battery test. So yeah, people have questions.

There's a subset of people who simply believe everything Apple says. Apparently, there's another subset who are less accepting. That group is a bit more vociferous.

 

[Phonephreak]

And the saga continues. Apple this isn’t dying off like you hoped. It’s a PR nightmare. Time to step up.

 

[Technarchy]

A simple disclaimer stating performance may degrade based upon battery age would have worked wonders.

In addition, a no nonsense battery replacement program would also be valuable.

 

[69Mustang]

A simple disclaimer stating performance may degrade based upon battery age would have worked wonders.

I disagree. No one was questioning whether batteries degrade over time. That's a known fact. Also a known fact is that degradation doesn't normally cause sudden shutdown. More importantly, Apple's battery management algorithms are about mitigating that sudden shutdown, not simple battery degradation. So a simple disclaimer would have done nothing. Too many people are pointing to general battery degradation as the genesis of the problem. That ain't true at all.

In addition, a no nonsense battery replacement program would also be valuable.

I 100% agree. When you tell a customer, if your battery doesn't fail our test you may as well put your money back in your pocket... to paraphrase Jobs, you're doing it wrong.

 

[deferredAnon]

I disagree. No one was questioning whether batteries degrade over time. That's a known fact. Also a known fact is that degradation doesn't normally cause sudden shutdown. More importantly, Apple's battery management algorithms are about mitigating that sudden shutdown, not simple battery degradation. So a simple disclaimer would have done nothing. Too many people are pointing to general battery degradation as the genesis of the problem. That ain't true at all.


I 100% agree. When you tell a customer, if your battery doesn't fail our test you may as well put your money back in your pocket... to paraphrase Jobs, you're doing it wrong.

Someone make this guy the new Apple CEO.

 

[jav6454]

I wouldn't want to be the guy at Apple who decided not to make this change public

Apple will stand behind him and probably not fire him. If they do fire him/her, it'll be through the back door. However, he/she aren't fired, then decisions from this point on are going to be much more scrutinized.

 

[aaronlionsheep]

Yikes. They’re going to lose billions for selling defective phones.

Here’s the proof: degraded iPads are not throttled. Apple released a statement saying it “only applies” to iPhones and that the iPads, regardless of degradation, are not throttled by the “fix”, or, what it really is: the recall workaround.

They got caught. Simple as. Recall every iPhone after the 6 and make this right, Apple! The courts are going to suggest it anyway, once you start losing every lawsuit.

Larger batteries are able to provide/withstand much higher power draw. Even if the batteries degrade in iPads, they are very likely to be able to still supply the required power to the upgraded iPhone CPU. Thats most likely why iPads aren't throttling with degraded batteries.

 

[whooleytoo]

I want to know why my 4S can’t type letters on a screen. It was lightning fast for the first 3 OSes. Then each update made it slower and slower.

Now it’s completely useless.

No one will convince me that this wasn’t done on purpose. No OS optimization for newer phones would cause a perfectly fine device to take 10 seconds per letter to type. My old VIC 20 from 1980 can type letters on a screen with no lag.

Purposeful slowing of older devices has been happening long before this particular issue.

I'm not really sure it's deliberate, but Apple do have a big disincentive against spending time and money to keep older devices running smoothly.

Adding on features is always likely to lead to memory usage bloat. Sure, they could have shipped the devices originally with more memory to allow more scope for software upgrades. But Apple - like most companies - are run by bean-counters whose focus is on margins and upgrade paths; not on device lifetime. Sure, it's not very inspirational, which is why you don't have a video of Jony Ive telling us how the next iDevice is more 'minimum viable product' than a revolution of design.

 

[macTW]

I mean. They gave a legitimate explanation. Not sure why people aren’t happy with it - it makes sense and is much preferred to shutdowns.

 

[tzm41]

I mean. They gave a legitimate explanation. Not sure why people aren’t happy with it - it makes sense and is much preferred to shutdowns.

They gave no explanation, and the slowdown was implemented secretly before this all went public. Furthermore, there is one other way to fix this: instead of slowing down users' phones, replace the defective batteries for them. Why are they defective, you ask? As 69Mustang says:

degradation doesn't normally cause sudden shutdown

 

[neutralguy]

I mean. They gave a legitimate explanation. Not sure why people aren’t happy with it - it makes sense and is much preferred to shutdowns.

That was not an explanation. That was a cover up press release. It was very carefully crafted with the help of management and lawyers. The explanation that battery degrades over time is not something new. We all know battery degrades over time. So Apple being Apple just tried to create more smokescreen with that release. The actual explanation should have been that people should upgrade every two years. And apple is trying to. Ake it easy to upgrade by slowing down the phone. That's the truth. We all know it. At this point, I just want to see how long Apple can keep going with this explanation.

 

[ronno]

Kind of stunning that they have not yet issued an update that gets rid of the stupid throttling. Seems they’d rather be stubborn and spend the next 10 years in court over this.

 

[aylk]

I mean. They gave a legitimate explanation. Not sure why people aren’t happy with it - it makes sense and is much preferred to shutdowns.

Because it is a lie. The phone is slowed down even when it's getting full power from the lightning port while charging on your desk or car.