Apple Being Sued for 'Purposefully Slowing Down Older iPhone Models' [Updated]

[thadoggfather]

This comment on reddit sums up the apologists comments perfectly

To the apologists:

Apple gives you no option to not download the latest iOS where they start disabling features on your property.

These are mine.

I paid for them.

I shouldn't be locked in a perpetual struggle with the manufacturer over how I want to use them. If it means no cool features or security problems so be it that's my choice as the device owner.

Opt out is something corps don't want you to have. It's been ignored and this whole thing has gone into the ******* in a world of forced upgrades.​

I think more people are gonna tread very carefully when getting that update prompt. And adoption rates will suffer

 

[fairuz]

This comment on reddit sums up the apologists comments perfectly

To the apologists:

Apple gives you no option to not download the latest iOS where they start disabling features on your property.

Apple does not explain they are disabling features on your property.

Apple does not give you a choice in what you want to do with your property.

When they kick you in the balls with a new OS it is difficult to impossible to revert. Your choices are taken away.​

It's really annoying, but I can see why they prevent downgrades. If you have people on old software, you end up like Microsoft, forever supporting old crap lest a vulnerability get widely exploited and tarnish your reputation.

The real issue is that iOS now gets worse with every update. Either this BS throttling thing or iOS generally getting heavier has crippled my phone, and there are way more bugs than ever before. I always hope an update is going to fix stuff, but the last one just made it start nagging me with modal popups to enable Apple Pay. I can now afford to buy new iPhones all the time to "solve" the slowdowns but simply don't want to bother and don't even like the new hardware. I miss it when iPhone 5 + iOS 6 was the standard because honestly it was a superior experience to the latest stuff.

 

[csi24]

Is iOS 11 not worth it on 7 plus over iOS 10? It’s my secondary, i think ill keep it where it is.

Heck no, keep iOS 10. iOS 11 has killed the battery life on my 7 Plus. And no, I'm not exaggerating either. I have to plug my phone in twice a day to make it through the day. Sometimes three if I'm using it heavy after work

 

[AeroZ]

I think more people are gonna tread very carefully when getting that update prompt. And adoption rates will suffer

Then they’ll just push the updates even more. Like now, you’ll have to enter passcode and set a new time for update once it starts nagging. The only way to prevent this is to install tv os beta profile.

 

[thadoggfather]

I'm still on 10.3.3 on my iPhone 7 Plus. Does that mean my phone is going to shut down periodically? Also, what if we didn't abuse our phones and the battery is still in great shape? Does my iPhone get to be slowed down because other people abuse their batteries?

That’s the problem in Apple’s statement that they will be “extending this feature” to other iPhones (8/X) in the future, and just did with 7 on 11.2:

Will it make people not on 11.2 or up paranoid they now having a soon-to-be problematic device? They cant win with a vague statement like that, but pinning down a specific software where they’ve started implementing it

—

We are to infer 8 and X have not yet been throttle-enabled lol

Maybe Apple will ship the 2018 iPhone with this feature enabled from day 1. Yikes.
[doublepost=1513926923][/doublepost]

Heck no, keep iOS 10. iOS 11 has killed the battery life on my 7 Plus. And no, I'm not exaggerating either. I have to plug my phone in twice a day to make it through the day. Sometimes three if I'm using it heavy after work

That is absurd,

 

[csi24]

That’s the problem in Apple’s statement that they will be “extending this feature” to other iPhones (8/X) in the future, and just did with 7 on 11.2:

Will it make people not on 11.2 or up paranoid they now having a soon-to-be problematic device? They cant win with a vague statement like that, but pinning down a specific software where they’ve started implementing it

—

We are to infer 8 and X have not yet been throttle-enabled lol

Maybe Apple will ship the 2018 iPhone with this feature enabled from day 1. Yikes.
[doublepost=1513926923][/doublepost]

That is absurd,

It's even gotten a fresh, 'set up as new' restore too (the restore option in settings). I'm going to do a full backup through iTunes, and then do an iTunes restore since I've read that's the best way to restore an iPhone.

I'm holding out hope for an X Plus next year. Because even though the X is nice, it just feels too small. But then again, if the X Plus is close to the Note 8 footprint, then it's going to be too big. Rumored 6.5 display for the Plus has my head spinning lol

 

[Sakellaris]

The solution......

 

[Abazigal]

The solution......

Worse than the ailment, when all you have is a sliding scale that does not indicate just how much performance is being throttled in return for just how much improvement in battery life. At best, it should either be a “yes or no” toggle, but 4-5 separate options.

 

[IsaacM]

Both my iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 Plus had unexpected shutdowns.

Apple replaced the batteries of iPhone 5 and the problem disappeared.

As for iPhone 6, the problem disappeared with this "feature" that slowed down my phone.

It's clear Apple did this to avoid paying for free battery replacements, which is a ****** thing to do. Plus, they had the bonus of more people rushing to buy new iPhones.

I'm glad they are being sued and I absolutely believe they should LOSE this case. Learn from this, Apple!

 

[AdonisSMU]

About time. What they are doing is highly unethical. Their involvement with my property stops after payment.

You should look up CPU Throttling. Android has had this feature since at least 2014.

 

[IsaacM]

The solution......

They can't do this because it would cause unexpected shutdowns at random battery percentage which is a technical bug they failed to squash on the hardware side.

 

[Ladybug]

I think the battery replacement price is fair. The problem is being denied battery service when the diagnostics say your phone is fine, all while iOS says your battery needs nursing with the CPU throttled down. This is the part Apple needs to fix, to align their diagnostics with whatever iOS is doing to determine battery health.

This!

Apple can't say my battery is bad enough to throttle then have their diagnostic tell me it's all good. Battery service should be available even if it cost the user.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Both my iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 Plus had unexpected shutdowns.

Apple replaced the batteries of iPhone 5s and the problem disappeared.

As for iPhone 6, the problem disappeared with this "feature" that slowed down my phone.

It's clear Apple did this to avoid paying for free battery replacements, which is a ****** thing to do. Plus, they had the bonus of more people rushing to buy new iPhones.

I'm glad they are being sued and I absolutely believe they should LOSE this case. Learn from this, Apple!

Why should they give you a free device? The battery wasn't faulty. It was behaving like a standard lithium ion battery. You think this stuff is magic. The slowdown is temporary... So why get mad over a temporary slowdown when too much power could damage your battery? Ohh right... you want free hardware. You think a heavily used item should be replaced for free. I bet you didn't even read the TOC for your iPhone.
[doublepost=1513927815][/doublepost]

This!

Apple can't say my battery is bad enough to throttle then have their diagnostic tell me it's all good. Battery service should be available even if it cost the user.

I agree Apple should give people the option to replace their batteries at their own request. Clearly you could always do this. Im not sure why the sales staff didn't sell this as an option even if it was their opinion you didn't need it.

 

[csi24]

I have had issues non-stop with my old iPhone 6 battery ALL THE TIME! It was extremely frustrating. I’d go from 100% to 60 to 15% to off in a matter of me being on my phone for maybe 20 minuets, 30 at the absolute most. Sometimes I wasn’t even using my phone and if it wasn’t plugged in, would drop to 30% or turn off. I think the battery drainage started when the 7 came out and about a week or two after the 8 arrived, my phone died unexpectedly without even using it. Was sitting in my handbag and I went to google something and it shut off. WTH!? I went home plugged it in. An hour later of playing with it, nada. Got my moms phone and was basically forced to go to the Sprint store and get the iPhone 8. I was personally waiting for the X, but now they’ve been having issues with the facial recognition software, I’m kinda glad I was stuck to get the 8.

I’ve had iPhones since the 4, iPads, iPods...the whole 9. I’ve never had a problem like I had with anything other than the iPhone 6. Tho my mom has an older iPad that’s EXTREMELY slow. I wanted to throw it out the window! POS! It works for her tho, but personally I couldn’t deal with that crap!

There’s definitely something off with all of this. We shouldn’t have to be forced to buy upgraded electronics, some of us can’t afford to do that all the time. And their AppleCare...way too pricey. At least if anything, let us pay in installments, just like everything else. It’s impossible for me to purchase a new phone or pad and have to pay in one lump for AppleCare the same day. Not cool. I refuse to go to Android for a number of reasons, but if push comes to shove, I may have to do that one day.

Apple has their 'Upgrade Program' which includes Apple care in the monthly bill. It's like $56 for the 256gb X. You definitely could have gotten a new battery and your phone would be as good as new. But with only 1gb of ram, I'd smash it up against the wall. It would be way too slow for me.

https://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program

 

[Cartaphilus]

Even in the USA there is what is known as Latent Defect liability, in so much if it were established that there was a design flaw from the outset, then the consumer always has recourse. Apple would still like to hide a design flaw if they could (if one existed). Anyhow, it is an expectation that batteries have a 1000 charge and discharge cycle....Apple would like that milestone to be achieved also.....you can go on and on, but basically Apple was / is trying to extend the “life”of the phone beyond their liabilities, that is, they are trying to extend the life of the phone for no one but themselves. Anyone who thinks otherwise is simply naive!
.

A battery of the class used in iPhones (and hundreds of other products) will lose its ability to hold a charge over time. These batteries have number of full recharge cycles in them, and as they age the level of charge they can hold diminishes with each recharge. This isn't a latent defect, it is an intrinsic and patent characteristic of the type of battery.

 

[Ankou_Sabat]

Apple definitely deserves criticism for not communicating this to customers. I understand and even can support the technical logic behind their decisions for preserving battery performance and life at a cost of cpu performance, however it comes off scummy and underhanded obscuring that from the customer. I'm sure there are tons of customers who would have gladly opted to an Apple battery replacement service ($70 out of warranty service charge) than pay $500 to $1000+ for a new phone every two years. This is why communication and transparency is important but Apple always seems to default to silence until it totally blows up.

 

[AdonisSMU]

Funny the note 4 has only been around for 3

And it too had the CPU throttling. Google is your friend.

 

[dnsp]

Time to add an expiration date on the back of all iPhones, "Best before MM/DD/Y".

 

[ke-iron]

Apple has never throttled MacBook Pro's other than downclocking once your battery reaches 5%

And if they ever did choose to, which would incite just as much outrage as this has and assuming they didn't make a change after the slew of lawsuits that would inevitably come their way, there would be ways around it because macOS is a relatively open platform.

MacBook pros are throttled. The system intelligently uses the cores based on what you’re doing. Different scenario but it’s throttled nonetheless.
[doublepost=1513928758][/doublepost]

I disagree that it’s clear cut. If the Apple store tells you your battery is FINE above 80% and they don’t allow you to replace it, then there should absolutely be no throttling. If there is throttling, then the battery is shot. They should be mutually exclusive but they are not, in so many cases including my own. My phone was throttled down to slower than my wife’s 5s. That’s acceptable to you? That’s utter garbage that any company focused on the user experience would resort to stupidity like this.

Everyone is stating battery Chemistry blah blah. Yes in testing, you assume worst case scenarios for the expected life of the battery(80%). Anything beyond that is up in the air. Requiring any changes to clock rates etc before this 80% means that testing was shoddy, planning was garbage and the engineering behind it was nonsense and this is just a band-aid.

I understand but I’m sure these cases of throttled iPhones are after the 1 year warranty has passed, because by then the battery capacity would be significantly lower.

 

[bernuli]

Just FYI - that actually is the hardest solution. Supporting deprecated software means you need to allocate more resources (devs, test, time, etc).

Well then so be it.

 

[kstotlani]

This is no more a defect than the soles of your running shoes wearing out with age is a defect.

This is not a good analogy. Just imagine if this applied to the airplanes we fly. An airplane can fly forever if it is taken care of properly. Unless you abuse your phone it should last for a long time. My 3GS lasted for 4 years. My iPhone 5 also 3 years and it was amazing even when I sold it. Electronics don’t degrade like shoes. It will only degrade if the thermal coating/glue etc is not done correctly.

 

[jellyjeff]

I'm pretty sure the interested parties understand the essence of what Apple stated totally, but anywhere there is even the slightest suggestion that someone/something rich has made a decision, there's a possible law suit.

This litigious tendency of the US always reminds me of the episode of sliders where Jerry O'Connell's character is sued because he bumped into someone crossing a road and said "sorry", thereby admitting guilt.

 

[Mugwumper]

It always amazes me at how people are so willing to take the side of massive corporations over individual consumers.

Anyway, my own experience with iOS 11 is that it has absolutely destroyed the performance of my iPhone 5s, which was humming right along before the update.

Yep, same here. I'm on a 64GB iPhone 6. My mix of apps (browsing, messages, games, etc.) didn't change after the 11.2.1 update, nor did the way I use it (I keep 3-5 apps open all the time), but the performance is now very sluggish, and apps are choppy. The biggest indicator is that I went from using maybe 30-35% of the battery life during a day of use to where I can barely get to 6PM before the battery is drained.

Also, I've downloaded several "battery status" apps to get a sense of how bad my battery is. They all say I'm at 82% !!! So I'm being throttled even though I don't have a battery under 50%, which was supposedly the purpose of the new software.

I have been an Apple user since the days of the "Apple ][" and this really bugs me. I have no intention of turning in a perfectly working (or was, with iOS 10) phone for a new one. Yes, it's partly financial, but "don't fix it if it ain't broke" ;^)

 

[e1me5]

Not buying Apple's excuse.

Why is it that iPhone 5S and all the ones before never have this problem of just turning off? Something else is going on...

Are you sure about that? I had a 4s that was switching off randomly when the battery was at 15% when was just 10 months old.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

About time. What they are doing is highly unethical. Their involvement with my property stops after payment.

So you don't install OS updates?