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

[psac]

So you want a phone that randomly shuts down and could pose a potential hazard?

No, they should be fixing the issue that's causing the random shut downs to begin with. I was having this issue with my 6, was told my battery is totally fine, and they wouldn't let me pay to replace it. The random shutdowns went away with that iOS update that slowed down the phone. So what option do I have here? None, expect for sticking with the slower phone, or buying a new phone, which is what I did, and which is exactly what the law suit is charging.

 

[Stella]

Thanks, I have not seen your links yet. I shall do.

I provided the data in both instances for Samsung Galaxy S4 and Nexxus 5 made by LG. So...

I provided the data in both instances for Samsung Galaxy S4 and Nexxus 5 made by LG. So...

 

[jamesrick80]

Funny the note 4 has only been around for 3

I said like 4 years to show that's not a exact 4 years ...that thing is still speedy nonetheless

 

[sbailey4]

Simple. dont upgrade the software.

Of course Apple could implement a "Turn of battery management" switch, then all the complainers can complain their iphones shut down instead.

They actually should have built this into the low power mode option/switch. So when the device gets in the state they are referring to, switch to low power mode or fire off a message like they do at the 20% mark stating that low power mode is recommended blah blah blah. Simple solution and folks who don't want to switch on low power mode have the option to slow down or shut down.

 

[JohnnyW2001]

Simple. dont upgrade the software.

Of course Apple could implement a "Turn of battery management" switch, then all the complainers can complain their iphones shut down instead.

You make it sound like iPhones are $#!^: Either they're slow, or they shut down randomly.

 

[Delgibbons]

Simple. dont upgrade the software.

Of course Apple could implement a "Turn of battery management" switch, then all the complainers can complain their iphones shut down instead.

Don't upgrade the software?!

Sounds a bit......FRAGMENTY....I thought that was the Apple advantage
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So your statement "Every electronics company does CPU throttling based on the wear and tear on the battery" was a load of crap?

Nice to hear.

I know right. 3 years ago. In a completely different scenario.

For reference, better battery quality exists, Samsung is claiming far less degradation after 2 years:

"Where most batteries hold 80 percent of their charge after two years, this battery should be capable of 95 percent of its original capacity." said Oh Boo-keun, vice president of Samsung's mobile R&D team.

I guess this is another area where Apple is behind as usual?

This is good to see and hear.

 

[617660]

They actually should have built this into the low power mode option/switch. So when the device gets in the state they are referring to, switch to low power mode or fire off a message like they do at the 20% mark stating that low power mode is recommended blah blah blah. Simple solution and folks who don't want to switch on low power mode have the option to slow down or shut down.

The problem is that Apple can slow down the device in other ways. It doesn't have to be battery-related. As soon as Apple implements this feature, I am afraid they have already figure out other ways to force upgrade.

The issue at heart is corporate greed. I understand it's a necessary evil in a capitalism society but this time Apple simply stepped over the boundary.

 

[mariosmith90]

I find this all amusing. This one piece of news literally unravels just about every myth about Apple's supposed advantages over Android's ecosystem... (What android users have been saying for years) I'm going to go ahead and list them here.

"Apple chip technology is leaps and bounds ahead"
Chip technology so advanced that the batteries can't support them for over a year is not "advanced"

"Apple keeps all their devices up to date longer"
Yes, at the cost of throttling their performance until they're unusable.

"Apple uses far better battery technology"
Not the case at all, if what they say is true... It's far worse

"Apple's OS is so efficient and requires less resources than Android"
Again, that's all nullified by the OS throttling the CPU.


Sidenote
"Apple is easier to use"
My three year old has an android phone and uses it with ease

 

[Mc0]

They should just put a larger battery capacity and be done with this. After the Note7 debacle, Samsung put batteries on their phones that can retain 90% capacity after a year of use.

 

[rayward]

Don't upgrade the software?!

Sounds a bit......FRAGMENTY....I thought that was the Apple advantage

Apple touts to developers the high percentage of software updaters as a commercial advantage over rivals such as Android. They do it with great fanfare at every WWDC. So they are making money off hiding the fact that such software updates will throttle the performance of the end-users' phones, because if they made this clear fewer people would take up the updates and they'd lose that competitive edge.

There are so many ways in which Apple benefits from keeping this hidden, and zero advantages to the end user. Honesty would have cost them some profit margin; now their lack of honesty is likely to cost them a lot more. Directly through lawsuits, enforced software rewrites and battery / phone replacements, and also going forward now that they've lost any number of marketing / reputation advantages they enjoyed over their rivals.

 

[Takeo]

Hm. It’s a bit odd how my 5s, which is at 83% battery capacity, has never had a single shutdown, but the 6 and 6s have.

I also have a Touch 5 and 4s that have crappy batteries, but they never randomly shut down.

So something must be wrong with the 6 series that Apple isn’t admitting. Pushing this CPU throttling “feature” unannounced was very sneaky of them imo.

I have an iPhone 5 1st gen. It shuts down randomly quite often.

 

[citi]

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

Then you'd complain when your iPhone unintentionally reboots itself, and it would be all over the rumor sites and news, leading them to come out with a patch that fixes the problem. Do you know what the fix is? Slowing down your processor.

 

[jarman92]

There is making software updates and making software updates that purposely throttle the CPU. That's the big difference. If through the diagnostics Apple can see that the battery is degraded, they could have put a message that the battery should be serviced. But we know that's how how Apple works. They're a hardware company and they want you to buy a new phone.

The OP said Apple shouldn’t be involved with the product at all after purchase, which is of course absurd and what I was responding to.
I agree that Apple massively screwed up their communication here. However they aren’t throttling CPU because they want you to buy a new phone, they’re doing it so your phone doesn’t randomly shut down and you can continue using it.

 

[mariosmith90]

Apple touts to developers the high percentage of software updaters as a commercial advantage over rivals such as Android. They do it with great fanfare at every WWDC. So they are making money off hiding the fact that such software updates will throttle the performance of the end-users' phones, because if they made this clear fewer people would take up the updates and they'd lose that competitive edge.

There are so many ways in which Apple benefits from keeping this hidden, and zero advantages to the end user. Honesty would have cost them some profit margin; now their lack of honesty is likely to cost them a lot more. Directly through lawsuits, enforced software rewrites and battery / phone replacements, and also going forward now that they've lost any number of marketing / reputation advantages they enjoyed over their rivals.

Proof that the iPhone is just.... another phone

 

[Robert.Walter]

When a virtue is turned into a “crime”.

Was nice that Apple tried to automate this feature to run in the background. But humans being what they are can’t be uniformly pleased.

All Apple needed (needs to) do is add a toggle into the battery section and a dialogue that allows the customer to opt in the first few times the phone crashes or near crashes.

 

[deyerseve69]

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

Remember that the next time you complain about some insignificant bug you have.

 

[rayward]

Proof that the iPhone is just.... another phone

Which means that Apple can't charge a premium for it.

 

[JetBlack7]

Only thing I think they did wrong was not being open about this with their customers. They could explain this and at least people would be aware, and could buy a more recent iphone If they wanted.

 

[Kmart9419]

Apple touts to developers the high percentage of software updaters as a commercial advantage over rivals such as Android. They do it with great fanfare at every WWDC. So they are making money off hiding the fact that such software updates will throttle the performance of the end-users' phones, because if they made this clear fewer people would take up the updates and they'd lose that competitive edge.

There are so many ways in which Apple benefits from keeping this hidden, and zero advantages to the end user. Honesty would have cost them some profit margin; now their lack of honesty is likely to cost them a lot more. Directly through lawsuits, enforced software rewrites and battery / phone replacements, and also going forward now that they've lost any number of marketing / reputation advantages they enjoyed over their rivals.

If apple made it clear that the new update will throttle my phone, i have to make a choice, are the new features worth losing half of my speed. Going back to all my old iphones, if I knew, I would not update. My ipad 3 "the new ipad" was the fastest thing in the world when I got it, now I can barely open safari and browse properly. Apple updates a curse after the second one.

 

[617660]

Then you'd complain when your iPhone unintentionally reboots itself, and it would be all over the rumor sites and news, leading them to come out with a patch that fixes the problem. Do you know what the fix is? Slowing down your processor.

OMG! What do we do?! What do we do?!!!

We are damned if we complain, damned if we don't.

 

[maflynn]

If apple made it clear that the new update will throttle my phone

that's the thing, with Apple. live by the sword, die by the sword. They're incredibly secrative and in this case its coming back to haunt them.

The more transparent they are, the easier it is to get ahead of these sort of PR disasters.

 

[mariosmith90]

Which means that Apple can't charge a premium for it.

It's finally starting to become clear that there is absolutely nothing going on in Cupertino lol... It's starting to appear that all the Android negatives are safeguards for stuff that Apple hides.

 

[pmau]

What if the new phones are slightly overclocked ti let you feel the speed?
Then, after a few months have passed they scale back the frequency to normal levels.
I have seen on YouTube that modern SoC's draw much more power when clocked at the designed speed.
Maybe it's not about slowing the phones down, but let them "shine" for a while.
High power draw is taxing on the batteries.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Is there any battery powered products available who's performance doesn't degrade over time whether it be because of dated hardware or poorly developed software or combination of the two?

Although I feel that apple could've done a better job of explaining why and how the throttling process works I'd equate it to preventing people who drive below the speed limit from driving on the freeway.

It's for your own good and the people(apple) around you lol.

 

[617660]

If apple made it clear that the new update will throttle my phone, i have to make a choice, are the new features worth losing half of my speed. Going back to all my old iphones, if I knew, I would not update. My ipad 3 "the new ipad" was the fastest thing in the world when I got it, now I can barely open safari and browse properly. Apple updates a curse after the second one.

And importantly, after we say 'No' to updates, stop nagging us about the updates multiple times a week.