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

[Applejuiced]

Best for everyone. Slow is better than crashed.

No, if it crashes I'll replace the battery for $40-80 and then it will not crash.
But without knowing it's a battery issue I'd be stuck spending $999 plus tax for a new iPhone.
Lying and hiding that from their customers is not good.
[doublepost=1513995977][/doublepost]

old phones, Apple is trying to protect you and all they get is lawsuits
What a joke.
Bin the old crap and move on to year 2017

You're joking right?

 

[SashJ]

Lol. These lawsuits wont go anywhere.

 

[GuruZac]

The apologists on here...my God. SMH Meanwhile, back to reality, the problem is the deception with the feature, then Apple gets to punch you in the gut again with the ******** battery diagnostics check your local genius performs, which may not show your battery is in need of replacement, but the bogus software has throttled your phone because it does show the battery isn’t up to the task, so you’re left with a phone with **** performance and Apple won’t even replace the battery to make it right. It’s enough to make me look at other options when I really think about how pathetic Apple’s approach to this is. What else are they holding back? How the hell are you apologists not getting the problem with this???

 

[tylerthomas28]

Your argument does not make sense.

If I had a product that broke down quickly after purchase, why would I continue to shop from the same vendor? In what bizarro world do people see their phone slow down after a year and think - wow, this phone gets old fast. Better get another one from the same company which sold me this crappy phone rather than start shopping around for alternatives.

Makes perfect sense when you are stuck in Apple ecosystem.

Not that bizarre because Apple wants everyone to upgrade every 1-2 years. They want users to not consider 1-2 years as a quick breakdown but just the norm. Releasing an unpolished slow iOS update on old devices just plays perfectly into Apple’s hand. Apple admitting the slowdowns in the OS just confirms what was already known. Apple apologists will just continue on defending though.

 

[Ladybug]

If these lawsuits only makes Apple change their ways then it will be a victory for everyone.
[doublepost=1513996897][/doublepost]

The apologists on here...my God. SMH Meanwhile, back to reality, the problem is the deception with the feature, then Apple gets to punch you in the gut again with the ******** battery diagnostics which may not show your battery is in need of replacement, but the bogus software has throttled your phone because it senses the battery isn’t up to the task, so you’re left with a phone with **** performance and Apple won’t even replace the battery to make it right. It’s enough to make me look at other options when I really think about how pathetic Apple’s approach to this is. What else are they holding back? How the hell are you apologists not getting the problem with this???

Rumor has it too much koolaid short circuits the brain causing unstable thought process.

 

[gluckett]

No, if it crashes I'll replace the battery for $40-80 and then it will not crash.
But without knowing it's a battery issue I'd be stuck spending $999 plus tax for a new iPhone.
Lying and hiding that from their customers is not good.
[doublepost=1513995977][/doublepost]

You're joking right?

You do realize there are apps (both free and paid) on the app store that will report your battery's health and whether or not it needs to be replaced, right? Sure cheaper than going out and buying a new phone just because it slowed down or crashed...

 

[Applejuiced]

You do realize there are apps (both free and paid) on the app store that will report your battery's health and whether or not it needs to be replaced, right? Sure cheaper than going out and buying a new phone just because it slowed down or crashed...

Yes now we all know about it.
What about the past 10 years that we had no idea that Apple was slowing down iPhones based on battery capacity? Or who knows if that's all they based their slow downs on.
It took a very long time for people to figure that out on their own.
Off course Apple just forgot to mention anything about this great new "feature" that they have in place and will continue to apply to all future phones

 

[squirrellydw]

I agree with the tech Apple implemented but they should have told us about it and let us turn it on and off. When Apple released the statement they had to know lawsuits were going to follow.

 

[fpsBeaTt]

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

You have neither read nor understood the subject matter, or understand that no software vendor ceases involvement “after payment”, or understand what your property/purchase contracts are.

Enjoy a life without software updates, along with an apparent case of Tall Poppy Syndrome.

 

[pran76]

You do realize there are apps (both free and paid) on the app store that will report your battery's health and whether or not it needs to be replaced, right? Sure cheaper than going out and buying a new phone just because it slowed down or crashed...

Okay i’ll bite yet again. What useless information will that battery gauge give you? Let’s say it tells you your battery is at 85%, or 90%. What exactly does that tell you? NOTHING!!!!Does it tell you when Apple starts their throttling? Is there a table that you can magically refer to to figure out when you should replace your battery to prevent the throttling?

All of those supporting this have no idea how slow phones got and those that do and still agree are batcrap crazy. Sluggish unusable phones is not an option that is acceptable under any situation. Apps that ran fine before were sluggish to the point where it was not usable anymore. Just tell us we need a new battery and be done with that.

There was rampant speculation that the iOS updates were the root cause of the slowdowns. How is the user supposed to know the root cause of the slowdown was the battery degradation and Apple subsequently deciding to throttle devices without Apple coming out with this information after being caught red handed?

Also the BIGGEST question is why is throttling happening before 80%? Is there no expectation that batteries should be able to support full powered phones to at least that level?

 

[firewood]

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

Not if you agree to connect to their servers and services. Please go back and carefully (re)read all those software license agreements you clicked Agree on. Especially the one before you last updated the OS. Apple may have even recorded the time and date on which you did.

Don't want their involvement? Delete your Apple ID, turn off all automatic updates, log out of all their services, and never click "Agree" on any of their buttons again.

 

[gluckett]

Okay i’ll bite yet again. What useless information will that battery gauge give you? Let’s say it tells you your battery is at 85%, or 90%. What exactly does that tell you? NOTHING!!!!Does it tell you when Apple starts their throttling? Is there a table that you can magically refer to to figure out when you should replace your battery to prevent the throttling?

All of those supporting this have no idea how slow phones got and those that do and still agree are batcrap crazy. Sluggish unusable phones is not an option that is acceptable under any situation. Apps that ran fine before were sluggish to the point where it was not usable anymore. Just tell us we need a new battery and be done with that.

There was rampant speculation that the iOS updates were the root cause of the slowdowns. How is the user supposed to know the root cause of the slowdown was the battery degradation without Apple coming out with this information after being caught red handed?

If your battery is at the point where your phone will be throttled, I'm sure there are other things you will notice - how long it holds a charge, how long it takes to charge it etc. And yes, there is no magic table, but the app will show you exactly how much capacity your battery has compared to it's lifetime. When I started noticing issues with charges not holding, it gives you a big red warning sign that said you need to replace the battery immediately because it is about to die.

 

[Mizzsdk]

I have been a member for years and I have suffered this ongoing saga for many years. With my work and needing a phone I would upgrade after so many times of my phone t Turning off in the middle of my conversations. Or I charge the battery and within a couple of hours My battery is down to 2% of charge. I was always told to make sure the apps were closed out cause that was the cause of my battery failure. Bout time we get some justice. I understand their action on trying to make sales, just not at my convenience. I Love my old phone and I really hate figuring out the new phones. I hope something gets done about this.

 

[pran76]

Not if you agree to connect to their servers and services. Please go back and carefully (re)read all those software license agreements you clicked Agree on. Especially the one before you last updated the OS. Apple may have even recorded the time and date on which you did.

Don't want their involvement? Delete your Apple ID, turn off all automatic updates, log out of all their services, and never click "Agree" on any of their buttons again.

I agree with the basic premise here but honestly, no where does it allow to the deviate away from the advertised performance? If there is, at which point will people stop allowing Apple to stomp all over them ? What if they update a future update to remove touch functionality? What about if they remove colors and go to monochrome? Stupid examples yes, but so is the throttling without explicitly telling us how, and when they do that.
[doublepost=1513999066][/doublepost]

If your battery is at the point where your phone will be throttled, I'm sure there are other things you will notice - how long it holds a charge, how long it takes to charge it etc. And yes, there is no magic table, but the app will show you exactly how much capacity your battery has compared to it's lifetime. When I started noticing issues with charges not holding, it gives you a big red warning sign that said you need to replace the battery immediately because it is about to die.

Why can’t apple do the same? There are batteries used in everyday life by every single person alive. Do you think everyone would not understand the concept of replacing a battery? It’s simple - they hid it hoping the user bought a new phone. Plain and simple.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

Where I understand Apple’s point of view, they’ve shuffled my level of trust from “bulletproof,” to “buyer beware.” I fully understand why, however the principle of the omission, their white lie, is what hits me.

Could this be why they’ve suddenly been so “helpfully vocal,” on other areas of company performance? Did they know they were going to be found out?

What do you mean by "Helpfully vocal"?
[doublepost=1513999319][/doublepost]

Why can’t apple do the same? There are batteries used in everyday life by every single person alive. Do you think everyone would not understand the concept of replacing a battery? It’s simple - they hid it hoping the user bought a new phone. Plain and simple.

It worked for my wife, to the tune of $1300. Personally, I'd like that $1300 back, and I'll buy a new battery instead.

 

[immigrantsong]

I agree with the tech Apple implemented but they should have told us about it and let us turn it on and off. When Apple released the statement they had to know lawsuits were going to follow.

Pretty much my thoughts as well. I don’t inherently disagree with the method...but amazed that someone at Apple did NOT take a step back and ask “what could go wrong with this???”

And the first lawsuit got filed even quicker than I expected. Apple is now certainly realizing and expecting a certain level of “nuisance” lawsuits...but they better be ALSO expecting that one or more opportunistic State Attorney Generals are going to jump on this like mud on a pig.

Big cannons...looking for BIG bucks. And big-time re-election publicity.

 

[gluckett]

I agree with the basic premise here but honestly, no where does it allow to the deviate away from the advertised performance? If there is, at which point will people stop allowing Apple to stomp all over them ? What if they update a future update to remove touch functionality? What about if they remove colors and go to monochrome? Stupid examples yes, but so is the throttling without explicitly telling us how, and when they do that.
[doublepost=1513999066][/doublepost]

Why can’t apple do the same? There are batteries used in everyday life by every single person alive. Do you think everyone would not understand the concept of replacing a battery? It’s simple - they hid it hoping the user bought a new phone. Plain and simple.

I'm not saying that some sort of built-in notification when the battery is about to die shouldn't be there, just saying not because of this throttling issue. I would argue most everyday people probably wouldn't even recognize the throttling until it gets to a point where some other symptoms of a bad battery start to occur. After all, look how long it's taken for it to even be discovered in the first place. I also strongly believe that every other cell phone maker out there probably does the same thing, people just aren't as sue-happy against them because they're not big, bad Apple.

 

[pran76]

Pretty much my thoughts as well. I don’t inherently disagree with the method

I understand the engineering behind it, but I disagree completely in the method. Why wouldn’t they instead put in a way to check battery wear and say your battery needs replacement? Otherwise the shutdowns will get worse?

I am baffled as to why this wasn’t considered, other than them wanting a 60% profit margin on each phone sale to the tune of $700+ rather than $10 on a battery replacement.

 

[Cosmosent]

"Battery Gate" doesn't do it justice, plus I think that one's already taken (circa the 6s family).

So, I recommend we call this one "Governor Gate" ... those who know engines & motors will know what I mean.

And from this day forward, Tim Cook is now referred to as "the Governor".

 

[firewood]

I agree with the basic premise here but honestly, no where does it allow to the deviate away from the advertised performance? If there is, at which point will people stop allowing Apple to stomp all over them ?

(1) Apple appears to be careful to never advertise a specific performance number, except in hours of battery life. So they have a lot of flexibility in deviating around or to a performance level they never precisely specify.

(2) Apple can stomp all over customers as long as the competition appears to be stomping on customers just as badly or even worse in various other areas (privacy, resell value, exploding batteries, etc.)

Note that Apple's single core performance scores are so high that they can degrade significantly and still be faster than most competitor's products of the same vintage. So buy an iPhone that slows down over time, or buy an Android where it's slow right out of the box (unless you do a lot of stuff where multi-core performance is more important).

 

[pran76]

I'm not saying that some sort of built-in notification when the battery is about to die shouldn't be there, just saying not because of this throttling issue. I would argue most everyday people probably wouldn't even recognize the throttling until it gets to a point where some other symptoms of a bad battery start to occur. After all, look how long it's taken for it to even be discovered in the first place. I also strongly believe that every other cell phone maker out there probably does the same thing, people just aren't as sue-happy against them because they're not big, bad Apple.

That may be true. I don’t know otherwise about other manufacturers. The issue here is that there are so many people that have reported that apples own battery check said the batteries are fine and yet the throttling was occurring.

I sound like a broken record, but my 6s was throttled down to the point where is was significantly slower than a 5s. I have no issues with replacing a battery, but not knowing whether the IOS updates were causing too much of a resource drain was my concern and whether that would force me to buy a new phone - that concern is still there though!

 

[Applejuiced]

So buy an iPhone that slows down over time, or buy an Android where it's slow right out of the box.

Or buy an iPhone without Apple slowing it down at all.
How about that option?
If it needs a battery to remain at full CPU speed just let me know and I'll get the battery replaced.

 

[Burger Thing]

It does work as designed.

Or better: as poorly designed because Apple pushed themselves into a corner with their quest to make everything thinner and therefore using a battery which is not up to the task.

You don’t think that a phone’s battery which is about 1000 USD (my iP6s+ here in HK) should be able to provide solid performance for 2 years?

And furthermore, don’t you think it’s funny when you carry to phone to Apple to get it checked they tell you the battery is fine and doesn’t need replacement? But their own created algorithms on iOS thinks otherwise?

So it’s ok for you to be on a plan with your provider for 24 months and during the last months your phone is running like a slow couche?

A iPhone 7 is considered old here already? Really?

You guys are either nuts or brainwashed.

 

[pran76]

(1) Apple appears to be careful to never advertise a specific performance number, except in hours of battery life. So they have a lot of flexibility in deviating from or to a performance level they never precisely specify.

(2) Apple can stomp all over customers as long as the competition seems to be stomping on customers just as badly or even worse in various other areas (privacy, resell value, etc.)

Note that Apple's single core performance scores are so high that they can degrade significantly and still be faster than most competitor's products of the same vintage. So buy an iPhone that slows down over time, or buy an Android where it's slow right out of the box (unless you do a lot of stuff where multi-core performance is more important).

You are speaking in generalizations, which I broadly agree with. Throttling 6s levels to below 5s levels should not be an acceptable option for anyone.

I would run the same app that the 5s was running and I couldn’t run it smoothly on the 6s. Does that sound okay to you? Fresh 100% charge on both, both phones restarted etc. level playing field during the tests

 

[Applejuiced]

A iPhone 7 is considered old here already? Really?

You guys are either nuts or brainwashed.

I'll have to go with both.
Some people posting here continuously defending Apples tactic are just making Apple and themselves look bad and silly.