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

[Altis]

Anyone with half a brain knows batteries don't last for even and what would they rather have a faster iPhone that is 4 years old with a few hours of battery life, or one that managed can last a full day and a little slower?

How long do people expect them to support old tech? This is probably the same people still pissed that Apple dropped the floppy from the original iMac and change to a smaller power lead with the iPhone 5.

I got a new iPhone 8 because I wanted one and I don't regret it, my old 5s is still working and has now be handed down to someone else in the family, we'll get a new battery if needed when its needed.

I'd hardly call an iPhone 7 purchased this year as "old tech", yet they're being throttled.

You also rather strangely give the example of an unthrottled 5S that's still in use, because it isn't crippled by throttling.
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In addition to slowing speed someone needs to investigate my belief that Apple also interfered with reception. I have a new Iphone and it gets better cell phone signal reception than my iphone 7. I know there could be other factors to explain the difference but if the goal was to get me to upgrade this is another thing Apple could have messed with too.

I am all in favor of the class action. This will be the last Iphone I ever purchase. Going Samsung Note next time I need to upgrade.

The cellular antenna is the most power-hungry element. If they're concerned about battery issues, it stands to reason that they could reduce antenna power.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I'd hardly call an iPhone 7 purchased this year as "old tech", yet they're being throttled.

You also rather strangely give the example of an unthrottled 5S that's still in use, because it isn't crippled by throttling.
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The cellular antenna is the most power-hungry element. If they're concerned about battery issues, it stands to reason that they could reduce antenna power.

iPhone 7's that have a significantly degraded battery are being throttled. You need to read. People don't read then complain when they miss stuff that's right in front of them for a year already.

 

[nviz22]

My iPhone 6 is slooow. I don’t consider it an old device. I’ll take whatever they give me, if anything. I can’t afford the new ridiculousness.

It is an older device, but if a new battery reinvigorates your phone? That could be all you need to get something that works. No shame in using an iPhone 6. Hell, if they replace your 6 with the SE? That is an upgrade in of it itself.

 

[Applejuiced]

iPhone 7's that have a significantly degraded battery are being throttled. You need to read. People don't read then complain when they miss stuff that's right in front of them for a year already.

A device that's barely a year old should not have a degraded battery.
According to battery health those iPhone 7 units are above 90% capacity and pass all Apple battery tests.
But still throttled.
Even iPhone 7's bought recently when updated to the latest iOS 11 firmware version report slowed down CPU tests.
You need to read and take a look at evidence besides believing whatever bs Apple puts out as an excuse for slowing down phones.

 

[lysingur]

Best for everyone. Slow is better than crashed.

The whole point is that it shouldn't crash in the first place.

 

[pdaholic]

Apparently my iPhone 6's battery crapped-out the exact moment I installed iOS11. Performance has sucked since then.

 

[mattcha90]

I did not consent to have my battery degrade over time

that’s like saying “I did not consent to have my body age”

Batteries wear out. Every. Single. Kind.

 

[Altis]

iPhone 7's that have a significantly degraded battery are being throttled. You need to read. People don't read then complain when they miss stuff that's right in front of them for a year already.

As Applejuiced pointed out, it's happening to iPhone 7's that have "healthy" batteries by Apple's standards. Some are above 90% health even.

What are you even talking about? None of this has been public information for "a year already."
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Apparently my iPhone 6's battery crapped-out the exact moment I installed iOS11. Performance has sucked since then.

That might be because you now have an iOS that includes the throttling.

Or it could be because iOS 11 is a bloated mess, exacerbated by the iPhone 6 -- or likely a mix of the two.

 

[kbearh]

I don't really understand why people are treating Apple's excuse as even plausible... Almost every single device on the planet (including apple's Macs and Android phones) uses those same batteries. Yet only iPhones require this magical slowdown solution...? And as quickly as one year after purchase...? It's just a nonsensical excuse

 

[Ramchi]

They might blame battery getting older, but precisely why Apple has sealed the batteries and does not provide a way replace batteries by consumers themselves. Others started following Apple in sealing the batteries! They create illusion that the new upgraded OS needs higher processing power pushing them for potential replacements

 

[pika2000]

The irony of people suing Apple with the allegation of "forcing" customers to buy newer iPhones, while Android OEMs get a free pass for not updating their phones.

Gotta love the motivation of lawsuits.

 

[Delgibbons]

In addition to slowing speed someone needs to investigate my belief that Apple also interfered with reception. I have a new Iphone and it gets better cell phone signal reception than my iphone 7. I know there could be other factors to explain the difference but if the goal was to get me to upgrade this is another thing Apple could have messed with too.

I am all in favor of the class action. This will be the last Iphone I ever purchase. Going Samsung Note next time I need to upgrade.

You're clearly holding it wrong.

 

[Ladybug]

The irony of people suing Apple with the allegation of "forcing" customers to buy newer iPhones, while Android OEMs get a free pass for not updating their phones.

Gotta love the motivation of lawsuits.

What does Android have to do with Apple? I will save you the trouble and say Nothing for you. Would you have Apple customers sue Samsung instead? Perhaps your logic went right over my head.

 

[The Game 161]

They might as well just stop giving out software updates to older devices to stop these issues.

 

[dumastudetto]

It would be good if this story could be replaced as the main front page feature, its old news now.

 

[pika2000]

What does Android have to do with Apple? I will save you the trouble and say Nothing for you. Would you have Apple customers sue Samsung instead? Perhaps your logic went right over my head.

The lawsuits are alleging that Apple's intention was to slow down iPhones so people are buying newer iPhones instead.
Using the same logic, ironically, nobody is suing Android OEMs for literally not updating their phones to push people to buy newer phones.
Just that.

But I guess conversing is difficult in today's age, because.

 

[davetuk]

I am a developer of hardware electronic devices and have a masters degree in electronic engineering.

A few things in the defence stated are definitely nonsense.

Electronic components don’t need to be protected from being underpowered. In 15 years of working with ultra low power designs I’ve never seen anything damaged by low power. A brown out condition may degrade performance or cause temporary malfunction but won’t break anything permanently.

Apple are almost certainly already using a buck/boost switched mode converter to eek the most energy possible out of the battery already. That means a surge in demand current will just drain the battery faster. Not cause a brown out/failure, unless perhaps almost completely discharged.

I have suspected that apple have been doing intentional slowdowns since iPhone 3G. The time taken for a processor to do something is directly proportional to the number of instructions it executes. So if an app took 100ms to refresh a screen on your phone when new, and now takes 2s, it is either doing 20 times as much, or something is slowing it down. For sure, newer versions of operating systems provide more functionality and do more. But they don’t become 20x more wasteful. Embedded system engineers have huge pressure to extend battery life. That includes writing efficient software, and those who’ve worked in that industry will know exactly what I mean. PC programmers had the luxury for a long time of ignoring this, thanks to Moore’s law and big power supplies. Apple are still using an arm processor without any groundbreaking technology changes. That means the new iOS versions will need to be coded efficiently to look good on the new devices.

Many people aged 30+ have been conditioned into thinking that computers just slow down and they need to upgrade hardware every so often. This has mostly come from using desktop pcs. Embedded devices are a whole different story. Correctly designed software should work absolutely fine with very similar performance to the initial condition.

I could bore you with lots more technical discussion but there are some very simple tests you can do to check it:

In a normal warm environment with the battery fully charged, do you see slowdowns?

With the power lead plugged in, do you see slowdowns?

If so the slowdowns have nothing to do with the battery.

Dave

 

[femike]

I've come to the conclusion, Apple has clandestinely implemented throttling at the time they recently mentioned, in order to a) limit battery warranty replacements, b) stop a mass recall for iPhones with sub-bar batteries, and, c) at the same time to encourage users to purchase a new iPhones. They killed 3 birds with one stone, so to speak, with Apple efficiency. They maybe safety reasons as well, but I would of thought they would of advertised this as a feature with full disclosure and explanation.

But who knows if Apple did this before. They have been forced to give a limited vague explanation void of any technical details and only after being caught red-handed. As a result, they simply cannot be trusted.

 

[rlhamil]

Unethical?

Their involvement with your property continues every time you accept a software update.

I suppose they could add a switch to the Battery settings, to choose between performance vs reliability with aging battery, since the point seems to be that you may not be able to have both at the same time.

The one thing IMO they should have done, was provide more of a description with updates, so that people had less excuse to claim they didn't know.

OTOH, I think there's something strange with iOS 11 and battery management, beyond this; not a conspiracy, but a bug. An iPhone 5s at over 500 cycles (per a battery info app) was well-behaved before iOS 11, but since it, full charge indication drops quickly...and the current capacity (rather than charge) as a percentage of new design capacity, bounces around quite a bit, when reason would tell you that it should very gradually decline as charging cycles increase, and never go back up again (unless the battery was replaced). To a much less problematic degree, I've seen similar oddity in a much newer 1st gen iPad Pro, mainly that the displayed charge sometimes drops by maybe 10-15% shortly after being disconnected from the charger. As I recall, this was worst in iOS 11.0, and got slightly better on later updates, although the older 5s still could not be counted on to believe that it had a charge (which it probably did, provided that it hadn't recently mis-estimated its capacity too low and not truly charged fully) for more than a few hours...even with location services turned off.

What I'm using: coconutBattery app on the Mac, or Battery Life app on iOS

 

[skitidetdu]

So...is Apple the only phone maker doing this? I would hope that Apple just make the battery switchable for the user when they need to.

 

[Shanghaichica]

They might as well just stop giving out software updates to older devices to stop these issues.

The OEMs can’t win. When they don’t offer software updates they get slated and if they continue to offer software updates with compromises or limited features they get slammed. It’s a no win situation.

 

[eyeseeyou]

Lying and hiding that from their customers is not good.

Is there evidence to back this accusation? When did they deny they were throttling iPhones with batteries in a specific health condition?

 

[Sedulous]

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.
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You're joking right?

That is why I said Apple was wrong not to say anything but this statement was lost in thread.

 

[eyeseeyou]

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.

That’s not how business’ or products who’s performance relies on rechargeable batteries works.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

This reminds me of Watergate. Nixon was always convinced the WH tapes would exonerate him, but it's what WASN'T in the tapes that convicted him ultimately.

So here's my take. Apple is using the excuse that by throttling down iPhones, they're extending the life of the phone as a "feature" as Steve Jobs would have said.

But in reality, what they are doing is delaying the repair until it's out of AppleCare Warranty and thus encouraging people to buy a new iPhone.

My prediction: The battery issue is a ploy. In reality, IOS is targeting older iPhones by model, not battery issues for replacement in an organized fashion.

This is why Apple reacted so fast to this story. Tim Cook is scared and as a fitting end, The Washington Post is investigating it.