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

[78Bandit]

What people aren't getting here is Apple is not trolling old phones. They're throttling phones with failing batteries - which usually happen to be older phones. These owners had no ideas their batteries were failing because iOS was compensating for it. Stop the throttling and these people are either gonna run to Apple to either get a battery replacement or new phone.

If Apple was throttling only those phones whose batteries were truly failing it would be fine. Their biggest problem is they are throttling phones whose batteries test out as being acceptable when customers take them to the Apple store. A phone with a "good" battery that is under warranty or under an AppleCare contract and is still shutting down is a major problem that should be covered and fixed.

Apple specifies normal operating conditions of 32 - 95 degrees Fahrenheit and claim normal use of the battery includes 500 full charge cycles. I expect to get the full advertised performance from the phone as long as I am within the stated specs. Anything less is unacceptable.

Throttling should not be occurring until the battery fails Apple's internal testing and notifies the customer the battery is bad. At that time if the phone is out of warranty the customer should eat the cost of a replacement, but if the phone is covered by some type of guarantee then Apple needs to honor their promises and fix it rather than artificially slowing the phone down to cover up for their design failure.

 

[albebaubles]

Next year's new feature, a sealed battery that only lasts 200 full cycles until it only retains 80% of its capacity. Forget 500 cycles.

MacBook batteries degrades too but with 1000 cycles, how come Apple didn't throttle them down? All a BS excuse to artificially and deliberately make your iPhone feel slow for you to either get a battery replacement ($79) or buy another iPhone.

Tim Crook's Apple are crooks. No excuses. Keep supporting crooks if you like because you are stuck or prefer their prison-like ecosystem. I hope they lose these lawsuits even if it's a longshot. They don't deserve any more of our money.

My white poly 2008 MacBook is still running along -- battery will only charge to 80% (yes it is replaceable)...in January that machine will be 10 years old on original battery.

 

[firewood]

Nobody is forcing them to do anything; they chose to do it of their own accord. You really think they were forced into this bad publicity by Google?

Depends on your definition of force. But Apple shareholder would definitely throw management out, if Google took 50% of Apple's market share and profits by out-innovating them with spiffy new product features.

You don't have it right: The throttling is happening when the batteries are "Healthy".

Then why are my old iPhone 5s and 6s (with decently healthy batteries) running at the same CPU speed as they did 2 or more years ago? No throttling detected.

 

[Altis]

I'd sure like to know what, if any affect this has on the sensors - specifically bluetooth. Is this just phones or any ios11 running device? I have hundreds of iPads in the field and some of them constantly give us issues that others do not. I've never been able to find a specific cause....

As an aside, my 6+ was the worst iPhone I've owned. It always ran slow, the camera produced blurry photos (there was a recall), the microphone worked only half the time and yes it rebooted often. I used my iphone5 for development because the 6+ was such rubbish.

(edit -- typos)

From what I've read, the iPads are not shown to be affected.

Funny you mention photos... my 6 (non-plus) makes photos look like waterpaintings. I just don't use the camera on it like I used to with the 4S.

 

[RainbowHurrican]

I 've come to the conclusion that the only way to get the truth , the whole truth , and nothing but the truth is if Cook , Riccio, and Federighi have to testify in front of Congress. Call your congressman or senator or go to their website if you feel the same.

 

[Altis]

Then why are by old iPhone 5s and 6s (with decently healthy batteries) running at the same CPU speed as they did 2 or more years ago? No throttling detected.

5S isn't supposed to be affected, from what I understand.

6S looks like it throttles well above the 80% threshold that Apple considers the "healthy" mark.

 

[RainbowHurrican]

've come to the conclusion that the only way to get the truth , the whole truth , and nothing but the truth is if Cook , Riccio, and Federighi have to testify in front of Congress. Call your congressman or senator or go to their website if you feel the same.

 

[BigDO]

Ask owners how much they like their Nexus 6P shutting down due to a voltage sag, for something as simple as taking a photo or video. If you had an emergency where you needed your phone, and it shut off, I am sure those in that situation would prefer a minor slowdown, over a complete crash.

No one disagrees.

Not informing the user that the performance of their phone is affected due to battery health is the problem, and a disingenuous business practice.

 

[firewood]

5S isn't supposed to be affected, from what I understand.

If there was any validity to these conspiracy theories, that Apple is slowing down old iPhones to force people to buy newer iPhones, why wouldn't some 3+ year old iPhone 5S devices NOT have the CPU slowed down after an update to iOS 11? Doesn't Apple want these customers to also buy new iPhones?

 

[Act3]

If there was any validity to these conspiracy theories, that Apple is slowing down old iPhones to force people to buy newer iPhones, why wouldn't some 3+ year old iPhone 5S devices NOT have the CPU slowed down after an update to iOS 11? Doesn't Apple want these customers to also buy new iPhones?

maybe because the 5s runs crappy enough on iOS 11 without tuning down the CPU to help convince people to upgrade

 

[Codeseven]

My white poly 2008 MacBook is still running along -- battery will only charge to 80% (yes it is replaceable)...in January that machine will be 10 years old on original battery.

Nice! My 2008 MBP Unibody is also still chugging along and running El Capitan just fine (the newest OS it can use). By far the best piece of electronics I have ever invested in ($3,000!) and it virtually guarantees its replacement will be another Apple product.

 

[Phonephreak]

Then your phone may shut itself down and you’d still complain.

“Apple is lying. My phone says 30% battery but shuts down. Sue!”

All I want is Apple to replace the battery. I will pay for it. They won’t. So sad. What happpened to customer service.

 

[mi7chy]

1. Nag you constantly to update until psychologically you can't take it anymore and give in to the update √
2. Keep it secret that the new update slows down CPU and only reveal the excuse that it's to "smooth" out your battery issue a year later √
3. Ban battery cycle apps from app store √
4. Don't you dare sell batteries or offer replacement services not even through Apple store or Apple authorized service providers √
5. Deliciously profit when users think their phone is just too old and they need to buy new one √

Looks like Apple has the unethical greed-based scheme worked up really well.

You forgot...

6. Prevents you from rolling back to a prior version of iOS without the early obsolescence feature.

 

[NMBob]

They were right to do it. Wrong to not happen to think their customers might like to know it. They really need to pull their heads out of places. This crap is getting old.

 

[firewood]

You forgot...

6. Prevents you from rolling back to a prior version of iOS without the early obsolescence feature.

If they allowed that, customers would complain and sue over letting their iPhones get hacked by well publicized malware.

 

[Baymowe335]

All I want is Apple to replace the battery. I will pay for it. They won’t. So sad. What happpened to customer service.

Just pay they $80 and move on. You may be right, but it’s $80.

 

[convergent]

It is amazing to me that many folks on this site are so blinded by their loyalty to Apple that each year they do more and more and these people keep praising Apple.

The notion that as a battery ages the device will become unstable would only be possible if the battery were under spec'd or some other design issue. Tim "supply chain" Cook may have under spec'd the battery to inflate profits, but then it bit them in the butt and they try this stunt to hide it. As a battery ages, its life should shorten but the device shouldn't become unstable. There is a reason (or more than one reason) they tried to hide this.

Coupled with the constant nagging to upgrade making it virtually impossible to avoid ... especially for non tech savy folks, they really have some explaining to do.

We will have to see if any of the Apple fans are able to see reality or stick with their blind loyalty.

 

[jmarttu24]

I hope all you apple fanboys got off your knees and realize how f@&ked up this is. It’s been so obvious. I replaced my iPhone 6 battery myself, $25, and my phone is as fast as the day I bought it. Once again F$$k APPLE!

 

[Ladybug]

If there was any validity to these conspiracy theories, that Apple is slowing down old iPhones to force people to buy newer iPhones, why wouldn't some 3+ year old iPhone 5S devices NOT have the CPU slowed down after an update to iOS 11? Doesn't Apple want these customers to also buy new iPhones?

Its not conspiracy if it's true and Apple has admitted to throttling iphones. As Apple said, the code was put in to effect the 6/6s/7 with the 8 & X to get this feature (coughs) soon.

 

[justperry]

I hope all you apple fanboys got off your knees and realize how f@&ked up this is. It’s been so obvious. I replaced my iPhone 6 battery myself, $25, and my phone is as fast as the day I bought it. Once again F$$k APPLE!

Mine is a year old and it's still fast.
The only thing Apple really did is making these iPhones so fast (A.. CPU) that batteries of today are not able to supply the peak currents those CPU's need, hence throttling needed.

Some people charge their phones twice of more a day because they are the whole day on their (damned) iPhones, thus their batteries are wasted within a year.

 

[Delgibbons]

Yes, simply because the phone becomes insecure.

Like Apple's software engineers allowing root access without a password? That sort of insecure?

 

[H2SO4]

If they allowed that, customers would complain and sue over letting their iPhones get hacked by well publicized malware.

Like they would with OSX Snow Leopard or Windows XP right?
Oh wait......

 

[KiwiAdventure]

I will replace the battery in my iPhone X when its needs it but I do not want Apple to slow my X down just because some live in the snow belt. I'm pissed Apple did not tell the truth and will never fully trust Apple again.

 

[Stella]

maybe they will be compelled to develop better batteries. But if the slow down is based on phone version / os version then they are in trouble. My ipad 2 is slow on a usb power port and battery.
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I will prefer a functioning device then new updates if those are the choices. I dont want to make those choices but if apple is purposely slowing down phones based on what os they are running then its a suckers game.

How about an 'automatic' option, for people like you? The rest of us can configure it as necessary.

 

[Radon87000]

I have no doubt they are intentionally using batteries designed to wear out after a year so they can extract money from battery replacements as the phone is slowed to a crawlmm