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

[Morgenland]

Slow-down strategy initiated by engineering can be useful.
Slow-down strategy in marketing hands is a bomb.

That is why I think it is a good thing that courts intervene.

 

[WatchFromAfar]

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.

Why are you of the believe that if Apple didn't do this then "Google took 50% of Apple's market share and profits by out-innovating them with spiffy new product features." would happen?

BTW there is no term "out-innovating"; you either innovate or you don't.

 

[skinned66]

In the time it would have taken them to replace the battery and charge me the $79 they tested it and informed me that while the battery had degraded it had not degraded “enough” to warrant changing it. Now, to be fair, there was no charge for the battery test but I left the store with the same problem I went in with.

It's almost like Apple doesn't want to be "in the battery business" - like RAM for Macs back in the day. By sealing the battery in everything they make now though and doing stuff like using glue, that's the reality they've made for themselves. They should own up to it; if you're going to pay them $100 to do it, they should do it or make stuff slightly user serviceable again - at least for the consumables.

 

[curtvaughan]

They do, actually. Once battery is below certain point of quality SMC will throttle CPU, no matter if plugged in. Makes laptop unusable.

Ah, that's interesting. Older MacBook Pro machines with removable batteries (I have one) run just fine on AC with the battery in or out of the machine. I would generally remove its battery whenever I was running it on AC for an extended time, just to extend the life of the battery.

 

[Piggie]

Excellent point.
All the battery based computing devices I have owned, always work 100% when plugged into the mains.
When plugged into the mains, generally the device runs off the mains, AND charges the battery at the same time.

So, indeed, excellent point, when given mains power, any old phone, should be running at tip-top 100% speed again, and only slow down, when back on the old lower power battery when un-plugged.

I'm sure a few people can test this for us, running geek-bench or something else, on and off external power

 

[mmm1345]

All Apple needs to do to restore my faith in them is to offer a FREE no HASSLE, no questions asked battery replacement program for the next few years. Now that I know this is an issue and I took my 6s in tomorrow for a battery replacement, they would run their check and it'll come back "fine," and they'll charge me to replace my Batter. They should automatically just replace the battery if I ask for one and give us a 3 year battery replacement warranty. This wouldn't cost them that much money because I'm sure 95% of their customers probably will never know about this issue and will still buy new phones because they think their current phone is "broken."

 

[Vytas Vytautas]

The only thing Apple did wrong that I can see is that they didn't tell users about this from the start without the hard to understand and misleading sometimes lawyer prepared texts. But all in all there is no case here and knowing the vocal minority any outcome would have been complained about regardless.

 

[mmm1345]

I don't believe this excuse AT ALL. My phone stays plugged in 90% of the time and according to Apple my 6s Battery is still at 90% yet it's slow, randomly reboots, etc. And the same thing happens to my iPad Air that I had to pay $250 to replace in Oct

 

[Nixir]

I went in to,an Apple store with my two year old 6s+ (No warranty) fully ready to pay the $79 thinking that this is just a cost of ownership. In the time it would have taken them to replace the battery and charge me the $79 they tested it and informed me that while the battery had degraded it had not degraded “enough” to warrant changing it.

More users need to be made aware of this policy. Myself, and many other members on this forum had this exact same experience. I couldn't believe it at first! Refusing service on grounds of "all our tests passes so there's nothing wrong" is car dealerships level service...

Some apple apologists here literally told us since our phones are outside of the warranty and not covered under apple care, we can take our business elsewhere.

 

[Vytas Vytautas]

I don't believe this excuse AT ALL. My phone stays plugged in 90% of the time and according to Apple my 6s Battery is still at 90% yet it's slow, randomly reboots, etc. And the same thing happens to my iPad Air that I had to pay $250 to replace in Oct

Keeping your device plugged in for so long is not healthy either. Sweet spot for lithium ion battery is at around 50-70%. It is unhealthy to keep it charged or very low for long periods of time. It might be reporting battery health incorrectly.
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All Apple needs to do to restore my faith in them is to offer a FREE no HASSLE, no questions asked battery replacement program for the next few years. Now that I know this is an issue and I took my 6s in tomorrow for a battery replacement, they would run their check and it'll come back "fine," and they'll charge me to replace my Batter. They should automatically just replace the battery if I ask for one and give us a 3 year battery replacement warranty. This wouldn't cost them that much money because I'm sure 95% of their customers probably will never know about this issue and will still buy new phones because they think their current phone is "broken."

So Apple is responsible for physics that govern this universe and your usage patterns/operating conditions? Please be reasonable. You would have a point if batteries were somehow faulty and failed for that reason sooner than they should have. I have no such data, so ...

 

[147798]

So, at deposition, Apple will bring in a busload of their PhD computer scientists and engineers specializing performance analysis and clock management to show that they didn't drop the actual processor clock frequency that much, if at all, and also describe 100 other things might make an iPhone appear slow, other than any throttling.

And the guys filing the class action will show some screenshots of geekbench and dasherX ??? That will really impress a judge.

You talk as if class actions get to trial.

It’s not about lawsuits, which only enrich lawyers, and then members of the class get a $15 coupon for their next purchase in settlement.

It’s about negative publicity. Apple could use some to wake them up.

 

[Kognito]

I find it quite curious that many are assuming this is is just "Oh your phone is 2 years old, the battery has degraded". I had my battery replaced at an Apple Store 3 months ago and there are 160 cycles on the battery. I am ALREADY starting to see the CPU being throttled.

 

[blackdogaudio]

I find it quite curious that many are assuming this is is just "Oh your phone is 2 years old, the battery has degraded". I had my battery replaced at an Apple Store 3 months ago and there are 160 cycles on the battery. I am ALREADY starting to see the CPU being throttled.

If you've generated 160 cycles in 90 days that equates to 1.7 complete charge cycles per day during that period. Throttling isn't your biggest concern. Your battery reaching end of life in the next six months will be.

P.S. I'm awarding you iPhone Super User of the Year ;-)

 

[Vytas Vytautas]

If you've generated 160 cycles in 90 days that equates to 1.7 complete charge cycles per day during that period. Throttling isn't your biggest concern. Your battery reaching end of life in the next 24 days will be.

P.S. I'm awarding you iPhone Super User of the Year. ;-)

I was about to post about that. 160 in 90 days and people complain .

 

[mmm1345]

Apple apologist are missing the point. Class Action lawsuits really have little to do with affected consumers getting "restitution," or money. No they are about shining a light on corporate shenanigans and hopefully by having the Spotlight on them it'll force them to address and fix the issue a Class Action lawsuit is for and THAT provides a POSITIVE impact on consumers. Some recent examples - Ticketmaster was eventually forced to come clean about their Ticket Fees, the Apple/Amazon eBook scandal resulted in lower priced eBooks, the Airbag issue resulted in safer Airbags, this one will no doubt lead to Apple Changing how they handle this going forward. So no, Class Action suits aren't "evil." Stop drinking the cool aid these corporations spew out. They don't care about you, so why people feel a need to defend them no matter what they do is beyond me.

 

[Vytas Vytautas]

I personally don't have this issue. I currently use iPhone X, but when I go hunting I take my old 6S Plus (purchased on day 1 of it's release). Never noticed any slowdown and when this news broke up tested with geekbench only to find that it performed like it should have.

 

[LazoA]

Yippy! In 5 to 7 years we'll all get another 13-cent windfall as part of the settlement to put toward our iPhone 15 while the blood-sucking attorneys get millions to "protect" us for... nothing! The consumer wins again!

 

[iApple_man]

All Apple needs to do to restore my faith in them is to offer a FREE no HASSLE, no questions asked battery replacement program for the next few years. Now that I know this is an issue and I took my 6s in tomorrow for a battery replacement, they would run their check and it'll come back "fine," and they'll charge me to replace my Batter. They should automatically just replace the battery if I ask for one and give us a 3 year battery replacement warranty. This wouldn't cost them that much money because I'm sure 95% of their customers probably will never know about this issue and will still buy new phones because they think their current phone is "broken."

Oh your that customer.

 

[Vytas Vytautas]

Apple apologist are missing the point. Class Action lawsuits really have little to do with affected consumers getting "restitution," or money. No they are about shining a light on corporate shenanigans and hopefully by having the Spotlight on them it'll force them to address and fix the issue a Class Action lawsuit is for and THAT provides a POSITIVE impact on consumers. Some recent examples - Ticketmaster was eventually forced to come clean about their Ticket Fees, the Apple/Amazon eBook scandal resulted in lower priced eBooks, the Airbag issue resulted in safer Airbags, this one will no doubt lead to Apple Changing how they handle this going forward. So no, Class Action suits aren't "evil." Stop drinking the cool aid these corporations spew out. They don't care about you, so why people feel a need to defend them no matter what they do is beyond me.

Apple haters have been missing the point for decades.

 

[Chrizx74]

I find it quite curious that many are assuming this is is just "Oh your phone is 2 years old, the battery has degraded". I had my battery replaced at an Apple Store 3 months ago and there are 160 cycles on the battery. I am ALREADY starting to see the CPU being throttled.

Really? Please post CPU clock speed

 

[justperry]

If you've generated 160 cycles in 90 days that equates to 1.7 complete charge cycles per day during that period. Throttling isn't your biggest concern. Your battery reaching end of life in the next six months will be.

P.S. I'm awarding you iPhone Super User of the Year ;-)

I was about to post about that. 160 in 90 days and people complain .

Exactly, some/many people expect Apple to be responsible for their battery usage, some/many users charge their iPhones 2 or even more times a day *cause they are the whole day on their iPhones instead of living a normal life.

Battery degrading is only Apple's problem to some extent.

*I said some/many, this does not mean that some people really need that for their jobs, but what I see on my job reflects what is going on last few years, just playing with their phones as long as they can.

 

[opfreak]

Why are customers OK with what apple did?

The sold a product with a battery that in a fairly short period of time could no longer power the device, in fact the device would shut off. So instead of fixing hardware, they slowed down the device using software.

 

[Phonephreak]

Most of us here love Apple products. This whole revelation hit us like a brick and has everyone I know worried. We all want answers. I'm not sure we will ever know but Apple has to realize they need to earn back our trust. I have bought many products from them over the years and will likely continue, but Apple needs to give us answers and correct this situation somehow. I can't keep investing until they rectify this.

I don't expect anything free from Apple and I have taken measures to stop all updates until further notice on my iPhone 8. However I own a 6s that I am having issues with prior to all this mess that started sometime in iOS 10...now I'm afraid to update it even further. I'd like to pass this down to my sister at some point.

Apples greatest losses in all this is trust from some of their customers and their reputation. You can't put a dollar amount on that.

I highly doubt these lawsuits go anywhere but IF we get anything out of this I hope that Apple reverses what they did somehow and never tries anything like this again. As to Apples motives ..who knows. If they fix this mess I really don't care either.

They don't need to give me a free battery but allowing me to get it replaced for the $79 fee is the least they can do. I do not want to get it replaced in one of those cheap repair centers we have locally in my area.

Anyway I hope I made myself clearer.

Well said. It’s was a sneaky move. They got caught. Had to come clean. I do think Apple will either remove this “feature” or make it optional. This will probably cost Apple some of that $$ they value.

All could have been avoided if they just introduced us to it and made it optional. Not do it behind the scenes as a fix for a hardware issue. Simple pop up. ‘Your battery has degraded to levels not able to power phone properly. Please replace battery at your local Apple store’. Entire problem avoided. Apple makes money on replacement battery’s.

It looks very shady. They made a judgement error. Social media made it a problem.

 

[upnorth85]

Has anyone noted Gillette has been doing this for ever? When the latest one comes out, all of a sudden previous model new blades are not as good as before. It is hard to prove it. That is why when the new model of blades comes out, if I like it, I buy a large supply.

 

[Vytas Vytautas]

Exactly, some/many people expect Apple to be responsible for their battery usage, some/many users charge their iPhones 2 or even more times a day *cause they are the whole day on their iPhones instead of living a normal life.

Battery degrading is only Apple's problem to some extent.

*I said some/many, this does not mean that some people really need that for their jobs, but what I see on my job reflects what is going on last few years, just playing with their phones as long as they can.

For the most part I like Apple devices and their services, but I want to believe that I am a reasonable person, so if Apple did something wrong in the eyes of the law they should suffer the consequences. But so far I don't see anything substantial here. As always a very vocal minority screaming random anecdotal nonsense.