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

[mmm1345]

Over 2000 comments, hat down... regardless if Pro or Con, it’s polarizing.

that's the frustrating thing. This "issue" shouldn't be polarizing! Apple is CLEARLY wrong here and I'm stunned, not really, that there are so many people defending this sleazy practice. The same people defending Apple for doing this would mock and destroy Samsung if they were caught doing this.

 

[firewood]

The idea of a completely updated OS for free? Astounding. If these lawsuits are successful, prepare for your iPhone to be treated like your toaster.

Didn't Apple used to charge for MacOS, OS X and/or iOS updates? Due to some reporting or tax implication?

 

[617660]

A company has no obligation to provide the customer anything more than what they purchased (i.e., you bought an iPhone 8 with iOS11 warranted to be functional for 12 months. You did not buy iOS12). I can't even upgrade the maps on my in-car GPS without spending another $300. Upgrading the entire OS? pffft...

The idea of a completely updated OS for free? Astounding. If these lawsuits are successful, prepare for your iPhone to be treated like your toaster.

Well, judging from the response in this discussion, it seems like many would now rather stay on the original iOS if apple doesn't nag the users about the updates all the time.

An update is not supposed to slow down your device and take away battery life to a point that all you can think of is a new iPhone.

 

[star-affinity]

Wouldn't you prefer if you knew that they are now slowing down your device in order for your defective battery not to turn off your phone?

You obviously didn't read what I gad written before, which is understandable (long thread) and there's no way (to my knowledge) of getting an overview of what each poster has posted before.

To answer your question, yes – I'd prefer to get informed about what's going on:

I also think it's a much better solution than having the device shut down suddenly, but I also agree with those saying that Apple should be more transparent about what's going on.

 

[mmm1345]

A company has no obligation to provide the customer anything more than what they purchased (i.e., you bought an iPhone 8 with iOS11 warranted to be functional for 12 months. You did not buy iOS12). I can't even upgrade the maps on my in-car GPS without spending another $300. Upgrading the entire OS? pffft...

The idea of a completely updated OS for free? Astounding. If these lawsuits are successful, prepare for your iPhone to be treated like your toaster.

So what? They also have an obligation not to purposefully BREAK the product you purchased. But hey, ignore that part of your "defense".

 

[H2SO4]

Still needs to be sharpened.

Really, that's what you're going with? A phone still needs to be charge.
Buy a good kitchen knife and during your life

Didn't Apple used to charge for MacOS, OS X and/or iOS updates? Due to some reporting or tax implication?

Find those release notes yet?

 

[firewood]

So what? They also have an obligation not to purposefully BREAK the product you purchased. But hey, ignore that part of your "defense".

They didn't. You did. Read the Update Notes. Then carefully (re)read the T&Cs you clicked Agree on. They can't touch the software on your iOS device without your agreement.

 

[H2SO4]

A company has no obligation to provide the customer anything more than what they purchased (i.e., you bought an iPhone 8 with iOS11 warranted to be functional for 12 months. You did not buy iOS12). I can't even upgrade the maps on my in-car GPS without spending another $300. Upgrading the entire OS? pffft...

The idea of a completely updated OS for free? Astounding. If these lawsuits are successful, prepare for your iPhone to be treated like your toaster.

Where you live. Different countries have their own consumer protection laws that I suspect you’ve not considered.
[doublepost=1514155299][/doublepost]

They didn't. You did. Read the Update Notes. Then carefully (re)read the T&Cs you clicked Agree on. They can't touch the software on your iOS device without your agreement.

You keep saying that. A link to the notes about the throttling please?

 

[Wildkraut]

A company has no obligation to provide the customer anything more than what they purchased (i.e., you bought an iPhone 8 with iOS11 warranted to be functional for 12 months.

The idea of a completely updated OS for free? Astounding. If these lawsuits are successful, prepare for your iPhone to be treated like your toaster.

Nope that’s a bit different. Classically i agree with you, BUT Apple ties Apps to iOS versions, tie new App submissions to iOS versions, tie development signatures to newer Xcode. Thats like being stuck between a rock and a hard place, as a customer and as a developer. Developers can’t decide if they want to continue supporting an older device. If Apple decide to go this die hard black&white route someday, this would just lead to another class action which they would lose badly. In my opinion they are already on the edge of this, it’s just that nobody didn’t notice yet, or didn’t get uncomfortable with this. I mean they just cutted off 32bit devices, from a pure technical standpoint it makes sense, but from a ethical standpoint it doesn’t. E.g developers are unable to develop for older iOS versions, they can’t submit newer Apps for older iOS, etc. And customers can’t sideload.

That way they also force people to buy newer devices to use newer Apps.
They have many screws to force people to upgrade.
Throttling is just one of them...

 

[PavelT]

i have an phone SE and could tell you that its incredibly slow since updating to ios 11. NIGHT AND DAY. and the battery is about a year or some months old. because i had it replaced for a dead screen under warranty some time ago. so its not an old phone per say. i noticed immediately, everything is slow, and apps often crash. its not cool.

 

[apolloa]

Where you live. Different countries have their own consumer protection laws that I suspect you’ve not considered.
[doublepost=1514155299][/doublepost]
You keep saying that. A link to the notes about the throttling please?

I’ve seen a few ‘claim’ it was in the release notes of the update that it first appeared in last year.
Yet I have challenged two to provide genuine links to Apples website where these releases notes are to prove it, and funnily no one has yet

 

[firewood]

I mean they just cutted off 32bit devices ...

Actually, for app developers, they didn't. I just had an iOS app approved a few weeks ago, and it included an arm7 (32-bit ARM machine code) slice. Built with the latest Xcode. Just set the Deployment Target down to iOS 10.x or lower, and Xcode will automatically include support for both arm64 and 32-bit iOS devices. If you do so, make sure to test your app on a 32-bit device running that older iOS version to make sure you didn't include any new code that will crash.

 

[mavis]

Didn't Apple used to charge for MacOS, OS X and/or iOS updates? Due to some reporting or tax implication?

Yes. I had to pay a nominal fee ($2 IIRC? - just Googled it and apparently it only cost $1) to enable FaceTime on my 2007 iMac, and they charged something like $19.99 to upgrade the iPod touch (1st gen) to be able to use mail and other (?) apps which had been previously available on the original iPhone but were not included on the iPod touch at launch (which was pretty lame, considering that I had mail and other apps on my iPod touch through jailbreaking, for free) ...

 

[KJ01]

Apple yesterday confirmed that it has implemented power management features in older iPhones to improve performance and prevent unexpected shutdowns as the battery in the devices starts to degrade, and this admission has now led to a class action lawsuit, which was first noticed by TMZ.

Los Angeles residents Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, represented by Wilshire Law Firm, this morning filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California accusing Apple of slowing down their older iPhone models when new models come out.

According to the lawsuit, Bogdanovich and Speas have owned the iPhone 7 and several older iPhone models and have noticed that their "older iPhone models slows (sic) down when new models come out." The two say they did not consent to have Apple slow down their devices, nor were they able to "choose whether they preferred to have their iPhones slower than normal."

They're seeking both California and Nationwide class action certification, which would cover all persons residing in the United States who have owned iPhone models older than the iPhone 8.

Apple yesterday addressed speculation that it throttles the performance of older iPhones with degraded batteries, confirming that there are power management features in place to attempt to prolong the life of the iPhone and its battery. Apple implemented these features last year in iOS 10.2.1.

When an iPhone's battery health starts to decline, the battery is not capable of supplying enough power to the iPhone in times of peak processor usage, which can lead to shutdowns, Apple says.The lawsuit seemingly misrepresents Apple's original statement and suggests the plaintiffs and their lawyers do not understand Apple's explanation for how iPhone power management features work and why they were implemented, given the lawsuit's suggestion that it's tied to the release of new devices. As explained by Apple, when certain iPhone models hit a peak of processor power, a degraded battery is sometimes unable to provide enough juice, leading to a shutdown. Apple says it "smooths out" these peaks by limiting the power draw from the battery or by spreading power requests over several cycles.

Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time by nature, and this eventual wearing out addressed by the power management features is unrelated to the release of new iPhone models.

Apple does not deny that iPhones with older batteries can sometimes see slower performance, but power management is a feature that Apple says has been implemented to improve overall performance by preventing an iPhone from shutting down completely rather than a feature that's been implemented to force users to upgrade by deliberately slowing devices.

As many people have suggested, Apple has done a poor job of explaining why it has implemented these power management features and how the state of the battery ultimately affects iPhone performance. More transparent information about battery health should be provided, and customers should be better informed when their batteries start to degrade so they can choose whether or not to pay for a replacement. Apple may also need to relax its policies on when customers can pay for a battery replacement, as currently, a battery can't be replaced unless in-store equipment registers it as near failing.

An iPhone's battery is designed to retain 80 percent of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles. A defective battery that does not meet those parameters can be replaced for free for customers who have AppleCare+ or who have devices still under warranty.

For out of warranty customers, Apple offers a battery replacement service, which costs $79 plus $6.95 for shipping.

The lawsuit is demanding the replacement of the old iPhone and compensation for loss of use, loss of value, the purchase of new batteries, ascertainable losses in the form of the deprivation of the value of the iPhone, and overpayments because Plaintiffs and Class Members "did not receive what they paid for" when Apple interfered with the usage of their iPhones.

Additional class action lawsuits have been filed against Apple in Chicago, New York, and Northern California. All three lawsuits allege that Apple slowed down iPhones in an effort to get customers to upgrade to new devices.

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

My $1150 iPhone X will be throttled this time next year and Apple would expect me to fork another $1200 . Very unethical

 

[akahmed]

I noticed this last two times i replaced my iphone. Phone worked perfectly fine, after I upgrade to the new OS phone becomes slow and choppy. Now it could be the new OS takes up more resources and is heavier on the battery and hence the problem only surfaces after upgrading to new OS, or it could be apple is intentionally slowing down phones to push people towards upgrading the phone. Either way, I hope with this lawsuit gets to the bottom of it.

 

[mmm1345]

I noticed this last two times i replaced my iphone. Phone worked perfectly fine, after I upgrade to the new OS phone becomes slow and choppy. Now it could be the new OS takes up more resources and is heavier on the battery and hence the problem only surfaces after upgrading to new OS, or it could be apple is intentionally slowing down phones to push people towards upgrading the phone. Either way, I hope with this lawsuit gets to the bottom of it.

Wouldn't be so bad if you weren't "forced" to update every time a new OS comes out. I'm sure people will argue you aren't forced to update. But let's face it you ARE. Either Apple will hound you to death to upgrade, or most of the Apps you use perfectly fine will suddenly start prompting you to update the Apps, only to find out the updates will only work on the new OS. iTunes, iMovie, etc will require you to update your OS because "surprise" they'll no longer update. Or your phone will start running poorly and you think "well maybe" the update will fix the issues. So yeah, please stop with this silly meme that you don't "have" to update. Eventually you will and it's a losing battle. There is absolutely NO reason an updated version of iTunes or Pages should force you to update your Phone's operating system - especially when I don't use iMovie, Pages, etc on my Phone.

 

[A MacBook lover]

There is no point other than to say its said to be X times faster than last years model when Apple does their events.

Because it actually is that fast. If you had two new devices with new batteries, they would reflect the ‘X times faster’.


Are you implying Apple advertises these speeds on keynotes using data from throttled models? Please stop trolling.

 

[carambo]

Come on, Apple just want you to have the "best possible experience", please understand they care for their customers

 

[Wildkraut]

Actually, for app developers, they didn't. I just had an iOS app approved a few weeks ago, and it included an arm7 (32-bit ARM machine code) slice. Built with the latest Xcode. Just set the Deployment Target down to iOS 10.x or lower, and Xcode will automatically include support for both arm64 and 32-bit iOS devices. If you do so, make sure to test your app on a 32-bit device running that older iOS version to make sure you didn't include any new code that will crash.

Yeah but e.g. iOS 3,4,5,6,7,8 deployment targets isn’t available anymore, regardless if it makes sense or not. I also don’t think they would accept App submissions for these iOS targets by using older Xcode versions. There are plenty of 4/4s users out there, that would love to get updates here and there, even if it’s just for an access api update for apps like dropbox. I see 4/4s users all the time in pub transports. Anyway, I just wanted point out, that it’s completely up to Apples mercy to decide what or who will get an update. If suddenly tomorrow they decide to take older activation servers down, many older iPhones just becomes bricks. Their intelligently well planned network of control has many screws to make devices obsolete and force people to upgrade or move on to newer iOS versions.

E.g If i want, i could still develop something for windows 95/NT and release it, doesn’t make sense for the majority users, but the possibility is there.

With iOS they simply take this “freedom” from us by enforcing their nonsense limitations.

 

[Italianblend]

The powerful will have power taken away, the mighty will eventually fall. The greedy will have no reward in heaven. It’s happening everywhere. No power on earth can escape the Lord. If Apple is truly doing immoral things without repentance, there will be a just reward. I hope the planned obsolescence is not true, still there is so much evidence to the contrary. Forcing people to iOS versions that slow phones, forcing people to upgrade. For Apple admin, I hope For their sake it is not true.

 

[Abazigal]

Come on, Apple just want you to have the "best possible experience", please understand they care for their customers

Not sure if you are being sarcastic, but I agree with you (assuming you aren’t).

Throttling saved millions of users from random shutdowns, but the OS not disclosing it to users cost the company dearly in terms of goodwill.

The strong prevalence of such cynical theories are exactly why transparency and communication is key. All the moreso for Apple these days.

 

[Wildkraut]

Actually im fighting with myself and flirting with Google Pixel 2 XL by watching reviews, despite the worse display and already owning an iPhoneX256.

Now it’s Googles privacy concerns VS Apples cynical customer harming behavior. But seriously, I don’t believe in Apples good privacy intentions anymore, too.

 

[itguy06]

Throttling saved millions of users from random shutdowns, but the OS not disclosing it to users cost the company dearly in terms of goodwill.

I think most users would have random shutdowns. It's the near universal symptom of a dead battery. They would then take the phone to Apple or another outlet for replacement. Or replace it themselves. But they would know something was wrong vs being kept in the dark and wondering why the phone became a POS over time.

 

[firewood]

Yeah but e.g. iOS 3,4,5,6,7,8 deployment targets isn’t available anymore, regardless if it makes sense or not. I also don’t think they would accept App submissions for these iOS targets by using older Xcode versions.

An iOS 8 Deployment Target is still available in Xcode 9.2 (the latest IIRC).

An iPhone 4s can run iOS 9.3.5, which is also supported by the latest Xcode.

iOS 3 requires an obsolete compiler (a deprecated gcc) that can produce armv6 code. It's hard to even find a Mac with an old enough OS X that can run that particular compiler. I keep one around just in case I want to play around with coding for my iPhone 3G (unlikely).

Apple doesn't allow submitting apps for iOS 5.0 or lower because those versions of iOS will crash on any apps that include arm64 support. And arm64 is now required for the App store, otherwise those apps won't run under iOS 11 or on any device with an A11 CPU. They still allow submissions from slightly older Xcode versions, maybe 2 years back or so, so that may allow you to submit an 32-bit iOS 7 app as long as you also include 64-bit support. And if you play advanced tricks with lipo and manual code-signing, you might be able to manually construct an app with a iOS 7-10 32-bit slice and an iOS 9-11 arm64 slice.

But except for a bunch of legacy iPads running iOS 5.1.1, devices running anything older than iOS 9.0 are only around 1% or less of iOS devices that talk to Apple's servers (e.g. the App store).

 

[Flyc17]

Excellent. Next, the Justice Department needs to sue Apple for all the back taxes owed, along with fines, for hiding their cash overseas. Get em!