Apple Faces Another iPhone Lawsuit Over 'Programmed Obsolescence'

[I7guy]

Once again I’m in agreement with this investigation. I’m not about to let apple off the hook because a bunch of macrumors posters ran to their defence. I want it investigated and handled properly, guilty or not.

That being said, apple doesn’t add enough features in between major releases to warrant some of those performance drops in my opinion. There’s something going on and I’m glad others are noticing.

I'm not about to condone this "investigation" because a bunch of MacRumors posters ran to criticize them.

Now can you elaborate on the performance drops that are attributable to the operating system....not including "timing the animations" with a stop-watch or blaming things on "throttling"?

 

[tcphoto1]

Remember when you could revert back to a previous iOS version? Apple killed that option a few years ago. I had both an iPhone 6 and 6s, paid for a new battery in the 6 and Best Buy wouldn't touch the 6s because the battery health wasn't below 75%. I do believe that Apple was aware that it made older devices slow but they banked that we'd upgrade. It was both smart and deceptive but most likely unethical. I believe people should be able to reinstall previous versions of software if it slows down their device.

 

[Captain Trips]

but there are likely other lawsuits waiting in the wings.

Yeah, there always are more lawsuits waiting to come into the light of day. Always.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

Alternatively, Apple can let your iPhone shutdown due to battery physics like all the Android manufacturers are doing and offer only 2-3 years of iOS updates. Bet you’ll still be complaining then.

I’d love to be the software engineer that gets told to artificially slow down iOS each year by an executive solely for the reason of planned obsolescence. Stick that into my book of dirty Apple stories. Sadly, that scenario remains purely in your imagination

Hmm not sure if this is what’s currently all that is being investigated. I’m on Apple’s side when it comes to the battery thing, that made sense. They were wrong not to inform the user but whatever, it is what it is. I’m more in agreement over the software getting slow while not really accumulating that much functionality year after year (as compared to the degree of the slowdowns).

I’m not on Apple’s side for that nor am I on the opposite side - I’m on the side of due process and making decisions based on facts, not based on “I love my iPhone so apple shouldn’t be investigated” like others here

 

[LeadingHeat]

Deco Proteste (via Marketeer), which in a statement says that it will proceed with a case against the Cupertino tech giant because it "deliberately manipulated, and without informing its users, the performance of its most popular devices... in doing so, it forced thousands of users to replace the battery of their devices or buy a new smartphone, to their expectations."

Come up with that all by yourself huh? Sounds exactly like the other class action money grabs by the lawyers in the US and everywhere else those vultures have tried it.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

While limiting upgrade is an option, some Apple fanboy would cry out “why my shiny new iPhone 14 cannot get iOS 19 even if I feel it is super snappy”. It exist.

Sure, it exists. And, if they want the latest OS’s, they’d have to go to the government (the same government that said that Apple shouldn’t push updates to old phones). Apple could just say “our hands are tied” and it would be a legally defensible position as the government would have said “MAKE SURE YOU DON’T ALLOW THE UPDATE OF 5 YEAR OLD PHONES BECAUSE THAT’S PROGRAMMED OBSOLESCENCE!”

As for now, I doubt Apple will alter their software upgrade schedule and allow users to downgrade to whatever version they see fit. I just don’t believe they did NOT run real hardware test AT ALL during the development. Not sparing money for a real world test of their flagship software is a massive oversight or omission imo.

I doubt anything will happen, but if something HAS to happen, it’s FAR easier for Apple to just cut off upgrades to the EU at the government required length of time.

 

[2ilent8cho]

My iPad mini 1st Gen became a useless mess on iOS 9.

My iPad Air and Mini 2 got iOS 12.5.1 not long ago, so Apple are perfectly capable of keeping the older iOS's patched.

What I would like to see is less frequent iOS releases, every 2 or 3 years is fine. Ability to downgrade the OS to an older version if I want, with previous 2 or 3 iOS's patched still and supported.

I hate this annual OS update on my Macs , iPhones and iPads its too much. Software was more polished and felt like a real upgrade back when the gaps were bigger, release a major version when you have a load of new features and its ready, not just because its a new year.

 

[mi7chy]

Remember when you could revert back to a previous iOS version? Apple killed that option a few years ago. I had both an iPhone 6 and 6s, paid for a new battery in the 6 and Best Buy wouldn't touch the 6s because the battery health wasn't below 75%. I do believe that Apple was aware that it made older devices slow but they banked that we'd upgrade. It was both smart and deceptive but most likely unethical. I believe people should be able to reinstall previous versions of software if it slows down their device.

On Macs you can roll back to a prior version of MacOS so Apple policies are fragmented. That's why people are scared of new M1 Macs since Apple can eliminate that capability.

 

[pmiles]

Lest we forget, APFS was pushed onto everyone knowing it was only beneficial to certain hardware. If you had a mechanical drive and installed Mojave or later, your mechanical drive became slow as molasses. So many people bought a new computer because of it. The drive was never slow, the file system made it slow.

Apple had no problem purposely slowing down thousands if not hundreds of thousands of machines all in favor of progress that in turn meant new sales.

If you think this hasn't been going on for quite some time on all their devices, you're fooling yourself. They are a hardware company unlike Microsoft... they aren't being Saints by any stretch of the imagination. They are just hoping they won't get caught.

Since most consumers are just that, "consume-rs", they don't realize they are being fleeced because they are gladly willing to dump last years phone for this years and so on and so forth. They can't wait to buy something new. Apple likes this.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

This is so stupid, at this point. Yes, Apple could have communicated what they were doing behind the scenes. They didn't, they tried to make it right. Years ago. That's it.

Your view of history

wrong but valid for the winner.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

I still use a 6. Still fine. It actually aged better than the iPhone 4.

Nothing can age better than perfection

 

[farewelwilliams]

Hmm not sure if this is what’s currently all that is being investigated. I’m on Apple’s side when it comes to the battery thing, that made sense. They were wrong not to inform the user but whatever, it is what it is. I’m more in agreement over the software getting slow while not really accumulating that much functionality year after year (as compared to the degree of the slowdowns).

I’m not on Apple’s side for that nor am I on the opposite side - I’m on the side of due process and making decisions based on facts, not based on “I love my iPhone so apple shouldn’t be investigated” like others here

Article states "deliberately manipulated, and without informing its users, the performance of its most popular devices... in doing so, it forced thousands of users to replace the battery of their devices or buy a new smartphone, to their expectations."

If the battery replacement fixes performance issues, it's the battery thing.

 

[needsomecoffee]

Wife is completely happy with an iPhone 6. I did a recent battery replacement, so it has lots of life left. She recently signed up for an Audible sub. Cannot get the Audible app on her phone because the OS is "too old". She could load the older version if we had loaded the app on a previous iOS device, or could load it on a current iOS device (we do not have one since we do not like to dispose of good, workable devices). Subtle, stupid way Apple creates obsolescence. The damn older version is in fact there, but not if you have an older phone that cannot run the current iOS or have not already used to app when the iOS you have was current. I am certain this is a purposeful decision. We easily loaded Audible on an old Nexus 6 I keep for running the house smart switches. Another battery replacement in my future ($29 for the Nexus replacement battery from iFixit). Yeah there is lots to dislike about the reality of Apple and its extreme push to enforce its profit-seeking "disposable device" ecosystem. We might just buy an iPhone, load Audible on it, then return it once we have access to, and loaded the older version on the iPhone 6.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

I believe that Apples intentions were good. However the execution stank and that is why there are lawsuits and fines. Call this what it is, which is a money grab. If these watchdog agencies think that Apple is executing some "planned obsolescence" strategy, they are missing a basic tenet of business, which is if you screw your customers today, they won't be your customers tomorrow.

Apple has a history of evil.

your post Lacks facts.

Apples Intention was pure evil - a light company would have offered at least a cheap battery service !

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

Wife is completely happy with an iPhone 6. I did a recent battery replacement, so it has lots of life left. She recently signed up for an Audible sub. Cannot get the Audible app on her phone because the OS is "too old". She could load the older version if we had loaded the app on a previous iOS device, or could load it on a current iOS device (we do not have one since we do not like to dispose of good, workable devices). Subtle, stupid way Apple creates obsolescence. The damn older version is in fact there, but not if you have an older phone that cannot run the current iOS and have not already used to app when the iOS you have was current. I am certain this is a purposeful decision. We easily loaded Audible on an old Nexus 6 I keep for running the house smart switches. Another battery replacement in my future ($29 for the Nexus replacement batery from iFixit). Yeah there is lots to dislike about the reality of Apple and its extreme push to enforce its profit-seeking "disposable device" ecosystem. We might just buy an iPhone, load Audible on it, then return it once we have access to, and loaded the older version on the iPhone.

Buy and return - nice thinking.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

Remember when you could revert back to a previous iOS version? Apple killed that option a few years ago. I had both an iPhone 6 and 6s, paid for a new battery in the 6 and Best Buy wouldn't touch the 6s because the battery health wasn't below 75%. I do believe that Apple was aware that it made older devices slow but they banked that we'd upgrade. It was both smart and deceptive but most likely unethical. I believe people should be able to reinstall previous versions of software if it slows down their device.

That’s the main point. Still wonder no one is suing them to hell about that fact.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

Article states "deliberately manipulated, and without informing its users, the performance of its most popular devices... in doing so, it forced thousands of users to replace the battery of their devices or buy a new smartphone, to their expectations."

If the battery replacement fixes performance issues, it's the battery thing.

Same comment applies to that then - if they’re investigating it I’d like to see that reach it’s natural conclusion without all the usual “MUH APPLE” commentary

 

[I7guy]

Apple has a history of evil.

your post Lacks facts.

Apples Intention was pure evil - a light company would have offered at least a cheap battery service !

Your post lacks facts as well as well as a context for the word "evil", which is subjective. Where do you believe the ios software slowed down the iphone since the 6s?

 

[I7guy]

[...] I’m more in agreement over the software getting slow while not really accumulating that much functionality year after year (as compared to the degree of the slowdowns).
[...]

A citation please on the iphone software getting slow notwithstanding power managment (aka throttling) or timing animations with a stopwatch, since the 6s. The 6 was gimped with 1gb memory, while the 5s had 512mb.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

A citation please on the iphone software getting slow notwithstanding power managment (aka throttling) or timing animations with a stopwatch, since the 6s. The 6 was gimped with 1gb memory, while the 5s had 512mb.

No. the investigation will give you any answers you want.

 

[I7guy]

No. the investigation will give you any answers you want.

So you are just repeating the shallow hyperbole. Got it.

 

[farewelwilliams]

Same comment applies to that then - if they’re investigating it I’d like to see that reach it’s natural conclusion without all the usual “MUH APPLE” commentary

This endless investigations cost resources, and I'm not talking about money. Have you ever been in an deposition? These things take 10 hour days for each person involved, even weeks to carry out. Rather have engineers work on what's next.

 

[Suckfest 9001]

This endless investigations cost resources. Have you ever been in an deposition? These things take 10 hour days for each person involved, even weeks to carry out. Rather have engineers work on what's next.

That’s fine I’m sure apple has the money

 

[lostngone]

I would like to see Apple have an option to unlock or replace the boot-loader on phones it no longer supports. At least give users/developers options.

 

[farewelwilliams]

That’s fine I’m sure apple has the money

Not talking about money. An extremely talented engineer's time is much more valuable, something that Apple can't just buy off the shelf.

Even if it was about money, Apple would pass the cost onto you. You're just asking for more expensive products and/or features cut from future products to make the budget work.

Investigating this matter makes 0 sense.