Apple Now Faces 26+ Lawsuits for 'Purposefully' or 'Secretly' Slowing Down Older iPhones

[lazard]

All Apple has to do is show that the iOS updates were done to benefit customers (reduce shutdowns, extend battery life to meet the standby time specification, fix bugs, close exploits, etc.), and were done according to standard business practices for software updates. It will very difficult to prove in court that some nefarious motive was behind these beneficial software updates. I seriously doubt that anyone will find a memo from Tim to some engineer saying "new iPhones go on sale next month, add some code to turn down the clock on all of last years models by 40% to annoy users". Anyone can make up suspected motives. Proving that in court is a different matter. The lawyers will profit from trying and failing.

Doubt the judges are going to side with Apple when they have their geniuses telling customers their only solution is to buy a new iphone when a simple battery swap would have solved the issue.

 

[GreatSc0Ttie]

Sadly Apple deserved this. They should have used higher quality parts to ensure that the device works at least two years in a sufficient way.

Agreed and that's why they should lose these lawsuits. The reason they will lose? Their own Terms and conditions. Any argument Apple has as to why they couldn't fit this information into the T&C's will be easily defeated using their own t&c's as the evidence to show the court. They fit every single detail known to man in those things, but oh yeah our batteries stop performing after the first year, so we are going to slowdown your phone to match it and make a better experience was not able to make into the legal agreement?

The end will be a better product; iOS 12 and iPhone XS plz.

 

[Altis]

I dont mind having Microsoft and google sued for what they did. However, the difference is that while msft and goog may have benefited there was no real monetary loss from the consumer perspective.

How is not having advertised battery life more worthy of lawsuit than secretly slowing phones down without any indication as to why or how to resolve it?

You have it backwards -- there is no monetary loss from not getting advertised battery life (and they can return it). There is monetary loss when your phone becomes so slow that you buy a new one with no other known solution (permanent iOS and throttling undisclosed).

EDIT: misunderstood the post I quoted here.

 

[deferredAnon]

If nothing else, 'batterygate' resulted in a great number of new members for MacRumors.

Yes, I am an example.

 

[Altis]

All Apple has to do is show that the iOS updates were done to benefit customers (reduce shutdowns, extend battery life to meet the standby time specification, fix bugs, close exploits, etc.), and were done according to standard business practices for software updates. It will very difficult to prove in court that some nefarious motive was behind these beneficial software updates. I seriously doubt that anyone will find a memo from Tim to some engineer saying "new iPhones go on sale next month, add some code to turn down the clock on all of last years models by 40% to annoy users". Anyone can make up suspected motives. Proving that in court is a different matter. The lawyers will profit from trying and failing.

True that it's pretty much impossible to prove a motive with 100% certainty, but some facts make a strong case...

1) Why throttle devices based on battery health if it's still under warranty and considered "Healthy", and Apple won't replace it (even when asked to)? It can't be healthy and need throttling. It's even throttled while plugged in.

2) Why did Apple remove access to battery health information right as they started throttling based on battery? That one seems awfully deliberate.

3) Why would Apple not recommend a battery replacement to those who come in with a slow device? Reports from people suggest that Apple Geniuses explicitly told them there was no relation between battery and CPU, which is now known to be untrue.

4) Why was all this kept a secret? Throttling down to 40% of CPU performance is an enormous hit in performance. Slow/sluggish performance is one of, if not the most compelling reasons prompting people to upgrade --- which Apple can't pretend they don't know as performance is among their most advertised features of new phones --- so why wouldn't they let customers know when it's happening, rather than deliberately hiding it?

Their actions led to consumers making ill-informed decisions, to Apple's benefit.

 

[deferredAnon]

True that it's pretty much impossible to prove a motive with 100% certainty, but some facts make a strong case...

1) Why throttle devices based on battery health if it's still under warranty and considered "Healthy", and Apple won't replace it (even when asked to)? It can't be healthy and need throttling. It's even throttled while plugged in.

2) Why did Apple remove access to battery health information right as they started throttling based on battery? That one seems awfully deliberate.

3) Why would Apple not recommend a battery replacement to those who come in with a slow device? Reports from people suggest that Apple Geniuses explicitly told them there was no relation between battery and CPU, which is now known to be untrue.

4) Why was all this kept a secret? Throttling down to 40% of CPU performance is an enormous hit in performance. Slow/sluggish performance is one of, if not the most compelling reasons prompting people to upgrade --- which Apple can't pretend they don't know as performance is among their most advertised features of new phones --- so why wouldn't they let customers know when it's happening, rather than deliberately hiding it?

Their actions led to consumers making ill-informed decisions, to Apple's benefit.

We should add to this. I will keep editing as I come up with stuff.

5) iPhone 7 being throttled just one year after its release, soon after Apple released new replacement models for it.

6) Apple only admitted to throttling when faced with overwhelming facts. Without such facts and Apple's admission, customers would be left even with more throttled phones with each passing year/iOS update iteration.

7) New iPhone sales have been lagging since 2016, except for when new models come out. And majority of activations of iPhones for 2017 Christmas was still the three year old iPhone 6. "The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus took top spot with a combined total of 27.5% of activations followed by the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus with a total of 25.5% of activations" Indicating there was still demand for older models and reluctance of people to switch to new, more costly models, which would affect Apple negatively.

8) Apple defends it's decision to throttle as helping customers prolong the life of their phone. But this is inaccurate because all throttling does is reduce the wear on phone's battery to prolong life of a supposedly degraded battery. The phone itself is perfectly fine.

9) Customers with throttled phones are never aware of failing battery, nor of their phones being throttled because of it, and reduced performance is never a symptom of failing battery. So, a degraded battery is never suspected.

10) Phones do not degrade, except for battery which is replaceable. But Apple introduces software updates with new models in mind, new models which are capable of handling higher demand and have higher CPU. However, a customer with an older phone is unable to make a choice between security/bug fixes and non-essential enhancements features. Therefore, newer and newer software themselves, because of demanding non-essential features introduced and forced, slow down older phones as they require more time to make computations. There is never a choice given between the two for a customer who just want security and bug fixes because of increased hacks/bugs and one's increasing usage of phone as their wallet.

 

[617660]

How is not having advertised battery life more worthy of lawsuit than secretly slowing phones down without any indication as to why or how to resolve it?

You have it backwards -- there is no monetary loss from not getting advertised battery life (and they can return it). There is monetary loss when your phone becomes so slow that you buy a new one with no other known solution (permanent iOS and throttling undisclosed).

Want to give it another read? What you are saying is the same as i said.

 

[Ladybug]

Have there been cases like this? If so, then yes, I completely agree that this is a fraud and should be punished with all the severity. This is the first time I hear about this though. I understood that the lawsuits are targeting merely the fact that the phones with old batteries are slowed down. Do you have any references that show Apple service manipulating customers like this?
[doublepost=1515254968][/doublepost]

Totally agree with 1), not really sure where the 2) is coming from. All we know so far is that phones are throttled based on the battery performance. What makes you say that CPU is purportedly slowed down in addition to this?

There were a few posted in this forum I believe.

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

It’s extremely obvious that Apple have been purposefully slowing down older phones the whole time. In order to get people to buy the latest phone.

My 4S was lightning fast when new. A few updates later and it takes 5 seconds to complete each keyboard stroke. No OS optimisation is going to slow the keyboard that dramatically. They do it on purpose. Each OS update slows basic functions like opening apps and using the keyboard.

It’s not a conspiracy theory. It has been very consistent and expected behavior. Now they are getting called out on it.

 

[Altis]

Want to give it another read? What you are saying is the same as i said.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you had said. I'll edit my post.

 

[Ladybug]

It's only confusing if the customer believes that voltage supply issues can only occur with an old battery. Since Apple has specifically stated that it's not just old batteries, but also batteries with a low charge or batteries that are cold that can potentially have an issue with current supply to the CPU...that confusion issue has been addressed. That also eliminates the idea that Apple saying the battery is still "good" would somehow be deceptive re: the throttling feature. A brand new battery on low charge or that gets too cold could have current supply problems too.

I think it's fair to say that Apple could have provided more information initially when adding the software feature to prevent shutdown, but at the same time you would also have to admit that the low power warning at 20% charge already existed + the information about capacity level that Apple considered to be end of life for the battery.

I didn't say they were being deceptive. Although batteries being throttled for either voltage, low charge, or cold conditions does leave one baffled doesn't it. Apple doesn't include a battery meter nor did they inform the customer when they brought the phone in. Should the customer bare that burden of telling Apple what's going on with their phones, I think not. Apple is responsible for providing the support. If they want to declare batteries are EOL after 1 year then perhaps they could make this known somehow on the phone, or through the support channel. And yes, the low power mode does exist on these phones so I wonder why Apple didn't use that to warn customers when they were being throttled.

 

[Hoyboy]

Nuance isn't necessary. Apple's tech-laden spin is boring compared to the fake outrage we can all indulge in. Voltage and battery decomposition and whatever else. No one cares. Rather, let us delight in an alternate theory that Apple is trying to upsell us to newer toys. Not only does it allow us to engage in emotionally reasoning, but it allows us to be dishonest. Apple claims they diminish CPU speed since iOS 10.2.1 or whatever. Yet, users have been theorizing planned obsolescence way, way before iOS 10. And supposedly this slowdown happens only when a battery has decomposed enough, not when a user upgrades to the newest iOS version. Nevertheless, it is more comforting to think Apple has been slowing down phones way before iOS 10 and it happens upon updating, not battery condition.

It does happen when you upgrade to the newest OS. iPhone 7 users got this “feature” only when they updated to iOS 11.2. Why not include it from the start?

 

[617660]

I'm sorry, I misunderstood what you had said. I'll edit my post.

NP. I don't blame you. People who sided with Apple on this issue have a way of playing with our mind and set up trap we don't necessary expect to see.

 

[GuruZac]

A nearing trillion dollar company could’ve spent hundreds of millions on either better battery tech or saved themselves who knows how much on the ‘secret’ software that crippled your phone for the sake of hiding weak batteries. Instead, they deceptively added the feature and have cost themselves who knows what at this point. I hope it was worth it Apple.

 

[Corgirat]

My dad just bought iPhone 7 today and I believe it came with iOS 11.2. Is it already being throttled???
[doublepost=1515279625][/doublepost]

My dad just bought iPhone 7 today and I believe it came with iOS 11.2. Is it already being throttled???

Also, my iPhone 6s Plus never has shut down problems. Why did mine needed to be throttled?
[doublepost=1515279858][/doublepost]Also, can someone help me understand how apologizing for slowing down the performance led to low cost battery replacement? Did the iOS updates hurt the battery?

Does this mean even if I get a $29 replacement now, future iOS updates will slow down my iPhone anyway?

Or will Apple stop slowing down iPhone with future updates with battery needing to be replaced often?

 

[CausticPuppy]

That's just silliness. No one is okay with a phone that is randomly shutting down, but neither are most okay with their phones being forcibly SLOWED down with absolutely no explanation to the cause. Even more, many of those people INQUIRED of Apple regarding the phone performance only to be told that there was nothing wrong.

Remember VW's lawsuit about secretly altering emissions stats? Are you okay with that? What if a car company advertised a certain level of fuel performance, but as the car aged it no longer met those levels. So the next time you take your car in for an oil change, they tinker with you car and put a governor on the motor that impedes performance, but increases your mileage to their advertised standards. They don't tell you, and when you asked about a certain 'lag' as you push the accelerator, their service underwriter gets in the car, drives it, and says, "Hey, everything seems fine to me."

Are you okay with that? Consumers just want honest, upfront communication, and they are due that as a paying customer.

The VW scandal isn’t comparable to what Apple did.
A better comparison would be to what Samsung and HTC have done— which was to cripple their phones *all the time* and only allow full performance when running benchmarks.

https://www.xda-developers.com/benchmark-cheating-strikes-back-how-oneplus-and-others-got-caught-red-handed-and-what-theyve-done-about-it/amp/

They cheat the battery issues by never allowing their SoC’s to run at full performance anyway, except when they detect a benchmark is being run.

THAT is a scandal if that’s what you’re looking for.

 

[deferredAnon]

My dad just bought iPhone 7 today and I believe it came with iOS 11.2. Is it already being throttled???
[doublepost=1515279625][/doublepost]
Also, my iPhone 6s Plus never has shut down problems. Why did mine needed to be throttled?
[doublepost=1515279858][/doublepost]Also, can someone help me understand how apologizing for slowing down the performance led to low cost battery replacement? Did the iOS updates hurt the battery?

Does this mean even if I get a $29 replacement now, future iOS updates will slow down my iPhone anyway?

Or will Apple stop slowing down iPhone with future updates with battery needing to be replaced often?

As far as what we know now, throttling is here to stay. Apple said they would display the health of your battery in the near future update so you can decide when to take it in for replacement. If I were you, I would wait a month for that update to come in. That applies to your 6S and your father's 7. But it's probably worth it for you both to replace batteries at the end of the year to take advantage of low replacement cost.

 

[Corgirat]

As far as we know now, throttling is here to stay. Apple said they would display the health of your battery in the near future update so you can decide when to take it in for replacement. If I were you, I would wait a month for that update to come in. That applies to your 6S and your father's 7. But it's probably worth it for you both to replace batteries at the end of the year to take advantage of low replacement cost.

That’s a good idea to wait a while towards the end of the year after the iOS update. It only makes sense. Hopefully the future batches of batteries will improve also.

 

[sterlingindigo]

Today I watched my battery percentage go from 44% down to 15% in a matter of a few seconds, wth.

 

[Puddled]

Today I watched my battery percentage go from 44% down to 15% in a matter of a few seconds, wth.

Your battery is at the end of its life.

 

[Ladybug]

Today I watched my battery percentage go from 44% down to 15% in a matter of a few seconds, wth.

My sons 6S battery does the same thing pretty much. It reaches 40% then basically shuts off. This is using the latest software but has been doing this for at least 6 months.

 

[psac]

I gave my old 6 to my brother for my nephew. He just brought it in for a new battery, failed diagnostics, but then wouldn’t replace the battery because of water damage. Any water damage would’ve been well over a year ago and illevant. So now just he has to stick with a gimped phone.

 

[Baymowe335]

Doubt the judges are going to side with Apple when they have their geniuses telling customers their only solution is to buy a new iphone when a simple battery swap would have solved the issue.

You have to prove knowledge of the issue and puffing from salespeople is not illegal. These devices are out of warranty in many cases.

Judges aren’t going to set a precedent that companies have to refund the full value of products that customers chose to buy. Sales people sell...many people buy a new car because their old once starts getting worse gas mileage and the car dealer tells them this new one though...
[doublepost=1515289881][/doublepost]

I gave my old 6 to my brother for my nephew. He just brought it in for a new battery, failed diagnostics, but then wouldn’t replace the battery because of water damage. Any water damage would’ve been well over a year ago and illevant. So now just he has to stick with a gimped phone.

Well within their right. You’re expecting too much.

 

[bjb.butler]

There is literally nothing they can do about these batteries degrading over time.

wasn't a problem for the iphone 2G, 3G, 4, 4S, 5, or 5S.

 

[Puddled]

I gave my old 6 to my brother for my nephew. He just brought it in for a new battery, failed diagnostics, but then wouldn’t replace the battery because of water damage. Any water damage would’ve been well over a year ago and illevant. So now just he has to stick with a gimped phone.

Why not just use a battery case?