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Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Apple of Crippling iPhone 4s With iOS 9 Update

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Apple today was hit with a class action lawsuit seeking over $5 million in damages for deceptive trade practices and false advertising, as noted by AppleInsider). Plaintiff Chaim Lerman says he and other iPhone 4s owners became unable to use their devices after upgrading to iOS 9 as the update "significantly slowed down" their iPhones and "interfered with the normal usage of the device."

According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs were forced to either live with a "slow and buggy" device that "disrupts every day life" or shell out hundreds of dollars for a new iPhone.

iphone4s.jpg
When iPhone 4s owners are faced with the dilemma of continuing to use a slow, buggy phone or spend hundreds to buy a new phone, Apple often benefits because consumers will often buy a new iPhone to keep their investment in the App ecosystem. [...]

Furthermore, iPhone owners will buy a newer iPhone when faced with the choice because it is familiar and they can easily transfer their information, media, contacts, and apps without a major disruption in usage. There is no learning curve and no delays and trouble that accompany new information input. Thus Apple stands to benefit financially when older iPhones are slowed down and owners are forced to purchase a new phone.
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The plaintiffs argue that Apple failed to properly warn iPhone 4s users that the update would "significantly interfere" with the performance of their phones. When Lerman and other plaintiffs upgraded their devices, they noticed a significant drop in performance in both third-party apps and basic functions like using the Phone app. Because Apple does not allow iPhone users to easily downgrade their devices to a previous iOS version, the plaintiffs feel they're forced into either using a slower phone or purchasing a new one.

Apple's advertising, the plaintiffs allege, does not mention the potential of slowed performance for iPhone 4s users, instead focusing on performance improvements. The lawsuit points towards Apple's iOS 9 website, which says the update brings "faster performance, improved security, convenient updates, and longer battery life." The plaintiffs argue that Apple must have known about the iPhone 4s' slower performance from internal testing or other means and did not warn users about potential headaches in their advertising.

This isn't the first time Apple has been accused of planned obsolescence, as the company was hit with a lawsuit in 2011 regarding the iPhone 3G and iOS 4. That case was thrown out by the judge who ruled the iOS 4 update was not a "good or service" and dismissed claims of false advertising and deceptive business practices.

Article Link: Class Action Lawsuit Accuses Apple of Crippling iPhone 4s With iOS 9 Update
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/12/29/ios9-iphone-4s-lawsuit/
Just reverted my iPhone 4S back to iOS 6 a few months ago. It's one of the few devices that can do it (via jailbreak) and it's absolutely amazing how well it performs now.

At navigating the OS, it's faster than my iPhone 6 now.

The updating business is my biggest complaint about Apple.
 
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AustinIllini said:
Agreed.

You buy a license to use their software on their terms.
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What happens when that software ruins your device? Too bad, so sad?

That's a pretty awful precedent to set. At the very least, the only thing Apple would need to do is allow you to revert back to an older version of iOS. That would solve this whole issue for once and for all.
 
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What a joke. As if Craig Federighi tells his engineers to insert code that will intentionally slow down older devices. People sue for anything and everything these days. Only in America. :rolleyes:

Altis said:
What happens when that software ruins your device? Too bad, so sad?

That's a pretty awful precedent to set. At the very least, the only thing Apple would need to do is allow you to revert back to an older version of iOS. That would solve this whole issue for once and for all.
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You're not forced to upgrade. Up until last October my sister was using an iPhone 5 with iOS 6. Her iPad 2 is still running iOS 6. I can't believe for one second that iOS 9 runs worse on the 4S than iOS 8 did so how far would you let people revert back?
 
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Rogifan said:
What a joke. As if Craig Federighi tells his engineers to insert code that will intentionally slow down older devices. People sue for anything and everything these days. Only in America. :rolleyes:
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It's funny, because people in the Andriod camp complain about the lack of support from manufacturers. Apple tries to get an OS that's designed to run on a device with 2-4x the RAM and 10x the CPU/GPU performance to run on a 4.5 year old smartphone and they still get sued.

Apple should at least give the option to downgrade at least to the previous version of iOS, though.
 
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tYNS said:
I wish my iPad 2 could go back to iOS 6. They literally destroyed the device forcing us to move to iOS 7 without the ability to go back. Biggest mistake I ever made was upgrading the iPad 2. Now it is a slow mess of crashes.
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No, they did not literally destroy the device. But they did not come to your house and break it. It still functions, just not how you prefer. That is the opposite of literal. You mean they figuratively destroyed the device.

When Apple's update bricked my first gen iPod, that would be closer to a literal destruction of the device, but still not correct.
 
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LovingTeddy said:
LOL... How does plaintiff prove Apple intentionally cripple their iPhone 4S? People should grateful for Apple even provide iOS update to iPhone 4S.

However, that's being said, Apple should provide users options to downgrade firmware.
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Can non-business customers who upgrade to Windows 10 downgrade to Windows 7?

TechZeke said:
It's funny, because people in the Andriod camp complain about the lack of support from manufacturers. Apple tries to get an OS that's designed to run on a device with 2-4x the RAM and 10x the CPU/GPU performance to run on a 4.5 year old smartphone and they still get sued.
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Are they suing to be able to revert back to a previous OS or arw they suing because they believe Apple intentionally make the software perform worse on older devices to get you to buy a new device? If it's the latter, what's next, is someone going to sue because the 6 Plus only had 1GB RAM?

For anyone that thinks Apple intentionally does these things....do they not realize a poor user experience will make someone less likely to purchase Apple products in the future?
 
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TMRJIJ said:
Nobody forced you to move to iOS 7.
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LOL... If you can get ride of the annoying red update badge and iOS not automatically download. The annoying badge is constant reminder that there is update for you and you'd better Fuxxking update you idiot.

Yeah, no one physically force you upgrade. But when you need do service at Apple store, when your iOS 6 no longer functioning correctly or when you need to do DFU reset, users will have no option but upgrade. If this isn't forced upgrade, then what is?
 
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Its really not that expensive at all to move to a new phone. Normally you can sell your old phone so if you upgrade lets say every 2 years your looking at $500 every two years. If you finance it with your carrier its ~$25 a month. Pretty low cost for such a advanced and high usage device IMO.
 
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On one hand this lawsuit is stupid.

On other - Apple broke face time and would not fix it unless you upgraded the iOS and deal with the degradation. I think their policy of forced software upgrades therefore deserve some negative publicity. They don't optimize well new iOS for old devices and make them very poor experiences. I have an old 4S and an iPad mini and both are horrible when updated. Shame on Apple for that.
 
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