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

[DoctorKrabs]

Apple has stuck with planned obsolescence since day one, why do people choose to complain now? Don't answer that because the article states that there has been pervious lawsuits for the same reason. If anything they're protecting themselves from a security problem by leaving alone old hardware that can't operate in a stable manner.

Many other companies and products operate the same way. Don't cars work that way too, albeit on a longer time scale?

These class-action lawsuits are a load of baloney that are just used as a "we'll show you" for people to act like they have any power in changing a big company's operations. Remember the Wi-Fi Assist lawsuit? Never saw the light of day because it was a load of crap.

Apple serves the masses, a.k.a. the ones who pay for yearly upgrades. That may seem harsh or offensive (I don't care) but it's the truth.

Apple is a luxury brand, not a made-to-order brand that a large organization would contract with.

Since day one? Really?

Even just 5 years ago, it wasn't to the degree that it is now. iPhones required updates through iTunes and had no coercion to make the user update. Apple also still allows legacy iPhones like the 3GS and earlier to restore to iOS 4, 3, and the original can be restored to iPhone OS 1 today while its latest version is 3.1.3. Ever since OTA updates, Apple has done automatic downloads of updates and one of these kind of lawsuits SUCCEEDED, forcing Apple to allow users to delete the downloaded package in iOS 7.1. Remember that "baloney" lawsuit? It harmed us all, didn't it?

Macs also are not heavily encouraged to update like iOS devices either. They used to be paid updates on top of that. Any Mac can have any supported version of OS X installed at any time without Apple's intervention.

And no, the masses don't upgrade yearly. It has been almost impossible for an individual to do it with an iPhone in an affordable way until a few months ago. And iPads are upgraded even less. It's an exceeding minority of iPad owners that upgrade yearly. Apple didn't even make an iPad Air 3 this year, and the iPad Pro isn't its replacement.

 

[DoctorKrabs]

If you want to believe that, fine. I guess iPhones never, ever have any software issues and run just fine with corrupted files and no available storage space. Thank you for clearing that up for all of us.

So now you're blaming it on software corruption when that's the entire reason Apple does a signing process for any iPhone restore or update. It verifies that the software is valid and not corrupted in any way and a SANBOXED OS like iOS can't have its core software modified in any way by the user without jailbreaking or exploits.
Corrupted user data won't cause slowdowns. It may cause crashes but that's not what the lawsuit is about. Not to mention that it's not exactly common for there to be corruption of user data in iOS , unless you want to tell me that there is. Which would be a great argument against iOS 9.

These are facts. I try to be balanced and respectful here, but educate yourself about the software please. You're showing the idiocy I called out before.

 

[peterdevries]

Apple has stuck with planned obsolescence since day one, why do people choose to complain now?

I agree with everything else you said, but I am wondering about this? When has anyone ever proven that Apple actually does this purposefully?

 

[OtherJesus]

Yes ... yes it is because of the OS. I still have a 4S lying around with a clean install of iOS 9 on it and it's dog crap slow.


See above.


The people who filed this case have slow iPhones after installing the newest version of iOS. They're not imagining it. It's a thing.

I'm sure it is a thing, I don't doubt the older hardware runs slower with newer software when compared to a 6S. I don't have a 4S, so I can't give an honest test, but my 5 runs perfect with 9. Maybe I'm just blessed (joke) or smart enough to turn off the animations.

I guess I'm just an old school guy and I expect to have to clean install once every 4-5 years after daily, full time use, and in my humble opinion, this is a childish lawsuit.

 

[OtherJesus]

So now you're blaming it on software corruption when that's the entire reason Apple does a signing process for any iPhone restore or update. It verifies that the software is valid and not corrupted in any way and a SANBOXED OS like iOS can't have its core software modified in any way by the user without jailbreaking or exploits. These are facts. I try to be balanced and respectful here, but educate yourself about the software please. You're showing the idiocy I called out before.

Ok, ok, you win. Apple software and hardware is perfect and nothing could ever go wrong. Same with Flash. Nothing could ever go wrong. I get it.

Next you're going tell all of us that there is a ever a need to force quit a frozen app.

It's fine, though, I understand I'm not as brilliant as you. I can accept it. I'm serious. No need to reply to convince me otherwise.

 

[macs4nw]

What a joke. As if Craig Federighi tells his engineers to insert code that will intentionally slow down older devices.....

I don't for a second believe that to be true, however when additional features in newer software negatively affect the performance of older devices if they were to be upgraded to such newer OS, Apple has a moral responsibility to at least warn their users of such negative consequences, especially in light of the near-impossibility to revert to the previous OS.

The plaintiffs allege Apple's advertising touts "faster performance, improved security, convenient updates, and longer battery life" without specifically mentioning which hardware benefits from these improvements, indeed creating the illusion all their hardware will benefit. With their presumed exhaustive testing, I find it hard to believe Apple wasn't aware of the impaired performance of the older hardware trying to keep pace with the expanded newer software.

I shake my head at most of these lawsuits, but I actually believe this one has some merit. The plaintiffs may however face an uphill battle trying to a) prove this performance hit with ironclad data, and b) malice on Apple's part.

 

[nofunsir]

A while back I heard of a small group of ex-Apple employees that has been compiling conclusive evidence of deliberate NOP or "NOP-like" insertions into iOS kernel code, which are enabled at business-strategic controlled timing and distributed in an imperceptible manner with plenty of engineered plausible deniability. Of course you can imagine the consequences if this is ever proven in court. But if any commercial company has the impenetrable infrastructure of secrecy protocol to pull off something like strategic OS slowing, we all know it's Apple.

My personal take on it is that while there may not be deliberate things like NOPs or "if this is an iPhone 5, slow it down 60% when the iPhone 6s comes out" code, I have personally seen enough suspicious evidence to make me start to suspect that, somewhere in the engineering process, there is some group which specifically engineers the slowing effects of updates and new "features" on older equipment. After all, is it not vital to Apple's business model that everyone keeps buying a new one every year or two?

 

[DoctorKrabs]

Ok, ok, you win. Apple software and hardware is perfect and nothing could ever go wrong. Same with Flash. Nothing could ever go wrong. I get it.

Next you're going tell all of us that there is a ever a need to force quit a frozen app.

It's fine, though, I understand I'm not as brilliant as you. I can accept it. I'm serious. No need to reply to convince me otherwise.

Don't act like the victim of my knowledge after blaming the people with problems for their own problems and calling them idiots. That's just what happens to you when you act as if you know what you're saying when you actually don't.

And don't make a straw man out of my factual argument by saying software signing and flash memory aren't perfect. I know that they're not, but you showed complete lack of knowledge about them, and I just couldn't let it go uncorrected. I probably wouldn't be so hard on you if you didn't say things like "The idiots who filed this case...", say things that are false, and then act like I'm the condescending one.

 

[IHelpId10t5]

Apple was today hit with a class action lawsuit (via AppleInsider) seeking over $5 million in damages for deceptive trade practices and false advertising. Plaintiff Chaim Lerman says that 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.

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 device to a previous iOS version, the plaintiffs feel like 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

Complete BS! iOS 9 works perfectly well on iPhone 4S (and iPad 2 for that matter). The problem is typically users that are incapable of not loading the devices with hundreds of useless background Social apps and then blaming 5 year-old hardware for not supporting the load.

These are the same type of users that blamed MS for discontinuing Win XP and "forcing" them to replace their 10 year old PC.

 

[FISSIKSMAN]

Nobody forced you to move to iOS 7.

Yes, no one "forces" you to upgrade, but a simple, "this upgrade is only recommended for model x and above" which they USED to do, and a simple way to downgrade if you DO have issues would create goodwill. Snarky comments about your omniscience don't help either

 

[LiveM]

I am using a backup iPhone 4 and will continue to do so until the next 4" model. I use my iPad and Mac for most things.

 

[oldmacs]

Well it is a bit misleading that iOS 9 even on A5 devices mentioned speed and stability improvements in the upgrade notes, when it's obviously not true.

Personally I think iOS 9 is just another in a line of rushed operating systems that performs poorly on a wide variety of devices, I doubt apple intentially slows devices. I just wish that iOS releases were not tied to the iPhone update.

Purring iOS 9 on older devices is great because it extends the life of these devices in terms of app compatibility and security so I do applaude that.

 

[ikir]

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.

This

 

[globalist]

Complete BS! iOS 9 works perfectly well on iPhone 4S (and iPad 2 for that matter). The problem is typically users that are incapable of not loading the devices with hundreds of useless background Social apps and then blaming 5 year-old hardware for not supporting the load.

These are the same type of users that blamed MS for discontinuing Win XP and "forcing" them to replace their 10 year old PC.

Wait, are you saying those experiencing bad performance of the latest iOS on their older devices just somehow managed to accumulate 100s of "useless bacground Social apps" after they've upgraded? And they weren't running said
"background Social apps" (whatever that may be) before? So it's all down to these apps? That's just preposterous.

Do you even own an older idevice and have you even experienced the performance of iOS 5/6 on it? Let me assure you no matter how many "useless bacground Social apps" you threw at it, the OS would remain pretty damn smooth on something like iPad 2. Look up "apple's backgrounding" to understand why.

Anecdotal: I have a 16GB iPad 2, been running iOS 6 on it for years with no issue. No "useless bacground Social apps" either (WTF does that even mean?). Cue in iOS 9 installed this autumn and the device is a sluggish PoS that I'm glad just broke its display because I am finally ready to throw it into the bin, and buy a new iPad Air or something, while justifying my purchase with something else than the apparent planned obsolecence. Yeah, this is exactly how Apple does it, willingly or not.

 

[purplehaze0]

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.

"Forcing"

 

[mariusignorello]

I agree with everything else you said, but I am wondering about this? When has anyone ever proven that Apple actually does this purposefully?

People love to start things. If you learn about technology and how things become outdated so quickly, even just the basics, it all makes sense. Apple probably does do it on purpose but nobody really knows.

 

[chasemac]

If Apple still supports the iPhone 4S with updated software then it should work as well or better than the day the customer bought it or else Apple should no longer support the device. The verdict is they don't have too. Bang!, courtroom adjured!

 

[gavroche]

Where do I even start. Of course Apple knew that the iphone 4s would slow down. They have some of the best coders, and any idiot coder knows to test the code on devices that can get the update. So they knew and didn't say anything, therefore it was intentional. And just because Apple is the creator doesn't mean they can do whatever they want. Consumers have rights, you know.

Wow... I suggest you buy a dictionary and learn what the word Intentional means, it does NOT mean that you knew or thought it would happen. It means you WANTED it to happen, and tried to MAKE it happen.
The fact that you go from he premise of "their coders would have tested and seen it was slower" and draw the conclusion "they purposely tried to make it slower" is astounding. Really puts your intelligence on display.
People on here are,amazing.

 

[xmichaelp]

BS class action lawsuit just like most of them. What a joke.

The 4S is like 10 times slower than the 6s. Obviously it's going to be slow on the same hardware.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

I never upgrade my OS. We learned this "slow down" issue long ago with the 3Gs. I get a new OS when I get a new phone. I do point releases, but NEVER a full.

Which is a good measure.

Anyhow Apple is advertising this wrongly. I think they have a case.

 

[xmichaelp]

They literally destroyed the device

 

[Rufuss Sewell]

Good.

I love Apple, but I think they need to get hit hard for this.

What you people defending Apple aren't getting through your thick skulls is this:

1. They advertise that the new OS will make your device faster and more efficiant.

2. Once you update, basic things like TYPING become so slow the device is unusable.

3. Apple does not let you go back to the previous OS after they lied to you.

Whether or not they do it on purpose is irrelevent. But since it's been done 8 times on iOS one has to think they probably know about the issue and are more than happy to continue.

 

[sethlution]

Same can be said for Apple not updating iPhone 4 to iOS 9? Is Apple neglecting to path major vulnerabilities? At least with Android, you have option to flash custom ROM with updates? Can you do that with iPhone?

My Moto G 2014 have not receive marshmallow update yet, but I flashed CM 13 with Android 6.0.1. Can you flash iOS 9 to iPhone 4? Nope, too bad, you should upgrade to iPhone 6S. With Android, I always have option to flash latest custom ROM.

You're comparing a 2014 phone to one released 5 years ago? Really? I have an old Galaxy s2 hd with countless vulnerabilities. Good luck finding Lollipop ROM for it (let alone Marshmallow)

At least the 4S (a 4 year phone) is still getting one-click-update, and people still complain.

 

[ColBatGuano]

Christ!, who holds on to such relics these days?

People like me who are severely under-employed (1 day a week every other week, at best).

Any other stupid, easily answered questions?

 

[gavroche]

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.

To people that say things like what you just said, i have one very very simple question.
Should Apple:
A) Never develop any new features, so that all models can continue to perform equally.
B) Develop new features and operating systems, but only allow them on new model phones (not allow old models to upgrade).
C) Develop new features and operating systems, allow upgrading, but also allow users to downgrade?

Seriously people... these are the only three options possible if you don't like their current approach. And if you can't see that they would get sued and complained at with absolutely any of those three options at a much greater rate than they do now, you are very confused on the subject. Of those three... the least objectionable is C.... and even then..... those people that chose to upgrade, buy more apps, and then downgrade... would then complain and sue once they learn that the new apps they bought, optimized to run on the new system, no longer work. And that's not even getting into the whole security issue.
We live in such a litigation happy society where everyone thinks they are entitled to rainbows and unicorns or someone deserves to get sued. Crazy.