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

[mpb2000]

If it's going to slow down the phone, Apple should simply take that model off the list of iPhones that should upgrade. My 4S is super slow now. This isn't a pretend issue. It's real.

Exactly. I don't understand why Apple doesn't just exclude the 4S from the list of devices compatible with iOS 9. All iPhones before that are excluded. Apple always has to decide where to draw the line. Just say the 4S is no longer supported through new OS upgrades. How did they decide the 4 was no longer compatible? There must have been testing done or at least some HW analysis.

https://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/#compatibility

I have a 3rd gen iPod touch and a 2008 Macbook that both run perfectly with the most recent allowable OS upgrades. I can't upgrade any further than that, and recognize that they are no longer supported, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

It is perfectly reasonable to expect your devices to continue functioning normally. Obviously, HW will eventually fail, but there should not be an artificial failure due to SW that has no business running on that HW.

 

[Radon87000]

Purposefully slowing down (I'll even say sabotaging) software is simply not a sustainable long term business model. And just because their(apples) marketing may be a bit hyperbolic doesn't mean they didn't make the IOS 9 experience better for some.

It's been their strategy for years.Apple owes its success partly to planned obsolescence.My girlfriend is not a tech geek and the slow performance has frustrated her.She still uses a iPhone 4S and inspite of me recommending the GS6 she insists on getting the 6S as she can't live without all those purchases and iMessage in particular.This walled garden model Is a perfect fit for planned obsolescence unlike on Android where the differential manufacturers make planned obsolescence impossible

And that Excuse about marketing.How is it possible that Apple fulfilled all other features they listed on that page to the letter and yet is one is isolated and is pinpointed as marketing.Why?

 

[iyacyas]

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

Exactly... Christ That's who...

I am glad that all you people can afford to feed the pig.

 

[I7guy]

It's been their strategy for years.Apple owes its success partly to planned obsolescence.My girlfriend is not a tech geek and the slow performance has frustrated her.She still uses a iPhone 4S and inspite of me recommending the GS6 she insists on getting the 6S as she can't live without all those purchases and iMessage in particular.This walled garden model Is a perfect fit for planned obsolescence unlike on Android where the differential manufacturers make planned obsolescence impossible

And that Excuse about marketing.How is it possible that Apple fulfilled all other features they listed on that page to the letter and yet is one is isolated and is pinpointed as marketing.Why?

While I can't prove, and I doubt anyone can, prove apple is NOT engaging in a pattern of deceptive advertising and planned obsolescence where is your proof that has been their strategy other than a vendor creating an infrastructure for consumers who buy their products and is under no obligation to really cross-support other infrastructures that are proprietary in nature.

 

[dark_knight177]

The class action suite should also include iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. iOS 9 made my perfectly snappy iPhone 6 Plus unusable to the point where I had to buy the newest iPhone 6S Plus just so that I can have the same level of performance.

Apple's planned obsolescence model really forced me to buy the latest iPhone. It's pathetic of Apple but it's working for them. But one thing for sure though, I am planning to abandon Apple completely within next 3-4 months when GS7 comes out.

 

[No5tromo]

iOS 9 was dreadful on 4S and one of the reasons I upgraded to 6S. I can understand the frustration of people who made the mistake of upgrading to iOS 9 on their 4s's, iOS 8 was already pushing it. Apple should really give the option of a trouble-free rollback.

The lawsuit is just an American thing which doesn't surprise anyone I reckon, they will most likely lose the case but hey, it's America, so you never know.

I never was a fan of iOS 7 and on. I'm hoping for an iOS redesign with iOS 10 where they get rid of all the stupid, unnecessary graphics, and give us a more minimal and more professional look, or at least the option to turn it on as a theme (yea right). I can notice things taking their time on frigging 6s!!! Nothing makes more happy than things responding blazing fast and Apple is just putting too much energy in making things look childish, bloated with colours and effects while they seem to be OK with compromising some of the performance for all that. And no-doubt they slowly but surely kill older devices with each new generation they release, deliberately or not.

 

[uid15]

It could possibly be argued that some people have too much time on their hands and not enough in their lives with which to occupy themselves, for "issues" such as this to have been taken to such ridiculous extremes so as to be escalated to a class action lawsuit, let alone any kind of lawsuit...

 

[dark_knight177]

It could possibly be argued that some people have too much time on their hands and not enough in their lives with which to occupy themselves, for "issues" such as this to have been taken to such ridiculous extremes so as to be escalated to a class action lawsuit, let alone any kind of lawsuit...

You don't understand how class action lawsuits work. Users don't have to do anything, let alone spend any time on this. Law firms are the ones doing all the work and getting most compensation for this

 

[nj1266]

The class action suite should also include iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. iOS 9 made my perfectly snappy iPhone 6 Plus unusable to the point where I had to buy the newest iPhone 6S Plus just so that I can have the same level of performance.

Apple's planned obsolescence model really forced me to buy the latest iPhone. It's pathetic of Apple but it's working for them. But one thing for sure though, I am planning to abandon Apple completely within next 3-4 months when GS7 comes out.

My iPhone 6 runs very well on iOS 9.2. Most of these problems on the 6 are user induced. You probably failed to set it up as new from the previous iOS 8.4.x. I had a similar problem when I transitioned from a jail broken 9.0.2 to 9.2. I failed to set up as new and had multiple problems including poor battery life. So I restored and set up as new and the iPhone 6 runs as good on 9.2 as my 6s Plus runs on 9.2.

Please go get the GS7. I wish all these whiners and complainers go to Android. It will make surfing MacRumors much more enjoyable and it will make them happy as well. A win-win for all concerned.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Exactly. I don't understand why Apple doesn't just exclude the 4S from the list of devices compatible with iOS 9. All iPhones before that are excluded. Apple always has to decide where to draw the line. Just say the 4S is no longer supported through new OS upgrades. How did they decide the 4 was no longer compatible? There must have been testing done or at least some HW analysis.

https://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/#compatibility

I have a 3rd gen iPod touch and a 2008 Macbook that both run perfectly with the most recent allowable OS upgrades. I can't upgrade any further than that, and recognize that they are no longer supported, and I'm perfectly fine with that.

It is perfectly reasonable to expect your devices to continue functioning normally. Obviously, HW will eventually fail, but there should not be an artificial failure due to SW that has no business running on that HW.

Then people would file a lawsuit about not getting the latest iOS update.
I can help you with that 2008 MacBook

 

[TMRJIJ]

The class action suite should also include iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. iOS 9 made my perfectly snappy iPhone 6 Plus unusable to the point where I had to buy the newest iPhone 6S Plus just so that I can have the same level of performance.

Apple's planned obsolescence model really forced me to buy the latest iPhone. It's pathetic of Apple but it's working for them. But one thing for sure though, I am planning to abandon Apple completely within next 3-4 months when GS7 comes out.

Lies! My iPhone 6 runs better than ever. Go to Android, bud.

 

[dark_knight177]

Lies! My iPhone 6 runs better than ever. Go to Android, bud.

The performance degradation is less noticeable on 6 compared to 6 Plus I was mentioning. In addition to that it's possible you may be biologically not able to see slow frame rates. For example my grandma can't tell performance difference between 3GS and iPhone 6S.

 

[Jsameds]

The class action suite should also include iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. iOS 9 made my perfectly snappy iPhone 6 Plus unusable to the point where I had to buy the newest iPhone 6S Plus just so that I can have the same level of performance.

Apple's planned obsolescence model really forced me to buy the latest iPhone. It's pathetic of Apple but it's working for them. But one thing for sure though, I am planning to abandon Apple completely within next 3-4 months when GS7 comes out.

Gotta admit this made me chuckle. Especially this line:

"Apple's planned obsolescence model really forced me to buy the latest iPhone"

And if you think the Galaxy line is going to save you from the tiny amount of lag that iOS 9 gave the 6+ you've got another thing coming. Out of the frying pan and into the fire springs to mind..

 

[dark_knight177]

And if you think the Galaxy line is going to save you from the tiny amount of lag that iOS 9 gave the 6+ you've got another thing coming. Out of the frying pan and into the fire springs to mind..

At least Samsung will not intentionally slow my device down. They will just stop releasing updates, which is MUCH MUCH better than having an iOS update that makes my $1000 iPhone unusable.

 

[Jsameds]

At least Samsung will not intentionally slow my device down. They will just stop releasing updates, which is MUCH MUCH better than having an iOS update that makes my $1000 iPhone unusable.

You say that as if you are forced to upgrade.

 

[dark_knight177]

You say that as if you are forced to upgrade.

Yes I was forced to upgrade, you can't stop noticing that huge red badge by the settings icon constantly reminding you every single time that you have to upgrade your phone. Besides I didn't know that it would slow down my device and there's no way to revert back to iOS 8. So yes for all intents and purposes I was FORCED to update.

 

[Jsameds]

Yes I was forced to upgrade, you can't stop noticing that huge red badge by the settings icon constantly reminding you every single time that you have to upgrade your phone. Besides I didn't know that it would slow down my device and there's no way to revert back to iOS 8. So yes for all intents and purposes I was FORCED to update.

Err no that's not "forced" at all. Forced would be you switched on your phone one day and it was on 9, which isn't what happened.

 

[Goldenbear]

iOS 9 was dreadful on 4S and one of the reasons I upgraded to 6S. I can understand the frustration of people who made the mistake of upgrading to iOS 9 on their 4s's, iOS 8 was already pushing it. Apple should really give the option of a trouble-free rollback...

Given previously posted benchmarks showing virtually no speed difference either way between iOS 8.4.1 and iOS 9, AND my personal experience, I find your statement hard to believe.

As I stated previously, there WAS a significant slow down going from 7 to 8, but 8 to 9 resulted in no noticeable difference in speed. I also researched this before updating to iOS 9, and all the reports I read stated the same thing. So either you and I (and the people who posted benchmarks) have completely different hardware, or your experience is an anomaly.

...I have to prove that Apple knowingly lied about performance? Easy! Let's take even Apple's most expensive and latest iPhone and use iOS 9, the "smoother animations" update on it. Let's also look at their latest midsize iPad.

Now I'll put this image here again. You know what? I'll put it here twice so you don't miss it.

Umm... that states that things are faster due to Metal. You do realize that iPhone 4S cannot use Metal?

I agree that marketing is akin to lying, but that's life. We can't seem to rid out world of marketers and ambulance chasers, so we're stuck with them.

Again, as I previously stated, Apple needs to separate security updates from OS updates. That would allow those of us who prefer the smaller, older hardware to continue using the older phones while still being up to date with security. They sort of do this with MacOS, so I don't see why they can't do it with iOS. They also need to let people downgrade to an older iOS. Again, it works fine with MacOS.

I know people feel better blaming some faceless, "evil" corporation for all their problems, but this thread is so full of illogical statements and hyperbole, I simply cannot follow it anymore. Now I remember why I stopped reading these forums.

Happy New Year everyone.

I'm done here.

 

[SSDGUY]

Oh, probably just poor old dumb people and losers like me. Not sure why I don't want to spend hundreds every year for something that does basically the same thing as what I bought three years earlier.

 

[DoctorKrabs]

Umm... that states that things are faster due to Metal. You do realize that iPhone 4S cannot use Metal?

I agree that marketing is akin to lying, but that's life. We can't seem to rid out world of marketers and ambulance chasers, so we're stuck with them.

Obviously I know that. I actually made that very clear and you decided to trim the quote to exclude what I said about the 4S just so you could tell me that I didn't mention it...

Here's the rest of my post right after the point you cut it at. Literally the line you started to cut from mentioned how the 4S is a different situation.

But I also know that the lawsuit is specifically about the iPhone 4S, so the iPhone 6s Plus doesn't matter in the specific case even if it still goes against this advertising.

Let's see how much faster iOS 9 really is on the 4S.

"better overall performance"


On every device capable of running iOS 9, performance is either equal or worse. These are objective facts.
You can measure the frame rates, which is the main factor of perceived performance. iOS 9 has frame rates that are worse or equal to iOS 8 at best. And the 4S takes longer to load every single app in iOS 9 than in iOS 8 while having more input lag and animations with the same smoothness as iOS 8, or even occasionally worse, and not better animations. So did Apple knowingly lie about iOS 9 by saying that it "delivers faster scrolling, smoother animation, and better overall performance"?

Yes.

And if you go back to just my post before that one, you'll see that I said this about Apple's legal disclaimers on the iOS 9 page. I specifically pointed out that the 4S doesn't use Metal, which is not pointed out anywhere by Apple. If you were a person that didn't already know that the 4S doesn't support Metal, looking at the iOS 9 page wouldn't tell you and you'd assume that the 4S actually can support it since the 4S supports iOS 9 in general.

There is no legal disclaimer at the bottom even mentioning that only specific devices will see improved performance or that Metal is only supported on iPhone 5s or later. It's clearly stated by Apple that iOS 9 is generally smoother on any device capable of running it.

 

[MH01]

Agreed.

You buy a license to use their software on their terms.

Agreed. iPhone 4S shipped with iOS 5, and every customer had the choice to return the the unit if the terms they agreed to were not satisfactory .

there is no going back once you upgrade iOS, it's an I known how it will perform until you install it, the marketing promises performance improvements.

 

[etsi]

How can I downgrade to ios 6 ?

 

[sracer]

Lies! My iPhone 6 runs better than ever. Go to Android, bud.

So because someone has an experience other than yours they must be lying. How sad. But I guess it is to be expected.

Err no that's not "forced" at all. Forced would be you switched on your phone one day and it was on 9, which isn't what happened.

While you are correct with regard to the upgrade notification badge (which is like the eye of Sauron burning a hole in one's soul), if for any reason one needs to restore their device, their only option is to get the latest version of iOS supported for that device... NOT the version of iOS that was on it.

 

[etsi]

Err no that's not "forced" at all. Forced would be you switched on your phone one day and it was on 9, which isn't what happened.

Ios 9 promised faster performance which is not true. Why they don't allow us to downgrade ?

 

[Jsameds]

Ios 9 promised faster performance which is not true. Why they don't allow us to downgrade ?

Trouble is with this kind of thing people are comparing the latest release of 8 to early releases of 9.

The speed of iOS 9 increased from 9.0 to 9.1 so there is no reason 9.4 (or whatever revision they get to this time) won't be faster than 8.4.1

However if it doesn't then you have a case.