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Spain's Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) last week sent a letter (via iPhoneros) demanding that Apple compensate customers for "reported obsolescence practices" related to recent iPhone models including the iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone 8, and iPhone XS.

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According to the OCU, Apple's iOS 14.5, iOS 14.5.1, and iOS 14.6 updates have "significantly damaged consumer devices" by "causing their processor speed to drop dramatically" and lowering battery life. As evidence, the OCU cites "numerous media outlets."

The OCU asked Apple to justify the "lack of performance" of the aforementioned iPhone models following the recent iOS updates, and said that the letter is intended to "initiate a dialog with Apple" in order to find the "best way to compensate consumers."

Apple's "excessively rapid wear and tear" on iPhones following updates is unfair to consumers and harms the environment, says the OCU.

If Apple does not provide an adequate response, the OCU plans to consider other actions such as a lawsuit enforcing consumer rights.

Apple has been accused of planned obsolescence in the past, primarily relating to the 2017 release of iOS 10.2.1, which included a feature that throttled the performance of older iPhones with degrading batteries in order to prevent device shutdowns.

Apple failed to make it clear that mitigating shutdowns would require compromising device performance, which led to consumer upset and a series of lawsuits that Apple is continuing to deal with today. Most recently, Apple shelled out $3.4 million to settle a lawsuit in Chile, and it has also faced lawsuits in the United States, Belgium, Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

As for iOS 14.5, 14.5.1, and 14.6, there have indeed been reports of excessive battery drain, and iOS 14.5 in particular fixed an iPhone 11 battery drain issue with a new recalibration process. There were also some scattered reports of throttling with the iOS 14.5.1 update, but reports from affected users suggest the issue was addressed in iOS 14.6.

Apple has maintained that it would never intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to push customers to upgrade.

Article Link: Consumer Rights Group in Spain Demands Apple Compensate Customers for iPhone Slowdowns Caused by iOS 14.5 and 14.6
Need to purchase some things.....Who to sue? What was it that Willie Sutton said?????
 
New versions of software will slow down older model phones? How is this still surprising to anyone in 2021?
YES! I want to ....DEMAND TO .... be able to play the latest (game/software/etc.) on my 'older' device the same as those with the newest device. 'tis my 'right'. Written in the EU/Belgian Universal Constitution for the Protection of Humans (somewhere).
 
I knew once the "consumer rights" Pandora's box was opened it would never be closed again. I'm all for pro-consumer legislation and holding companies accountable, but there has to be some level of shared burden of the risk when consumers buy products. If it's unsafe or defective. I get it. Hold the manufacture to task. Not keeping up with the march of technology or maintaining optimal performance years after purchase? That's a risk you take when you buy.

If you put too much liability on a company like Apple, their only recourse become to tighten up the window/age for qualifying devices for OS upgrades or to scale back the features of their future updates. Either way consumers lose.
WRONG! I want...demand...to be able to go to McDonalds 14x/ week and also drink 4 Coke Big Gulps per day while watching Netflix for 90% of my waking hours.....without gaining more than a pound/month. Anything less(more) and I will SUE! 'tis the principle of the thing....
 
Apple will just end of life devices faster. How long do you really expect a phone to last or Apple to keep it updated.
 
Several old devices here where battery life has fallen off a cliff.
You can moan about old devices needing to be updated, etc etc, but in terms of what the update seems to offer it's almost nothing.
Why is it that an update has a few new emoji and couple of widgets but battery life falls off a cliff?
It's not like it's doing anything wonderfully different.
 
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.. and if Apple stopped updates for these devices, they'd sue for "planned obsolescence" for that.

Software has bugs.

I feel like the court system is totally broken. WTF is this. How is this helping humanity?
 
Software will sometimes have bugs in it. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Complex software definitely will.

Apple isn’t supporting older devices to push users to upgrade. If anything, Android users with older devices are pushed to upgrade if they still want to receive updates.
If HomeKit/CarPlay/Apple Watch or new hw like AirTags don’t need an update on iOS to work, half of “old devices” weren’t updated.
Now the point is ask Apple to disintegrate her business platform killed the iPhone-centricness of the company.
I suspect Apple think differently about that.
 
Keep doing this and they’ll stop supporting older products. Insane that the iPhone 6S is still being supported. Don’t ruin this.
OCU just mention iPhone 12,11,Xs and 8, not iPhone 6s or 7, that are out of that “letter”. So, maybe it’s true that Apple is slowing down that devices 🤷🏻‍♂️.
 
"Spain's Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) last week sent a letter (via iPhoneros) demanding that Apple compensate customers for "reported obsolescence practices" related to recent iPhone models including the iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone 8, and iPhone XS."

I really am the last to defend Apple in anything, but: I haven't noticed any slowdown with my 14.5 iPhone 11 (mentioned above) compared to 13.5 at all.

Note:
1, I always completely reformat the device before any kind of FW upgrade. This is of extreme importance with older models like the 1st gen 12.9" iPad Pro, which (this is also my experience!!) became uselessly slow when using OTA upgrades, but is definitely usable (no need to wait for 2-3 seconds for some taps to be registered etc.) when restored manually to 14.5.

2, I don't restore any device or iCloud backup, only the non-backup-kind iCloud synch (health data, contacts etc.) is allowed. This results in a lot of manual work after any kind of FW upgrade, but IMHO is worth it.

Note 2: I haven't upgraded the phone past 14.5 (still hoping for a jailbreak).
 
My 7 Plus runs like a two-legged dog on iOS 14.5.1 and also becomes very warm, very quickly.
Having had a replacement battery a few months ago I was also surprised that it drains at the same rate my year-old 80% health battery did.
 
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Keep doing this and they’ll stop supporting older products. Insane that the iPhone 6S is still being supported. Don’t ruin this.
No. They need to be exposed where they are being sneaky and held up as a bastion when doing the right thing.
When millions upon millions of people around the world sync their phones Apple get all sorts of data back, most notably crash reports and usage statistics.
This is along side all the verbal reports they get at Genius bars and the written on forums and other news and social media.
They KNEW the impact of this and kept quiet. To make it worse their employees recommended new phones to people that didn’t need them, telling them the device was faulty.
Don’t get it twisted, they deserve a kick in the proverbial.
What’s wrong with putting a prominent statement in the release notes along the lines of;
“Addresses one issue of sudden shutdowns due to poor battery performance/age - Note: It may cause reduced performance when charge level is low”.
They lied and it’s amazing how many times it’s been pointed out not just on this forum, but Facebook, Reddit, ASF, and countless others yet people still say oh be careful what you wish for.
We wish for a transparent Apple that makes great products, (they already do), and provide a reasonable level of aftersales support, (they do that do), without the hypocrisy, gouging and BS, (guilty also).
 
"Spain's Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) last week sent a letter (via iPhoneros) demanding that Apple compensate customers for "reported obsolescence practices" related to recent iPhone models including the iPhone 12, iPhone 11, iPhone 8, and iPhone XS."

I really am the last to defend Apple in anything, but: I haven't noticed any slowdown with my 14.5 iPhone 11 (mentioned above) compared to 13.5 at all.

Note:
1, I always completely reformat the device before any kind of FW upgrade. This is of extreme importance with older models like the 1st gen 12.9" iPad Pro, which (this is also my experience!!) became uselessly slow when using OTA upgrades, but is definitely usable (no need to wait for 2-3 seconds for some taps to be registered etc.) when restored manually to 14.5.

2, I don't restore any device or iCloud backup, only the non-backup-kind iCloud synch (health data, contacts etc.) is allowed. This results in a lot of manual work after any kind of FW upgrade, but IMHO is worth it.

Note 2: I haven't upgraded the phone past 14.5 (still hoping for a jailbreak).
Come on man. What you do isn’t the norm.
If it was Apple would have put that in the instructions when doing an upgrade.
 
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Come on man. What you do isn’t the norm.
If it was Apple would have put that in the instructions when doing an upgrade.
Yup, youre definitely right. OTA upgrades and/or complete backup restores do cause a lot of harm.
 
if new updates is really the problem, then how about just stop giving old phones new updates but continue give it performance/bug/security patches
 
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Consumer groups need to be careful of actions like this, as be careful what you ask for as you may get it. In this case the simple solution for Apple would be to stop offering software updates to older phones.
No it won’t because the suggestion of a long lifespan is part of Apple’s justification for their high prices. And lifespan is also Apple’s no1 argument for environmental friendliness.
What people who see this are asking is that longevity should not just be a fiction that serves Apple’s narrative, while ghe actual implementation of older device support makes people want to upgrade.

I think this is a legitimate demand.
 
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XS Max user here with zero such issues 🤷‍♂️
Yup no kidding, every time I use my wife’s 12 Pro I’m like… really? Just a better camera after all these years? Like it’s probably faster on paper but in reality in day to day usage haven’t noticed. The share sheet is still laughably slow on the 12 pro.

this whole thing is stupid - the company I work for has had releases that regressed in performance due to some bug and we get reports of slowdowns which are addressed right away. Suing and starting investigations and crying for attention because you found a performance bug and trying to play the omg obsolescence card each time is a great way to not be taken seriously going forward
 
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I wonder if the OCU ever questioned any Android OEMs for not providing any security patches to their handsets beyond a year or two. I mean talk about planned obsolecence via software, to the point that many Android OEMs simply release "new" phones with similar hardware but updated OS.
 
Keep doing this and they’ll stop supporting older products. Insane that the iPhone 6S is still being supported. Don’t ruin this.
Or they could just not worsen the performance with updates. If it was fine before 14.5, why shouldn’t the later versions not work properly?
 
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Owners of iphones will forever doubt the sincerity of Apples intentions regarding updates because of the incident where Apple failed to inform iphone owners what they was doing to the phone with regards to one of it's updates. It is only when many iphone owners started to complain of issues with their phone did Apple come clean and admit what they did to the update. Iphone owners and critics of Apple both said that Apple should have been honest and upfront about what they were doing instead of only coming forward when they were caught out.

What Apple has failed to realised is what they did breaches consumer law in many many countries and saying 'sorry' is just not good enough. When your a company with deep financial pockets such as Apple then a countries consumer organisation will go after you, and as we are seeing in the news, more and more countries are using their consumer laws to take on Apple.
 
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iPhone 8 user here with such issue.

The phone becomes terribly slow to use up to the point it can’t take any pictures using the built in camera (pressing the shutter button froze everything). The issue surfaces regardless of battery charge levels, it does this even when with over 90% charged.

On the bright side, rebooting the phone restores its full speed (full shut down and then start up again). Until ~3 days when the issue re-surfaces.

Storage is not an issue; I’ve got 256GB with only half full.
Exactly the same camera-slowdown problem here. Also Iphone 8 user...
 
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