Apple sued by users for slowing down older iPhone models
Apple's recent admission to slowing down older iPhones didn't turn out nicely, as it resulted in a class action lawsuit against the brand.
Apple's recent admission to slowing down older iPhones didn't quite turn out nicely, as it resulted in a class action lawsuit against the brand.
A class action lawsuit has been filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and it's represented by Wilshire Law Firm acting on behalf of Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas. The litigators seek nationwide class action certification, so the lawsuit covers all iPhone users residing in the U.S., provided that they have owned iPhone models older than iPhone 8.
Here's the gist of the lawsuit, courtesy of MacRumors' sleuthing:
"Defendant breached the implied contracts it made with Plaintiffs and Class Members by purposefully slowing down older iPhone models when new models come out and by failing to properly disclose that at the time of that the parties entered into an agreement."
Just yesterday, Apple admitted that they deliberately slowed their older iPhone models to deal with the phone's aging batteries. However, this revelation came about only after various iPhone users shared about their experience with older iPhone models, as reported in BBC.
When TechCrunch asked about the deliberate retardation of the iPhone's performance, Apple responded with the following:
"Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.
Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future."
The old batteries in older iPhone models can cause the phone to shut down automatically when the device runs into peak processing power. This also happens when the phone is in cold climates or when the phone has a low battery charge. To prevent the phone from over-taxing itself, Apple's power management "feature" lowers the peak processing power in older phone models. In return, the device gets an extended lifespan.
There is one possible solution to maintain peak performance in an older iPhone model: by replacing its aged batteries with fresh ones.
Our articles may contain affiliate links. If you buy through these links, we may earn a small commission.