Apple agreed to pay a fine when it had to face a consumer fraud lawsuit in order to settle the case which covered or brought in complaints from more than 30 states with allegations regarding slowing down of older iPhones.
In this article, we will discuss in detail what does “Apple accused of slowing down iPhones” really means and the fine that the company had to pay to settle. It will also help to understand whether the iPhones will stop working in 2021 along with the reasons behind this.
Apple Compensation Against the Lawsuit
Apple, accused of iPhone slowdown, had agreed to pay $113 million to more than 30 states and the District of Columbia in the U.S. during the investigation of the company for iPhone throttling and hence settling it by paying the fine.
Let us first understand what iPhone throttling refers to before getting into the actual allegation and Apple’s confession while paying this compensation. iPhone throttling is the process of slowing down older phones or versions. This is a step to reduce or manage the excess load on the batteries which loses its efficiency with time or age in the case of old iPhones.
The users did not take this well, and those who complained about some of their old iPhones slowing down after the updating of the phone with a newer version of iOS available. Some users faced issues and complained that Apple was tricking them into buying their new gadgets or devices hence, their phones were deliberately slowed down after updating, for this purpose.
According to the States that accused or claimed Apple had deceived their consumers as instead of slowing down their old iPhones, the company must opt for alternatives such as providing replacements for the batteries or simply disclosing the issue to their users.
The Confession
Apple confirmed that it has slowed down the iPhones but the intention was to ‘prolong the life of the device’. To this, the fine was imposed by DGCCRF which is France’s competition and fraud watchdog, as it says the consumers were not warned of it. However, many customers had complained as they felt that Apple deliberately slowed down their iPhones so that it would encourage them to upgrade.
The lithium-ion battery in the devices when chemically aged becomes less capable of delivering higher energy loads, hence causing issues in older devices like unexpectedly shutting down, Apple said in December 2017. Apple provided their users with a software update for the older versions of iPhones which “smoothed out” battery performance.
Apple said, “For iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, iOS dynamically manages performance peaks to prevent the device from shutting down unexpectedly so that the iPhone can still be used.” This performance management feature helps to manage optimum performance to prevent any unknown issues causing shutdowns.
As Apple accused of slowing down iPhones came to light, it resulted in providing a public apology to the prompted problems and allegations raised by their users, which is the step taken to prevent them from shutting down, and software updates to manage excess loads on the aging batteries, hence protecting the electronic components.
Reddit and other platforms helped to expose this issue after few users tried running tests with their iPhones which performed faster after changing or replacing the battery.
Also, read about: Apple iPhone 13 Surprising Features You Must Know About!
The Remedy
Apple first denied its purposeful slowing down of older iPhones when Apple accused of slowing down iPhones had first been exposed, as it was to help to maintain their old iPhones and was not necessary to shift or replace their slowed phones but the Arizona Attorneys couldn’t find any other alternative that people could opt other than this.
Apple agreed to pay compensation of $113 million to settle this consumer fraud issue which became a controversy that became popular as the battery gate. Apple as a remedy to this issue slashed the prices of their batteries for replacements from $79 to $29 along with the assurance that it will be providing truthful information about its power management software across its websites as well as in its software updates as a side note.
According to the investigators, this move helped the company and proved to be a fruitful remedy indeed as it boosted iPhone sales potentially by millions per year. The issue was first witnessed when the issue was brought out on Reddit and other technological blogs, where users shared their complaints.
Until 2017, there were issues faced such as iPhones shutting down but affecting a very small number of devices, hence the company tried to conceal it by avoiding to comment on the allegations but eventually in 2017 Apple admitted to the battery slowdowns implementation.
At the time, Apple claimed to affect very few devices with the unexpected iPhone shutdowns, but state investigators say that behind the scenes, Apple worked to conceal the problem from the public. At that time, Apple stated, “We have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades.”
Apple Still Slows Down Older iPhones?
Apple is accused of slowing down iPhones but if one asks whether it is still happening, then the answer to this is, yes. After its confirmation, several more implementations of iPhones are made, including on the iPhones such as – iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, etc. and the higher versions.
In this article, we have discussed in detail about Apple accused of slowing down iPhones along with their reasons, the actual issue, and the remedy provided by the company. Hope this was useful in understanding the compensation that Apple had to pay recently.
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