Apple to Pay $3.4 Million USD to Settle Planned Obsolescence Lawsuit
Apple has agreed to settle and pay $3.4 million to Chilean users due to a class-action lawsuit filed by iPhone users who noticed that their older devices, which include the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and iPhone SE were performing significantly worse after an iOS update in 2017. Every registered Chilean user stands to gain $50, which has to be shared if there is more than one claim per device serial number. For instance, a second-hand phone may have two people filing a lawsuit for the same phone.
Around 150,000 Chilean iPhone users sued Apple for implementing a performance throttling feature in their 2017 iOS update. In the same year, Apple released the iOS 10.2.1 update and programmed in a feature that would forcefully slow down system performance in old iPhones by reducing the CPU's clock speed. This was done to prevent the phone from spontaneously shutting off due to poor battery health in degrading iPhones, but they failed to inform the user that this change would have a detrimental effect on their iPhone's performance.
Previously: Apple iPhones Appear to Slow Down as Battery Condition Degrades: Planned Obsolescence?
Two Class Action Lawsuits Filed After Apple Admits Slowing Down iPhones
Eight Lawsuits Filed Against Apple Over iPhone Slowdowns
Apple Offers $29 Battery Replacements in Response to iPhone Slowdown Scandal
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Apple has been accused of slowing down old iPhones by tying performance to battery condition. This could cause some users to upgrade to a newer model rather than get the battery replaced:
Apple may be slowing down older iPhones in order to counteract problems with decreased battery capacity, according to Primate Labs founder John Poole. The news could add fuel to the conversation around planned obsolescence—the idea that tech companies purposely slow down older devices to encourage users to buy new models. Claims of planned obsolescence have hit almost all the big firms, and have reached the status of a major conspiracy theory in many tech circles.
In a recent blog post, Poole, whose company created the Geekbench benchmarking system, set out to detail the data behind a particular Reddit post claiming that Apple was slowing down iPhones with low-capacity batteries. The user was getting lower-than-expected scores on Geekbench, which improved after they replaced the battery in their iPhone 6S.
[...] Of course, part of the battery issues have to do with the changes that came with iOS 10.2.1, Poole wrote. Apple introduced the update to combat a bug causing the sudden shutdown of iPhone 6 and 6S models. "I believe (as do others) that Apple introduced a change to limit performance when battery condition decreases past a certain point," Poole wrote in the post.
Apple is facing a class action lawsuit in California over slowing iPhone speeds as batteries age:
Residents of Los Angeles, Stefan Bogdanovich, and Dakota Speas have been represented by Wilshire Law Firm and both of them filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The plaintiffs are accusing Apple of slowing down their older iPhone models when newer models are released and this has been happening without their consent or approval.
Another class action lawsuit has been filed in Illinois [Ecmascript required]:
A day after Apple acknowledged that their software updates slow down older iPhone models, five customers have filed a federal lawsuit in Chicago against the tech giant for what they're calling "deceptive, immoral and unethical" practices that violate consumer protection laws.
The suit was filed Thursday by two Illinoisans along with Ohio, Indiana and North Carolina residents, who had a range of models from the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 7. They claim that Apple's iOS updates "were engineered to purposefully slow down or 'throttle down' the performance speeds" of the iPhone 5, iPhone 6 and iPhone 7.
[...] Apple partially confirmed the theory on Wednesday, releasing a statement admitting updates would slow down phones, but only to prevent devices with old batteries "from unexpectedly shutting down."
TechCrunch's defense of Apple. Also at Business Insider.
Apple defrauded iPhone users by slowing devices without warning to compensate for poor battery performance, according to eight lawsuits filed in various US federal courts in the week since the company opened up about the year-old software change. The tweak may have led iPhone owners to misguided attempts to resolve issues over the last year, the lawsuits contend.
All of the lawsuits — filed in US District Courts in California, New York and Illinois — seek class-action to represent potentially millions of iPhone owners nationwide. A similar case was lodged in an Israeli court on Monday, the newspaper Haaretz reported.
Apple did not respond to an email seeking comment on the filings.
The company acknowledged last week for the first time in detail that operating system updates released since "last year" for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 included a feature "to smooth out" power supply from batteries that are cold, old or low on charge. Phones without the adjustment would shut down abruptly because of a precaution designed to prevent components from getting fried, Apple said.
The disclosure followed a December 18 analysis by Primate Labs, which develops an iPhone performance measuring app, that identified blips in processing speed and concluded that a software change had to be behind them.
[...] The problem now seen is that users over the last year could have blamed an ageing computer processor for app crashes and sluggish performance — and chose to buy a new phone — when the true cause may have been a weak battery that could have been replaced for a fraction of the cost, some of the lawsuits state. "If it turns out that consumers would have replaced their battery instead of buying new iPhones had they known the true nature of Apple's upgrades, you might start to have a better case for some sort of misrepresentation or fraud," Boston University professor Rory Van Loo, who specialises in consumer technology law, said.
[...] The lawsuits seek unspecified damages in addition to, in some cases, reimbursement. A couple of the complaints seek court orders barring Apple from throttling iPhone computer speeds or requiring notification in future instances.
Previously: Two Class Action Lawsuits Filed After Apple Admits Slowing Down iPhones
Apple Offers $29 Battery Replacements in Response to iPhone Slowdown Scandal
Apple posted a response to iPhone battery and performance concerns on Dec. 28. From the "Addressing customer concerns" section:
We've always wanted our customers to be able to use their iPhones as long as possible. We're proud that Apple products are known for their durability, and for holding their value longer than our competitors' devices.
To address our customers' concerns, to recognize their loyalty and to regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple's intentions, we've decided to take the following steps:
- Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, starting in late January and available worldwide through December 2018. Details will be provided soon on apple.com.
- Early in 2018, we will issue an iOS software update with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.
- As always, our team is working on ways to make the user experience even better, including improving how we manage performance and avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.
At Apple, our customers' trust means everything to us. We will never stop working to earn and maintain it. We are able to do the work we love only because of your faith and support — and we will never forget that or take it for granted.
Some have found the response annoying. Others have praised the "good vibes".
iFixit has in turn cut the price of its own battery replacement kits to $29 or less.
Previously: Eight Lawsuits Filed Against Apple Over iPhone Slowdowns
Apple apologizes for iPhone slowdown drama, offers $29 battery replacements
Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984
Apple just published a letter to customers apologizing for the "misunderstanding" around older iPhones being slowed down.[...] "We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down," says the company. "We apologize."
Source: Apple apologizes for iPhone slowdown drama, will offer $29 battery replacements for a year
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @05:01PM (17 children)
So having the phone shut off randomly because the battery can't keep up is considered to NOT be detrimental to the experience of using an iPhone?
...and they each got $50 over this nonsense? They can expect to pay that back many times over by increased iPhone costs in the future.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Friday April 09 2021, @05:08PM (14 children)
It's about transparency. When people don't know why their phone is suddenly slow around upgrade time... oh forget it, you didn't read about it then you're not gonna now.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈 - Give us ribbiti or make us croak! 🐸
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @05:22PM (13 children)
No. This is why I said people are stupid. They'd rather have their phone shut off an inopportune times (like when they are using it) than have the phone work reliably, albeit a bit slower.
Apple specifically identified older batteries and targeted those for slowing down so that the phone wouldn't shut off, as highlighted in this article:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/dec/21/apple-admits-slowing-older-iphones-because-of-flagging-batteries [theguardian.com]
Replacing the battery immediately alleviates the slowdown, because Apple isn't targeting older devices, just older batteries that are naturally degrading.
...and if folks are yelling and screaming about the transparency of this (And not even about how they got a longer-working, more reliable phone for free), pick and choose which best fits:
1) They want something for free. I'm not even sure *they* know what free thing they want.
2) They don't understand current battery technology. ("I'm SHOCKED I have to replace the battery in my car!")
3) They are stupid
4) They are sheep, repeating the same incorrect drivel and causing a ruckus because it makes them feel like they are driving change and are worthwhile.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by sjames on Friday April 09 2021, @05:54PM (4 children)
Probably, what they'd rather do is pop the battery out and put in a new one for $15 off of Amazon.....HAY WAIT!
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @06:11PM (3 children)
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Friday April 09 2021, @09:33PM (2 children)
In the days of replacable batteries, I literally never had that happen.
Besides, these days, dropping your phone hard enough to pop the battery out is nearly always fatal to the phone anyway.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 10 2021, @11:03PM (1 child)
I can't believe I'm the only one who's seen this happen multiple times out while at places like malls, theme parks, theaters etc. Places even sell replacement battery doors. I had two different phones, both major brands mind you, get loosened up enough that the battery would sometimes lose contact with the phone just traveling in my pocket.. I've missed calls that way and talked to others in a similar boat. Not fatal or anything close to it, but I do wish those phones had an auto-restart feature instead of leaving me with an intermittent device.
Phones were little pieces of shit back then, no rose-colored glasses for me.
(Score: 2) by sjames on Sunday April 11 2021, @12:26AM
The last time I had a phone with an easily replaced battery, after taking the door off you had to smack it firmly against the palm of your hand to get the battery out far enough to pull it the rest of the way out.
Other solutions include a screw to hold the battery compartment shut. It's a long-solved problem, it's just that some companies care little enough or are extremely chintzy enough to not bother.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @06:03PM (6 children)
Settle down, Beavis, noone's saying the masses aren't stupid. Just you, but at least that's easily correctable if you're not a complete idgit.
(Score: 2) by helel on Friday April 09 2021, @07:05PM (5 children)
Can you point to other examples of Apple slowing down devices with updates? Or do you just mean "you can technically install this new version of the OS on your hardware but it's not recommended" type situations?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Friday April 09 2021, @07:56PM (4 children)
Whether or not it's actually intentional is up for debate, but the way I see it Apple's hungry for money and it's just plain safer if I operate under that assumption.
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈 - Give us ribbiti or make us croak! 🐸
(Score: 2) by helel on Friday April 09 2021, @09:18PM (3 children)
In theory releasing the newest OS on all hardware that can support it is a win because customers can choose whether they want to take the speed hit to access the new features or just stick with the system written for their processor. In practice there are allot of users who feel the need to always upgrade to the newest, shiniest OS available and then complain if it doesn't run just as well on their old processor as it dose on a significantly faster one...
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday April 09 2021, @09:19PM (2 children)
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈 - Give us ribbiti or make us croak! 🐸
(Score: 2) by helel on Friday April 09 2021, @09:29PM (1 child)
That's why the same security fixes were shipped in both Watch OS 6 [apple.com] and Watch OS 5.3 [apple.com]...
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday April 09 2021, @09:30PM
🏳️🌈 Proud Ally 🏳️🌈 - Give us ribbiti or make us croak! 🐸
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Friday April 09 2021, @07:04PM
You still seem to be missing the fact that owners had zero options. The update was forced onto apparently good, working phones, thereby breaking working phones.
Of course, that sorta leads us back to the whole right-to-repair issue. Changing out a battery should be end-user simple, maybe a tool required like a little precision screw driver. Hell, Apple can even put a three cornered screw head, and call it a trex-screw, and sell everyone a trex screwdriver while selling new batteries.
ICE is having a Pretti Good season.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by PiMuNu on Friday April 09 2021, @07:15PM
> So having the phone shut off randomly because the battery can't keep up is considered to NOT be detrimental to the experience of using an iPhone?
It depends if you believe that this was the real reason, rather than Apple trying to -force- encourage users to upgrade
(Score: 2) by sonamchauhan on Saturday April 10 2021, @01:33PM
No champ, you can expect to pay that many times over!. Once-burnt users are likely to be Android customers now.
(Score: 3, Touché) by fustakrakich on Friday April 09 2021, @05:46PM (4 children)
Must take least 5 minutes to make it back
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @06:05PM
It barely qualifies as newsworthy these days, here’s a helpful visual
To understand trillion dollar companies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YUWDrLazCg [youtube.com]
(Score: 2) by edIII on Friday April 09 2021, @06:52PM
That's what I was thinking. The catering bill for a few quarters at best.
Apple must've been copying Microsoft's tactic :)
Technically, lunchtime is at any moment. It's just a wave function.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @08:25PM (1 child)
It's all relative. To you, $3.4 million isn't a lot, but in Chile each iPhone user can buy a dozen whores for the whole weekend with their part of the settlement.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 09 2021, @08:41PM
These are Apple users... I don't think Chile has enough transgender whores to service all of them.