SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the a-suit-or-a-straightjacket? dept.
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.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Saturday December 23 2017, @06:58PM (9 children)
It's fair enough for people to be annoyed - running your phone in some sort of power-saver mode ought to be an option (and *is* on Android, dunno about iOS). Fine, but...
...the speed with which these suits have been filed is evidence of greedy lawyers sensing a chance to extort a company with deep pockets. Any result will enrich said lawyers with millions, and get affected Apple users a couple for $1 off their next iPhone. Win for Apple, win for the lawyers, loss for the consumers.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Saturday December 23 2017, @07:32PM (2 children)
The lawyers had to find enough people who were annoyed.
More likely, enoughannoyed people found lawyers.
It suggestes the slowing is bad enough to be noticed by enough people for them to bother with a law suit.
Besides, isn't a law suit the first step with American consumer problems?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 23 2017, @08:27PM (1 child)
Not really. They just needed more than one and the ability to prove that there exists a large enough class to potentially enlist others. Once they file the lawyers will advertise for other claimants. You can see many of these types of ads on the internet or TV regarding one medication or another.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 23 2017, @08:55PM
Not really. You know how anal Apple fanboys are. Day slowed down Muh iPhone!
(Score: 2) by Pino P on Saturday December 23 2017, @07:57PM (3 children)
Forced power save mode with an old battery is a fix for random shutdowns on a device with a worn-out battery. Yes, it'd be possible to place a disclaimer next to the option, to the effect "This battery is so old that turning off power save will cause random shutdowns, leaving you unable to receive calls or messages." But how would the ability to switch from power save to random shutdowns mode help the user use his phone?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by shortscreen on Saturday December 23 2017, @09:30PM (1 child)
Who cares? If the random shutdowns issue is real, why would Apple try to hide it behind a dumb workaround when they can just let it happen and prod the user to buy a new phone that much sooner?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Demena on Sunday December 24 2017, @02:25AM
Because they (Apple) are NOT out to get you. Because they are NOT trying to force you to upgrade to a new phone. Because they want you to get value for dollar?
Of course none of these things could possibly be true. After all this is Apple.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday December 24 2017, @05:31PM
Or, just a crazy notion, they could have a message saying "your battery is so far gone we've had to throttle your phone way back to avoid random crashes. If you don't like this new exciting slow mode, bring your phone and $783 to an Apple Store to get your battery replaced."
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Saturday December 23 2017, @10:34PM
I've been pissed off with Apple for similar issues dating back to when the iPad One was 2 years old and they nerfed it with OS upgrades until it was unusable.
My solution has been to cut them off, no more Apple products coming into the house, definitely not on my dime.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1) by EEMac on Sunday December 24 2017, @03:43PM
Settings -> Battery -> Low Power Mode [iphonehacks.com]