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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: 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."