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Apple Throws $3.4 Million to Chilean iPhone Users Over Performance Throttling (Remember 2017?)

posted by martyb on Friday April 09 2021, @04:33PM   Printer-friendly
from the hello-darkness-my-old-friend dept.

takyon writes:

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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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Tork on Friday April 09 2021, @07:56PM (4 children)

    by Tork (3914) on Friday April 09 2021, @07:56PM (#1135476)
    Hi, long-time iPhone user here: The iPhone 3G, for example, became so laggy it was virtually useless right about the time the iPhone 4 came along. (please note that there was the 3GS in-between which had a much faster processor and is probably part of the reason for the disparity.) Also I have an original Apple Watch that is on the latest OS and has gotten so slow that even raise-to-wake takes some patience, I wouldn't gift it to anybody.

    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.
    --
    Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
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  • (Score: 2) by helel on Friday April 09 2021, @09:18PM (3 children)

    by helel (2949) on Friday April 09 2021, @09:18PM (#1135497)

    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...

    --
    Republican Patriotism [youtube.com]

    • (Score: 2) by Tork on Friday April 09 2021, @09:19PM (2 children)

      by Tork (3914) on Friday April 09 2021, @09:19PM (#1135500)
      It gets a whole lot murkier when some of these updates are about making sure your web browser isn't susceptible to a malicious image file. :/
      --
      Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩

      • (Score: 2) by helel on Friday April 09 2021, @09:29PM (1 child)

        by helel (2949) on Friday April 09 2021, @09:29PM (#1135503)

        That's why the same security fixes were shipped in both Watch OS 6 [apple.com] and Watch OS 5.3 [apple.com]...

        --
        Republican Patriotism [youtube.com]

        • (Score: 2) by Tork on Friday April 09 2021, @09:30PM

          by Tork (3914) on Friday April 09 2021, @09:30PM (#1135504)
          You're talking about 2019 and I'm talking about 2010.
          --
          Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩