Korea seeks explanation from Apple for slowing down devices without warning

“The Korean broadcasting and telecom regulator has formally sought an explanation from Apple on allegations that it tried to defraud customers by deliberately slowing down devices without warning, according to industry sources on Dec. 28,” Alex Lee reports for The Korea Herald.

“‘We are hoping to get some answers on whether Apple intentionally restricted the performance of old iPhones and tried to hide this from customers,’ said the Korea Communications Commission,” Lee reports.

“KCC has no jurisdiction over Apple, which is categorized as a multinational firm,” Lee reports. “It cannot launch an official probe and can only seek an explanation at the most.”

Read more in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Shocking that a formal demand on this topic would come from The Republic of Samsung.

SEE ALSO:
Apple now facing 8 lawsuits over throttling processors in iPhones with aging batteries – December 27, 2017
Apple tarnished their brand with clandestine iPhone battery management and processor throttling – December 27, 2017
Should Apple replace aging iPhone batteries for free instead of throttling processor speed? – December 21, 2017
Apple confirms iPhones with older batteries will take hits in performance – December 20, 201
iPhone performance and battery age – December 18, 2017
Apple met with Chinese regulators to discuss iPhone 6s unexpected shutdowns – February 10, 2017
Rumor: Apple may extend iPhone 6s battery replacement program to iPhone 6 – January 17, 2017
A message from Apple about 
iPhone and unexpected shutdowns – December 2, 2016
Apple offers free battery replacement for ‘very small number’ of iPhone 6s units with unexpected shutdown issue – November 21, 2016

17 Comments

    1. This was never about throttling the overall performance of the phone for saving battery power. It was about smoothing out peak performance to avoid unexpected shutdowns.

      On unfixed phones, the battery level didn’t drop gradually from 100% to 0%, like a new phone but faster. Instead, it dropped very rapidly (minutes) from over 80% to something just over 20% and then shut down completely before the first low-battery warning. An iPhone that had reached that stage was virtually unusable, particularly in cold weather. It posed the risk of stranding the user phoneless in an emergency without any prior notice.

      The Apple software fix eliminated that safety issue by smoothing out peak usage so that the phone would discharge gracefully, giving warnings at 20% and 10% so that the user could either recharge the phone or stop relying on it.

      As for the idiotic “planned obsolescence” argument, Apple would have made more sales, not fewer, if it had allowed older phones to keep shutting down without warning. In my book, I would rather have a phone that levels peak battery usage by throttling back, rather than one that stops working unexpectedly when I need it the most.

    2. Hey Pete. You should work for Apple or are you actually Tim Cook anyway just floating ideas? Can i suggest you take a good look at how you treat your customers and stop pretending you care?

        1. Hey Pete, just thinking, with the battery 💩storm just starting I wonder what the Apple propaganda machine will call this? Can i suggest #finallytellthetruthgate.
          Schadenfreude in its purest form i think 😃

        2. Tempest in a teapot I’d call it. A mountain out of a molehill. AKA get a life everyone. Apple should notify or let people opt in with such a change of course but really no one died. Why haven’t these people simply replaced their batteries anyway? Sheesh! Problems of the First World…

  1. I want to know why Apple decides to quietly slow older iPhones without tell the user, hence the user can decide if to upgrade software. This is exactly like what Tim Cook did with that U2 album.

  2. Someone understands:
    http://tinyurl.com/y8shve9s

    Other phone manufacturers do exactly the same thing.

    The conclusion of the above article:

    Smartphone performance constantly changes depending on operating conditions, software, and operating system, state of battery charge, and age of the device. It simply isn’t reasonable to expect a smartphone to maintain optimal performance even over the course of a day, let alone over a period of years.

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