“Apple now faces over two dozen lawsuits around the world that either accuse the company of intentionally slowing down older iPhones, or at least of failing to disclose power management changes it made starting in iOS 10.2.1,” Joe Rossignol reports for MacRumors.
“The lawsuits include 23 class action complaints in the United States, with the latest two filed on Thursday by Marc Honigman and Lauri Sullivan-Stefanou in New York and Ohio respectively, according to electronic court records reviewed by MacRumors,” Rossignol reports. “Apple is also being sued in Israel and France.”
“Many of the lawsuits demand Apple compensate all iPhone users who have experienced slowdowns, offer free battery replacements, refund customers who purchased brand new iPhones to regain maximum performance, and add info to iOS explaining how replacing an iPhone’s battery can prevent slowdowns,” Rossignol reports. “Apple has since issued an apology for its lack of communication, and it has reduced the price of battery replacements to $29 for iPhone 6 and newer through the end of 2018. Apple has also promised to release an iOS update early this year that will give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, as Hanlon’s razor states: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
As has almost always been the case with Apple, unfortunately, transparency comes later, not sooner, and usually as a reaction to negative publicity. A simple Knowledge Base article would have preempted all of this Reddit sleuthing and the attendant handwringing and erroneous presumptions. — MacDailyNews, December 20, 2017
Apple should provide a toggle switch in Settings where users specify if they’d like to keep running at high processor speeds even if it means rapid shutdowns or if they’d like to run at lower processors speeds to accommodate an aging battery that requires replacement. — MacDailyNews, December 27, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Why aging batteries don’t slow down Android phones like Apple iPhones – January 5, 2018
Apple’s $29 replacement batteries expected to hurt new iPhone sales – January 4, 2018
How to see if Apple’s throttling your iPhone – January 4, 2018
Brazilian agency requires Apple to inform consumers on batteries – January 3, 2018
Analyst: Apple’s ‘batterygate’ solution may mean 16 million fewer iPhones sold this year – January 3, 2018
An Apple conspiracy theory blooms – January 2, 2018
Apple clarifies policy on $29 battery replacements: All iPhone 6 and later devices are eligible – January 2, 2018
Why Apple’s response to iPhone ‘batterygate’ is brilliant – December 30, 2017
Australian lawyers to launch largest-ever class action against Apple over iPhone ‘batterygate’ – December 29, 2017
The most annoying things about Apple’s iPhone ‘batterygate’ apology – December 29, 2017
iFixit discounts iPhone battery replacement kits as Apple cuts prices, apologizes for the confusion – December 29, 2017
15 class action lawsuits filed against Apple for throttling iPhones with aging batteries – December 29, 2017
Apple apologizes for poor communication about iPhone batteries and performance; slashes battery replacement cost from $79 to $29 – December 28, 2017
No, Apple’s throttling of iPhones with aging batteries is not planned obsolescence – December 28, 2017
Apple execs face jail in France after lawsuit over slowing down iPhones – December 28, 2017
Korea seeks explanation from Apple for slowing down devices without warning – December 28, 2017
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, 2017
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
I like MDNs opinion regarding allowing the user to select whether or not they want to keep the clock speeds high even if it means lowering the battery life.
I purposefully downgraded my iPhone 7+ to 11.1.2 as soon as I heard about the intentional slow down that 11.2 came with.
I want to replace the battery on my own without having Apple slow down my iPhone for me.
This was a bad decision to not tell the public and now Apples reputation has become tarnished because of it.
If you aren’t experiencing the sudden shutdown problem after reverting, you weren’t pushing the CPU enough to have experienced a slowdown before reverting.
Yet…
Or their hand me down person might.
Or the person they may sell the phone to might.
Or…
What the hell is “keep your paws off of my property unless you tell me and ask me” is so difficult?
And what part of “a phone that shuts down frequently without warning is much less desirable for most users than a phone that levels out peak usage” do you not understand?
Cart behind horse…
Or… if it’s sod… “Green side up!”
A pile of legal waste that will accomplish absolutely nothing.
Not looking for a new battery, looking for “money for nothing, plus get your battery replacement nearly free.”
Let the sorrowful violins play for how these opportunistic people have suffered so at the hands of “evil” Apple. (And please put this ahead of third world suffering, which is nothing by comparison.)
Go play your “geetar on your M-T-V” 🙂
iPhone peak slow down=first world problem…just like lawsuit abuse
After all this nonsense chatter about Apple throttling battery power, the share price rises 1.14% today. Only a handful of sad people are interested.
MGA – Dump Pipeline Timmy™
2 QUESTIONs to anybody…
If I have Apple put in a new battery in my iPhone 7, will it speed it back up to its original speed?
Are these new replacement batteries from Apple susceptible to the same rapid shutdowns as the current batteries?
If the answer to the second question is “NO”, then can I assume that my phone won’t be slowed down by all future iOS updates?
(OK, 3 questions…)
A new battery will end the slowdowns until it gets old… which it will, like every other available lithium-ion battery.
The reply to your questions depends on the condition of the ‘new’ battery. Assuming it is not faulty; 1) It should 2)yes, it will also deteriorate over time 3)Depending on the increase in the number of clock cycles required to complete tasks there is a possibility of slowdown with a newer OS.
Until Apple releases their “iOS update early this year that will give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone’s battery”, there is no way to tell if the new battery is faulty even if it appears to ‘freshen’ up the device speed compared to before replacement.
Point is, if you want to keep your phone functional for a long time, many batteries will ultimately be required. This is true for any rechargeable device. The battery is a consumable part.
Or the phone is ultimately disposable… 🙂
Not obsoleting the software the device depends on also helps. Especially if the OS is not allowed to be updated anymore. Though it may eat in to some new device sales, having a secondary site to move over ‘older’ Apps for legacy devices might help Apple’s PR regarding ‘forced’ device upgrades.
So is anybody gonna sue LG and samsung for doing the same thing ?
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
Okay, it’s no malice it’s incompetence. I feel better. /s
Nah, my money’s on malice in the form of arrogance and hubris.
I wish someone would actually sit down and compare Apple’s iPhone battery lawsuits against the Samsung Galaxy S7 lawsuits. Putting them side by side would show exactly how ridiculous the lawsuits against Apple are. Any proper judge would laugh at how ridiculous the complaints are that are being filed against Apple. Psychological pain and suffering due to an iPhone slowdown. That’s a good one.
Difference in the level of expectations and trust a user has for each brand? Could explain a charge of Psychological pain and suffering due to how emotional invested some people get.
Not to mention self validation and tribalism…
23 of the 25 lawsuits are in the US. No surprises there.
So your phone is old and out of warranty. The battery obviously reached its useful life and won’t be able to serve its purpose any longer. You either 1-get a new phone, 2-get the battery replaced at a cost, 3-run your phone as you usually do and risk the phone shutting down often due to inadequate battery power, or 4-slow down your phone and make its life much more useful… you choose to sue Apple for giving choice #4 which costs you absolutely nothing. Talk about snowflake logic…
I’m NOT surprised that the snowflakes decide to sue Apple because they have no brain. Apple is doing you a favor and instead of thanking them, you decide to bite them in the rear end. That’s typical snowflakes’ logic, right there.
A couple of clown lawyers in Quebec have filed a request to the government to launch a class-action suit about this. They claim it violates the strict legal warranty laws of the province. So add those to the pile if the government approves
Where’s the OFF SWITCH Apple?
Such a simple solution, derailing the lawsuits. Also useful: Make OFF the DEFAULT. Let user’s turn it ON if they choose.