“A French activist group has launched a criminal lawsuit against Apple over its policy of slowing down older iPhones in a case that could see the tech giant’s executives jailed and cost it five percent of its income if convicted of the crime of ‘planned obsolescence,'” The Local reports. “The move by Halte à l’Obsolescence Programmée (HOP – Stop Planned Obsolescence), an environmental association, comes after lawsuits were launched this week in the US against Apple for similar reasons.”
“‘Apple has put in place a global strategy of programmed obsolescence in order to boost its sales’ of new iPhones, the group said,” The Local reports. “HOP believes that the US firm can be sued over the sale of all iPhones in France since the introduction of a law in August 2015 that made it a crime to ‘deliberately reduce the lifespan of a product to increase the rate of replacement.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Prove it.
“It believes Apple could be liable for a fine in line with the value of all its iPhone French sales since the law came into force,” The Local reports. “The suit will be heard in a criminal court if prosecutors decide it is legitimate. The maximum penalty is a prison sentence of two years, a fine of up to 300,000 euros, and five percent of the firm’s annual turnover.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: And, yes, regardless of the idiocy of some of these complaints, Apple brought this parade of idiots, opportunists, and ambulance chasers upon themselves by not being more forthcoming.
Apple should have clearly told users what was happening and included an alert on devices to inform users stating something to the effect:
Your battery has just completed its 500th charging cycle and, to maintain peak performance, needs to be replaced. Your battery is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles. Your warranty covers a defective battery, but it doesn’t cover battery wear from normal use. For your convenience, your device will continue operating at reduced processor speeds until replacement can be performed.
• If you’re covered under AppleCare+, we’ll replace your battery at no charge if it retains less than 80 percent of its original capacity.
• If your iPhone needs battery replacement and it’s not covered, the service fee is $79.
• If your iPhone has another power issue, we’ll give you the repair price after we determine the cause.The three bullet points above are exactly Apple’s publicly-stated (i.e. not secret) policy today.
Information on how to maximize your iPhone’s battery life and lifespan is here.
SEE ALSO:
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, 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