Apple Being Sued for Purposely Slowing Down Old Phones

If your once blazing-fast iPhone has now been reduced to a slow crawl at best, you’re not the only one. In a shocking admittance by one of the biggest tech companies in the world, Apple has confirmed they have implemented what they call “power management features” in older model iPhones in order to improve performance and prevent shutdowns. They say this is necessary in older phones with batteries that have degraded over time, so they can continue to function without turning off unexpectedly. Since this confirmation, Apple has been hit with multiple lawsuits, and the number only continues to grow.

Los Angeles residents Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas have filed a lawsuit with U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. They are being represented by Wilshire Law Firm. The pair have accused Apple of slowing down their phones without their consent as the company has since released new models. They are seeking both a California and Nationwide class action certification, which would cover all persons residing in the U.S. who have owned any iPhone model older than the iPhone 8. In addition, lawsuits have been filed in northern California, Chicago, and New York, with more popping up as the story gains nationwide traction. All of these lawsuits allege Apple is intentionally slowing down phones in order to prompt users to upgrade to newer models. 

Apple said in a press release that, “Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components. Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future”

The accusations that Apple was intentionally throttling the speed of their phones first came about after a Redditor made a post about how after replacing his iPhone 6S battery,, it significantly boosted the performance of his phone, despite his battery still having 80% capacity. The original Reddit post has since gone viral, with thousands of people seeing the results of this persons tests.

The iPhone 7 and 7+ were released a little more than a year ago, with specs that should continue to provide a fast and seamless experience while using your phone. Now, millions of users report there phone slowing down considerably. Some users with the 6S and 6+ models even reported their phone being near unusable, with most apps simply crashing or refusing to open. Currently, Apple offers a battery replacement program for out of warranty users that costs $79 plus $6.95 in shipping. Despite this, Apple users are understandably furious at the thought of their devices they paid a considerable amount of money for being intentionally made obsolete.