Despite an arguably justifiable reason as to why, customers aren’t pleased that Apple has been hiding the fact it intentionally slows down aging iPhones. Multiple class action lawsuits have come out attacking the firm, claiming compensation against the underhanded tactic.
The first lawsuit cropped up in California, requesting Apple to stop reducing handset processor speed, as well as to afford affected customers compensation. A second lawsuit that spans across users in Ohio, Indiana, as well as North Caolina was reported by The Chicago Sun Times, concerning owners of the iPhone 5, 6 and 7 devices.
The alleged hinge of the lawsuit is that Apple employed “deceptive, immoral and unethical” tactics to “purposefully slow down or throttle the performance speeds” of its devices.
This isn’t a stretch, as the information didn’t come to light until investigations were conducted into the matter. Furthermore, there is no warning of battery degradation or the systems in place to protect the user from it, although Apple has been known to do such a warning on its Mac OS.
Since there has been a lack of clarity on the practice, plus the timing of the updates and alternatives it could have pursued, this has led many to believe that the true nature of using this technique was to guide customers’ feelings into buying a new handset rather than protect the integrity of older devices.
Currently, Apple has said that it plans “to add support for other products in the future,” but the course of these lawsuits could change how the company handles the problem moving forward.
KitGuru Says: I do think it is a little odd that the same company would be forthcoming on one platform and hide its agenda on another. Do you think Apple was justified in its solution?
