Oh, People Are Suing Apple for Slowing Down Old iPhones

Apple users, this hasn’t been much of a good news for us, isn’t it?

The revelation was made before Christmas I believe, but more information has been released with regards to the lawsuit by Channel NewsAsia today.

What’s the problem?

Following Apple admitting that its “iOS software included power management capabilities that slow down the system when it is in danger of shutting down altogether”, it has faced 8 lawsuits in various federal courts in California, New York and Illinois.

Operating system updates released since “last year” for the iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE and iPhone 7 included a feature “to smooth out” power supply from batteries that are cold, old or low on charge.

According to Apple, they had to do this adjustment if not phones would shut down abruptly because of a precaution designed to prevent components from being fried.

Why the fuss?

To many iPhone users, they felt that Apple has cheated them because it has slowed down devices without any heads up, all in the name of compensating for their poor battery performance. I feel the same, yo.

Furthermore, due to their attempt to cover up, it has led many iPhone owners to “misguided attempts to resolve issues” – like buying a new phone.

I think the unhappiness behind is this – If the root of the problem is the battery, then consumers would have replaced their battery instead of buying new iPhones. Imagine the cost one has to bear?

Like how Rory Van Loo, a Boston University professor specializing in consumer technology law has stated, this might be “some sort of misrepresentation or fraud”.

Two sides of a coin

On one side, based on one of the lawsuits filed in San Francisco, “the batteries’ inability to handle the demand created by processor speeds” is a defect. Apple could have provided a free battery replacement for all affected iPhones, but they chose to mask the battery defect instead.

While on the flip side, Chris Hoofnagle, a faculty director for the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, said in an email that Apple may not be at fault.

His explanation is as such:

“We still haven’t come to consumer protection norms” around ageing products.

“The ethical approach could include degrading or even disabling functionality.”

What are your thoughts on this?

I’m just praying that Apple would not do this to its MacBooks… mine’s only a few months old…

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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

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