The tech world was astonished this week when Apple admitted to slowing down the performance of older iPhones in order to protect against potential problems caused by ageing batteries.
But now it’s facing a class action lawsuit in the US which alleges Apple has been ‘purposefully slowing down older iPhone models when new models come out’ and ‘failing to properly disclose that at the time that the parties entered into an agreement’.
The case was brought by a number of people who have ‘owned iPhone 7, and iPhone 7s, or have owned older iPhone models for the past years’.
Apple has never released a device called the iPhone 7s.
The legal documents relating to the case do not reveal how much money the plaintiffs are hoping to win, although it states they are looking for compensation and the replacement of their devices.
Apple has been at the centre of a long-standing conspiracy theory which suggests that the slowdowns are designed to push people into buying new phones
However, few credible tech experts subscribe to this theory, which has been widely debunked.
This week, Apple admitted that it throttled the performance of older iPhones and said the feature was intended to prolong the life of its products.
Apple supports it iPhones and iPads for at least five years – a long time in the tech world. We know this is true because it will allow you install the latest version of the iOS software on your devices for five years after the device is released.
‘Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices,’ it said in a statement.
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‘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 feature was confirmed after an iPhone 6s user posted images of a performance test to web forum Reddit, which showed an increase in their phone’s benchmark performance score after the battery had been replaced.
Apple said the feature is only applied in cases of extremely high or low temperatures, low charge or an aged battery, and was designed to protect the internal components of the phone.
If your old iPhone is slowing down and you think Apple’s throttling could be to blame, you don’t need to phone a lawyer. Just take it into a shop and have the battery replaced.
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