Class Action Lawsuits Against Apple for Purposefully Slowing Down Older iPhones

Class Action Lawsuits Against Apple for Purposefully Slowing Down Older iPhones

After speculations that Apple throttles older iPhones with degraded batteries over the course of last week, Apple confirmed that it has implemented power management features to improve performance and prevent unexpected shutdowns as the battery in those devices starts to degrade, this admission has now led to class action lawsuit, noticed by TMZ.


Two residents from Los Angeles Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas represented by Wilshire Law Firm filed a lawsuit with U.S District Court for the Central District of California accusing Apple of slowing down their older iPhones when new models come out.

Two Los Angeles residents claimed that Apple slows down their older iPhones which are presented in iPhone 7 and other older devices without their consent to have Apple did that nor were they able “to choose whether preferred to have their iPhones slower than normal”

They are seeking both California and nationwide action certification, which will cover all U.S residents who have owned iPhones older than iPhone 8.

Apple on its side responded to speculations that it throttles iPhones performance with degraded batteries, confirming that have been made through power management features in an attempt to prolong the life of iPhone and its battery. Apple implemented these features last year with iOS 10.2.1 directed towards iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE.

Apple resorts to those sort of solutions when an iPhone health starts to decline, in this case, iPhones are not capable to supply enough power in times of peak processing usage, which can lead to shutdowns. Apple says. 

"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."

Apple’s original statement seemingly misrepresented by the lawsuit. The plaintiffs and their lawyers do not understand Apple's explanation about power management features and how they deal only with iPhones with degraded batteries as they were failed to provide enough juice when hitting a peak of processor power, leading to shutdowns, the interference as stated by Apple is to smooth out these peaks by limiting the power draw from the battery or by spreading power request over several cycles, while lawsuit tied the issue with the release of the new devices.

Characteristically, Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time --like any other stuff, there is a lifespan for it-- this eventual wearing out addressed by the power management features, so there isn't any relation to the release of new iPhone models.

Apple admitted that iPhones with older batteries can see sometimes lower performance, power management features designed to improve overall performance by preventing an iPhone from shutdowns competently rather than to force users to upgrade by deliberately slowing devices.

Many people blamed Apple about its imperfect job to explain why it has implemented this feature and how the state of the battery ultimately affect iPhone performance. The transparency missed out for the users to know about battery health when starting to degrade so they can choose whether or not to pay for a replacement. There are also suggestions Apple has to relax his policies on when customers can pay for a battery replacement, as currently, a battery can't be replaced just if in-store equipment registers it as a near failing.

An iPhone's battery is manufactured to keep 80 percent of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycle. Anyone failed to meet those parameters Apple can replace it for free for customers who have devices under warranty or who have AppleCare+.

If your device out of warranty Apple offers a battery replacement service, which will cost you $79 plus $6.95 for shipping.

The lawsuit is demanding the replacement of the old iPhone, compensation for loss of use and value,the purchase of new batteries, in addition to ascertainable losses in the form of the deprivation of the value of the iPhone and overpayments because Plaintiffs and Class members “didn't receive what paid for ” when Apple interfered with the usage of their iPhones.

Other class action lawsuits have been field from citizens in Chicago, New York, and Northern California. The all three lawsuits claimed that Apple slowed down their iPhones in an attempt to get users to upgrade to new iPhones.

Data source: TMZ via Macrumors