Apple faces lawsuit over ‘performance throttling’ that slows performance of older iPhones
Apple faced a class action lawsuit in London over claims it is ‘throttling’ the performance of its own handsets to get users to upgrade to the latest model.
The lawsuit, brought forward by consumer champion Justin Gutmann, alleges that Apple pushed users to download iOS updates that installed a ‘throttling feature’ on their iPhones, leading to unexpected shutdowns and poor device performance.
Mr Gutmann has filed a claim with the Competition Appeal Tribunal at Salisbury Square in London seeking damages of approximately £768 million for up to 25 million UK owners of a range of older iPhone models.
Apple has already had to pay a $113 million fine in the US relating to the ‘throttling’ issue, which dates back to 2017.
However, tech experts claim that Apple’s performance management software really does help to preserve the battery life of older devices, and is not just a cynical trick to get customers to buy new phones. The tech giant has previously admitted that it uses software updates to limit performance on older iPhone models to stop them from shutting down, but claims it would never intentionally shorten the life of an Apple product.
