Apple apologizes over slowing iPhones

6 years ago - Published in Finance, Fundamental Analysis

Apple apologized for secretly slowing down older iPhones, a move it said was necessary to avoid unexpected shutdowns related to battery fatigue.

The firm said last week it 'throttles' phones to extend their life and stop them from shutting down as batteries age and become less effective, triggering lawsuits across the world.

On Thursday it published a letter saying 'We know that some of you feel Apple has let you down', and revealed it is slashing the price of a replacement battery, and planning to show users exactly how much their battery has degraded. The company's statement tried to explain a few things, mitigate consumer outrage, and introduce some steps to help them make peace with their old iPhone models, among other things. Here's what you need to know to catch up with the latest debacle.

'We apologize. There’s been a lot of misunderstanding about this issue, so we would like to clarify and let you know about some changes we’re making.'

'First and foremost, we have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades,' Apple said.

In its apology, Apple explained how batteries chemically age and steps the company is taking to comfort iPhone users. However, Apple's unwillingness to roll back the power management feature proves that the company thinks it is in the right and feels that this will still benefit its users. Apple will be rolling out a software update early next year with features that will look to provide more transparency regarding the health of their iPhone's battery. It has also cut down the cost of replacing out-of-warranty battery from $79 to $29, which will come into effect late January and will be applicable worldwide through December 2018.

As much as Apple hoped to make things better with its admission last week, things turned sour pretty fast. Multiple iPhone users filed class-action lawsuits claiming they had to upgrade to newer iPhone models after their iPhones slowed down when they could have simply replaced their batteries, which would have cost a lot less.