Apple has had a bit of a rough week since it was announced that the tech giant has been deliberately slowing down older phones.
Confirming what most of us iPhone users already suspected, the company told Reuters: "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."
Credit: PA
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Since the news, many users have been left fuming, accusing the company of doing it so that customers will have to upgrade.
Some are so pissed off they've even filed a lawsuit. Five iCustomers in Chicago have filed a federal lawsuit for 'deceptive, immoral and unethical' practices, that are a violation of consumer protection laws.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, the five people - who all had models ranging from the iPhone 5 to the 7 - claim that the updates were "were engineered to purposefully slow down or 'throttle down' the performance speeds."
The suit also claims that the company "needlessly subjects consumers to purchasing newer and more expensive iPhones when a replacement battery could have allowed consumers to use their older iPhones."
Credit: PA
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James Vlahakis, an attorney, told the Sun Times: "Corporations have to realise that people are sophisticated and that when people spend their hard-earned dollars on a product they expect it to perform as expected. Instead, Apple appears to have obscured and concealed why older phones were slowing down."
Meanwhile in California two law students from the University of Southern California, have also launched a suit making similar claims to the above. According to the New York Magazine, they're hoping to make it a class action lawsuit, representing anyone who bought an iPhone older than the 8.
The suit also states that Apple breached the 'implied contracts it made' by failing to 'properly disclose' that it would be slowing own older iPhones when newer ones were released.
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However, Apple has said it only slows down the phones to stop the phones randomly shutting told.
A spokesperson told the Verge: "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."
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Source: The Verge; The Chicago Sun Times; New York Magazine
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: World News, US News, iPhone 8, Apple, iPhone