On Wednesday, December 20, 2017 Apple confirmed that it implements power management features in older iPhone to improve performance and prevent unexpected shutdowns as the battery degrades. This admission has now led to a class action lawsuit. Two Los Angeles resident, Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas (represented by Wilshire Law Firm), are filing suit against Apple. Continue reading after the break.
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According to the lawsuit, both Bogdanovich and Speas have had an iPhone 7 and several older iPhone models and have noticed that their "older iPhone models slows down when the newer models come out." The two are saying that they did not consent to have Apple slow down their devices.
Defendant breached the implied contracts it made with Plaintiffs and Class Members by purposefully slowing down older iPhone models when new models come out by failing to properly disclose that at the time of that the parties entered into an agreement.
Apple said the following in their statement:
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.
The lawsuit will likely be dragged along, taking a while to settle. As to who will win is yet to be determined. The issues regarding Lithium-Ion batteries is not new, why is it popping up now?