European consumer groups demand Apple explain iOS 14 battery drain
Members of the Euroconsumers Group have sent a letter to Apple asking it to address allegations of excessive iPhone battery drain in iOS 14.5 and later software updates.
Credit: Apple
On July 9, the Spanish Organization of Consumers and Users, along with groups like Altroconsumo and Deco Proteste, penned a letter to the Cupertino tech giant over alleged "planned obsolescence" affecting recent iPhone models like the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11.
The consumer groups cite reports of battery drain and degraded performance reported by some users after downloading certain versions of iOS 14. Specifically, it names iOS 14.5, iOS 14.5.1, and iOS 14.6.
Back in June, a lawsuit levied at Apple attempted to connect reports of battery drain and performance bugs with allegations of planned obsolescence. Consumer reports, however, only indicate issues with battery life draining faster than expected, rather than performance hits.
The Euroconsumer member organizations, however, draw a connection between the battery drain reports and Apple's past performance management systems. Lawsuits against Apple have been filed in a number of European countries alleging that the company intentionally slowed down iPhones.
Back in 2017, Apple quietly introduced a battery management feature that could stave off random shutdowns and other issues on devices with chemically degraded batteries. The feature, which slowed performance on devices with aged batteries during times of peak power draw, caused controversy, despite proving a device that functioned, instead of one that would crash seemingly at random, and be completely unavailable to the consumer while in the crashed state.
According to the OCU, the purpose of the letter is to "create a dialogue with Apple to establish the best way to compensate consumers." The OCU did threaten to take the matter to court if Apple doesn't provide "an adequate response."
It isn't clear what an "adequate response" entails in this case. There is no clear indication of a universal faster battery drain induced by the operating system updates cited by the organization. For any claim of "planned obsolescence" to stick or be legally relevant, it would have to span a large array of consumers -- and it doesn't appear to be doing so, at this time.
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Credit: Apple
On July 9, the Spanish Organization of Consumers and Users, along with groups like Altroconsumo and Deco Proteste, penned a letter to the Cupertino tech giant over alleged "planned obsolescence" affecting recent iPhone models like the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11.
The consumer groups cite reports of battery drain and degraded performance reported by some users after downloading certain versions of iOS 14. Specifically, it names iOS 14.5, iOS 14.5.1, and iOS 14.6.
Back in June, a lawsuit levied at Apple attempted to connect reports of battery drain and performance bugs with allegations of planned obsolescence. Consumer reports, however, only indicate issues with battery life draining faster than expected, rather than performance hits.
The Euroconsumer member organizations, however, draw a connection between the battery drain reports and Apple's past performance management systems. Lawsuits against Apple have been filed in a number of European countries alleging that the company intentionally slowed down iPhones.
Back in 2017, Apple quietly introduced a battery management feature that could stave off random shutdowns and other issues on devices with chemically degraded batteries. The feature, which slowed performance on devices with aged batteries during times of peak power draw, caused controversy, despite proving a device that functioned, instead of one that would crash seemingly at random, and be completely unavailable to the consumer while in the crashed state.
According to the OCU, the purpose of the letter is to "create a dialogue with Apple to establish the best way to compensate consumers." The OCU did threaten to take the matter to court if Apple doesn't provide "an adequate response."
It isn't clear what an "adequate response" entails in this case. There is no clear indication of a universal faster battery drain induced by the operating system updates cited by the organization. For any claim of "planned obsolescence" to stick or be legally relevant, it would have to span a large array of consumers -- and it doesn't appear to be doing so, at this time.
Keep up with everything Apple in the weekly AppleInsider Podcast -- and get a fast news update from AppleInsider Daily. Just say, "Hey, Siri," to your HomePod mini and ask for these podcasts, and our latest HomeKit Insider episode too.If you want an ad-free main AppleInsider Podcast experience, you can support the AppleInsider podcast by subscribing for $5 per month through Apple's Podcasts app, or via Patreon if you prefer any other podcast player.
Read on AppleInsider
Comments
Yes, I, too, noticed battery drain after iOS 14, mostly with watchOS updates, but they were short-lived, returning to normal again after the system optimized itself. But hey! Let's all play victim and blame Apple for coordinating planned obscelence!
This past weekend, I was in the mountains camping at a facility with no cell towers and really poor wi-fi, and battery life was much shorter! That's because the devices were "struggling" to hold onto a connection. The brilliance of today's technology is that it's so invisible, so it's easy to blame the tech companies when things don't work perfectly acccording to our past experiences and standards.
Settings> Battery
1. Check battery health
2. Check what apps are consuming battery by percent and time over 24 hour and 10 day periods.
Note - Activity bars can be selected showing what app usage was by hour or day.
Kind regards,
Consumer that understands how to use the tools Apple provided to monitor battery consumption
My 11 hasn’t changed at all with 14, not has my SO’s, not any one of the several other people with iPhones that I know. This is just another group taking shots at Apple because it’s the thing to do this year.
1. People who don't understand technology shouldn't be talking about technology as if they were experts.
2. Occam's razor
It's not.
It's simply a pretext to exercise government power to make Apple "do something", such as pay a multi-billion dollar fine.